Module Six: Innovative Government and Reform

Introduction to Module 6

Well, here you are at Module 6, your final module for Unit 1. At this stage, you have gained an understanding of how key political institutions work (Module 1); and, have come to your own conclusions about their efficacy in ensuring responsive (Module 2); and, accountable (Module 3) government. You have been exposed to international and local public sector paradigms like NPM and Public Value, with a European and Asian focus, and have spent time reflecting upon the reality of globalisation on your workplace (Module 4) and been introduced to systems thinking (Module 5). This module (6) aims to provoke thinking about the types of reforms which are occurring or, which may be required, to assist both your workplace and you personally, to creatively adapt and perhaps assist to take a lead into the future. Your personal journey will continue after this module into Unit 2.

Like all organisations, Government has to remain relevant and this becomes more difficult in a rapidly changing, and complex, world. ‘Relevant to whom?’ is a major question and ‘how do we ensure this?’ is another? As we continue to morph from being a layer cake to a marble cake, will ‘one size fit all’  (where government provides a limited number of targeted programs to say workers, or the poor) – or, will there be need for more atomistic, voter-controlled services, targeted to the individual? To remain relevant, the public sector needs to adapt to the environment and provide innovative responses.

As we noticed in Module 4 on ‘Globalisation’, international matters impact on policy and it is no surprise that it impacts upon the meta-system: the way we go about doing government. Yet many public servants would be unaware that the piecemeal initiatives they get involved in are part of a major movement. As Bejerot (2013), notes:

Indeed, when studying change at the local level of education, social welfare and health care, the trans-organisational systems and practices that make up comprehensive reforms are not always understood or even known to local managers and professionals, a fact that interpretive studies tend to disregard. (Bejerot, 2013)

It is useful, therefore, to understand what has been happening in the field, how it has been evaluated, and what initiatives are bubbling up at the margins to prepare you better for initiating reform, adapting to it, or evaluating it.

In addition, gaining an understanding of what is occurring internationally (Topic 1) enables you to put what is happening in Australia in context. For this reason, generalised international examples of public management and particular case studies on the UK and Korea are added to the recommended readings to give you broader insights about the public sector than those of Australia.

The public sector’s role in the community of the future (Topic 2) may require better integration of what were government services being provided through a more networked model by the ‘third sector’: NGOs of various persuasions. For example, policy relating to privacy of information may have to be adapted to ensure sharing of client information across the system.

To be aware of the need for change is one thing, having an idea of an improvement is another, while knowing how to make the transformation is, yet, another. For this reason, change management (Topic 3) is a skill believed to be central to the life of the modern public sector manager. And Boyatzis’ (2006) model is a proven theoretical model with which to start your change journey.

The call to responsiveness (Topic 4) is made ever louder, yet the resources available to enact it are becoming increasingly scarce. Leveraging your creative capabilities to rethink the way you offer services is the major challenge of this decade and some trends are discussed.

Somewhere in all this resides the public servant. What is it believed the modern public servant (Topic 4) will be required to contend with and what will be required of the human beings who fill these roles? In addition, there is a trend for the legislative part of the executive to create its own support team and there may be a question about the shifting role of the traditional public service as a result (Topic 6). To wrap up your final module, Topic 7 provides a useful recap with some small group activities you may wish to do with other cohort members to prepare you for Assessment Two.

Future Trends: CSIRO and Deloitte Reports

In order to grasp a glimpse of the future, you need (if you are not a sci-fi fan) to read reports of possible trends and attempt to imagine how they might impact on your work and your world. This will assist you to be strategic through ensuring that your plans factor in significant predicted shifts even if not all eventuate. The CSIRO has published a list of ‘megatrends’ for jobs and employment and while these are not directly related to the public sector, the aware public servant will realise that this is the world (Australian view of it at least) for which they need to prepare and ensure adaptation by their organisation.

The six interrelated megatrends identified in Tomorrow’s Digitally Enabled Workforce: Megatrends and scenarios for job and employment in Australia over the coming twenty years (Hajkowicz et. al., 2016) are:^[1]

If the authors are correct, there is apparent need for Government to think about policies, which ensure adaptation to changing community needs. The provision of social policy, to reflect our changing demographics and the provision of services, which account for citizens’ changing expectations of interacting with government, would appear to be values necessary for the future public service.

As a public servant, you would be forgiven for arguing that the public sector has been in the process of adapting for some time and, indeed, the conversations of many public servants are smattered with descriptions of the exhausting effects of ‘too much change’; being ‘mogged out’; technological demands on time; jobs lost, and business sold off in the name of reform. What has been the result? The evidence is inconclusive and debate continues to rage about the overall benefit or cost of NPM. Hood (2011)^[2] claims the evidence is very unclear, while Lapuente and van de Walle (2020)^[3] write that: