Peter Shergold describes implementation as the ‘heavy lifting’—as opposed to policy advising which he says is often seen as the ‘zenith of apolitical courage’. Implementation, he argues, is the point at which ‘courage’ is most needed, undertaken as it is in the public gaze and subject to intense scrutiny. ^[6] It is the point at which the policy is judged to have succeeded or failed.

It would, therefore, be remiss of me not to refer explicitly to the capabilities that we need in the public sector to achieve the integrated program management and high standard of outcomes we aspire to, and which the Government and the community demands.

Program management requires a diverse set of capabilities, including, but not limited to:

Even a cursory glance at the Senior Executive Leadership Capability (SELC) Framework—the criteria against which senior executives in the Australian Public Service are selected and developed—gives a sense of the wide ranging skill sets required to perform the business of government.

Dynamic and integrated program management does not require a new super-breed of public servant—but we are clearly looking to recruit people with a different and more diverse mix of skills than we have in the past. It is not surprising, then, that the APS has become a ‘graduate’ workforce. Overall, about half of us have graduate qualifications, and 64 per cent of new recruits (who mostly do not enter through graduate programs) are graduates. ^[7]

Changing capability requirements are also reflected in the learning and development programs that the Australian Public Service Commission offers. I am committed to the development of programs by the Commission that are responsive to what agencies need, and to supporting agencies align their business objectives with their organisational cultures.

A common thread is the importance of a strong, strategically orientated APS leadership team. The Commission plays a central role in the development of APS leaders and over the next few months I will be unveiling a new suite of leadership programs for the SES. We have already begun reinvigorating our EL programs to focus more on regulatory activity, service delivery, policy development and program management. I am hoping to launch our new program management training programs by the middle of the year.

Attracting people with the right mix of capabilities is critical to the success of program management in the APS—we need the right people in the right jobs at the right time. A feature of the project management approach you will hear about today and tomorrow is the explicit focus on looking at what you’re trying to achieve and actively matching the skills that are required to bring it about. I am very firmly of the view that we need to be much better at this in the public service.

The latest Management Advisory Committee report on managing and sustaining the APS workforce highlights some of the significant challenges we are going to confront in the coming decades, as we respond to population ageing and workforce constraint and as we compete to maintain our specialist and technical skills.

Added to this, though, is the need for public servants to reflect personally on what they can do to align their behaviours and attitudes with the changes evident in modern government program directions, and what they might do to work towards moving the cultures of entire public sector organisations towards greater alignment. It is this sort of thoughtfulness and action that is necessary, amongst other things, if we are to reach the gaol of an outstanding public service.