Organisational Development
Managing an organisation to achieve outcomes means linking what we need to achieve with what we need to do with the capability of the organisation. We need to think about and work on MAF's current and future fitness for purpose.
MAF has invested significantly in capability and infrastructure. The challenge now is to realise the benefits - in both efficiency and effectiveness terms - and build on the gains already made.
Our overall focus for the development of the organisation continues to be leadership, our people and our ability to support them with quality systems, processes and tools.
Current State
Over the past year we have continued to improve our strategic and business planning, budgeting and prioritisation processes. Our experience over the year will result in ongoing improvement in particular with respect to capital and capital project management.
Three initiatives were undertaken in pursuit of our leadership and people objectives. These were:
- an employee engagement survey undertaken by Gallup, followed by action planning to respond to the issues which arose at a team and business group level;
- the development of leadership and management competencies (using the Lominger methodology) to support the recruitment, performance management and development of existing and potential leaders and managers (the structure of this framework will also be extended to staff technical competencies); and
- the systematic assessment of managers using the Leadership Development Centre 360° process.
Work has continued to improve document management, telecommunications, financial management and IT systems and processes to support our staff to work more effectively.
Focus for the medium term
In the medium term we will concentrate on completing, embedding and leveraging the initiatives that are currently underway. In particular, our priorities will be to enhance stakeholder engagement through effective communications and relationship management strategies, support staff development and look for opportunities to change how we work to make life easier for our stakeholders and staff.
MAF supports and will actively pursue the State Services Commission's State Sector Development Goals, especially those related to: Employer of Choice; Excellent State Servants; Networked State Services; and Accessible State Services. The following initiatives will progress our work toward these goals during 2007/08.
In support of our intention to exercise internal and external leadership and to develop our people we will:
- implement action plans arising from the engagement survey undertaken last year and monitor our progress with further annual surveys;
- roll out competency-based role descriptions, performance management and staff development systems, and align recruitment and induction processes to improve attraction and retention of key skills; and
- place emphasis on systems and capability to support effective two way engagement with stakeholders and appropriate sectors of the public e.g. with respect to biosecurity incursions. This will include support to our staff to effectively manage MAF's relationships with key stakeholders, reviewing our website in terms of both the accessibility of information and services and our management of calls to the Ministry.
We will use the enhancements made to our IT systems to identify ways of transforming our business processes to make doing business easier for our stakeholders and staff. For example, we expect to see significant improvements made over the next two to three years in the efficiency of our interactions with our border stakeholders.
MAF is an agency which seeks to exercise leadership with respect to the sustainable development of our natural resources. Consequently, we must consider our own environmental footprint. In the past two years we have co-located much of our Head Office staff in Pastoral House and our Auckland staff in the Auckland Biosecurity Centre at Auckland International Airport. In these two initiatives we have tried to be environmentally responsible as practicable. In addition, our Auckland lab facilities are based in Landcare Research's Taranaki building - a building purpose-built for financial, social and environmental sustainablity - also reducing our operating costs. We have now embarked on the Govt3 Strategy to take opportunities to reduce our environmental footprint in Pastoral House and more broadly (e.g. with respect to our fleet). These initiatives will also support our planning for carbon neutrality in accordance with Government Policy.
Equal Employment opportunities and Positive Aging strategies will be supported by a review of MAF's recruitment marketing, enhanced management skills in hiring and staffing, making effective use of the new competency framework to focus on skills identified, and flexible employee arrangements to meet the needs of a diverse workforce. We have also committed to working with unions representing employees to implement the Pay and Employment Strategy in conjunction with the State Services Commission.
A legislative compliance framework is being developed. This is intended to link legislation to MAF organisational policies which will be monitored via a control self assessment process. Complementing this is a series of seminars run by MAF Legal Services on legislation applied by MAF, statutory decision-making and the legal framework within which we work.
MAF's quarantine group has initiated a Capability Project whose objectives are to deliver flexible and safe work practices and career programmes and promote an improved remuneration model. It will allow the group to deliver a flexible workforce with interesting jobs coupled to a fair, transparent remuneration system and supported by a robust quality and training system.
An integrated business model has been created for the new biosecurity arrangement (MAF Biosecurity New Zealand). It is focused on the information management strategy and the specific information needs of the new biosecurity arrangement. A core part of the information management strategy is using technology to improve operational and business processes which will enhance biosecurity risk management and improve service delivery to stakeholders.
The Biosecurity Communications Strategy (2007-2012) brings together an extensive programme of communications activities across the biosecurity and animal welfare sectors. The Strategy's vision is a country where “all New Zealanders are taking responsibility for the biosecurity and animal welfare risk-related activities”. The Strategy is primarily based on the biosecurity outcomes framework which includes an emphasis on stakeholder communications and behaviour change programmes.
Similarly, Biosecurity's compliance framework provides a way to think about compliance that integrates consideration of the behaviour of people and businesses with the steps MAF can take to promote better compliance. According to the framework, compliance activity should be targeted towards high biosecurity risks where compliance effort can be expected to make a difference. Compliance is assisted by designing good systems and rules; education and persuasion; financial and other incentives; licensing and restricting; audits and inspections; withdrawal, suspension or conditioning of licences; investigations; and prosecutions.
We have identified four capability objectives for our MAF Policy group for 2007/08 - alignment, connectedness, efficiency and effectiveness, and a performance culture.
- ALIGNMENT will involve building a strong platform for sustainable development and active collaboration supported at both a strategic and an operational level within MAF and across government.
- CONNECTEDNESS aims to enhance our relationships with the agriculture, food and forestry sectors. We will be implementing a Communications Strategy and undertaking work on sector engagement models.
- EFFICIENCY AND EFFECTIVENESS will focus on using resources to make the greatest difference. We will review priorities and resource allocation, and improve the underpinning systems and processes.
- A PERFORMANCE CULTURE - one of high achievement and ongoing development - will include core skills development and succession planning as well as organisation-wide work programmes such as leadership development and project management.
Partnering for efficiency: Co-operation at the border
MAF works with a number of other agencies to ensure the most effective and efficient delivery of our services. Leveraging off each other's processes, information and good practice benefits both partners and provides a co-ordinated cross-departmental approach to achieving outcomes. Pursuing these relationships is part of our work towards the State Sector Development Goals of Accessible State Services and Coordinated State Agencies.
One particular relationship that we will continue to develop in 2007/08 is with the New Zealand Customs Service (NZCS) at the border. There are significant intersects between our work in dealing with planning, profiling and processing international arrivals into New Zealand. Arrivals of people, goods and vessels represent risks to New Zealand - both to our biosecurity and to the security of our community. Both agencies are likely to manage an increasing volume and diversity of arrivals (and therefore risks) over the coming year.
We will co-operate on three levels. At the operational level, staff from both agencies will combine some training, physical resources and be co-located. Joint planning and information sharing will continue to assist combined clearance operations. The senior management level will oversee shared projects - both strategic and process oriented. At the highest level, formal links will be maintained through Chief Executives' quarterly meetings, a Memorandum of Understanding and the Border Governance Group.
This year the Border Governance Group will focus on three streams of work:
- mapping border agencies' operational processes regarding opportunities for synergies, practical improvements and shared investments;
- developing and applying a common approach to optimise the integration and alignment of IT systems; and
- developing a strategic framework to define border management, strategy at system level and roles at the border.
Contact for Enquiries
Strategy and Performance Group
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: +64 4 894 0100
Fax: +64 4 894 0738
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