360° Feedback in the Australian Public Sector

This is the third and final article on Leadership in the current series. Whereas the first focused on Leadership training (Issue 4) and the second on the generic 360° instrument, the Leadership Behaviours Profile (Issue 5), this issue examines the value of a specific tailored 360 Leadership profile to suit particular organisations and/or groups of managers.

TLS (and TMS in New Zealand) have from time to time been commissioned to create a new (or adapt the existing Leadership Behaviours Profile, LBP) 360° instrument for a defined grouping. In the private sector, for example, GlaxoSmithKline now have available an organisation specific equivalent to the LBP and the Star Performing Team Profile (SPT) based upon their core competencies and values.

Another successful, long standing example is in the Australian Public Service where TMS entered into a joint venture with the Canberra-based Centre for Public Management. Initially a 360° Profile variation on the LBP was launched in early-2000 and was further developed over time into two more comprehensive instruments. The development story is now outlined below.

360° Feedback and Leadership Development in the Australian Public Service (APS)

Dr John Baker, Executive Director
Centre for Public Management Pty Ltd (CPM)
and
Leadership Performance Profiles Pty Ltd (LPP360)

Starting in 1994 the Centre for Public Management (CPM), which comprises a group of experienced and senior Australian management consultants specialising in the public sector, developed a suite of three and four-day residential leadership programs for Australian public servants. Each of the programs is offered multiple times each year, with 'From Management to Leadership', a four-day program for Executive Level 1 & 2 managers, having its 2000th participant in 2010 (for program details see www.cpm.org.au).

Because all four of CPM's three and four-day programs contain strong elements of personal reflection about leadership styles and behaviours this prompted us to look for suitable 360° feedback tools to use on them. This in turn led me to gain accreditation in 1999 in the TMS Leadership Behaviours Profile (LBP), which I used on a number of occasions with groups of public servants.

While the LBP instrument itself was very well received, particularly for its user-friendliness, I nevertheless felt that the public service market needed something more specifically tailored to the realities of the public sector. Public servants have special accountabilities to their minister; they are expected to follow particular ethical standards; and their work goals relate to maximising public good rather than focusing on profits. Thus their leadership role differs in some important and significant respects from that applying across the private sector.

This led myself and CPM to enter into a partnership with Paul Robinson, on behalf of TMS and its international arm Team Leadership Services (TLS), to create for use on CPM courses a new 360° feedback tool that was based on public sector competencies and capabilities, but that had the user-friendliness and other features which characterised the TMS LBP.

Initially we developed the Executive Leadership Profile (ELP) for use with Executive Levels 1 & 2 staff on CPM courses by using the capabilities that underpinned the Senior Executive Leadership Capability Framework. This framework was developed in 1999 by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC), and was intended to serve the needs of Senior Executive Service (SES) staff.

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Since its launch in February 2002 the ELP has now been used on more than 150 CPM courses covering over 3,000 participants. It has been universally well received by participants, who particularly appreciate how it relates to their jobs and to particular public sector work realities.

CPM and TMS were not alone in using the Senior Executive Leadership Capability Framework (SELCF) with EL1 & 2 level staff, as many APS Departments did the same, and this trend prompted the APSC to launch in May 2003 the Integrated Leadership System (ILS). The ILS not only further developed the SELCF to provide capabilities for each of the SES Bands 1, 2 and 3, but also added capabilities at the EL1 & 2 levels.

The development of the ILS prompted CPM/TMS to revise the ELP so that it was built around the new EL 1 & 2 capabilities.

The continuing success of ELP prompted CPM to look more closely at the needs of the more junior APS 5 & 6 level participants on its three-day 'Teams and Leadership' program. While ELP could be and had been used with them, it didn't really meet the need. Why not develop a new 360° feedback instrument tailored to that level, we asked ourselves?

The problem we faced in developing a new 360° instrument for the APS 5 & 6 group was that there was no APS-wide capability framework to base it on. This led to an association with the APSC, which resulted in CPM developing an APS 5 & 6 Capability Framework through working in cooperation with a wide range of public service departments and agencies. This new framework was later revised and formally launched as part of an expanded ILS by the APSC in May 2003.

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Using the new APS 5 & 6 Capability Framework as a base CPM and TMS then developed the Team Leadership Profile (TLP), a 360° feedback instrument which is a look-alike to the ELP, and which as such can be used in conjunction with the ELP in vertical slice workshops that include staff ranging from the APS 5 & 6 levels through to the SES levels. The new TLP has now been used on many CPM programs and continues to be very well received.

Shortly after the development of TLP CPM/TMS then developed the Senior Leadership Profile (SLP) based on the SES capabilities within the ILS. Again this has now been in use for a number of years and has been very well received.

Although both the ELP, TLP and SLP, were originally developed to meet CPM's need for 360° feedback instruments to use on its residential courses, they are now being marketed to consultants and public sector clients across Australia through CPM's sister organisation, Leadership Performance Profiles Pty Ltd (LPP360), for details see www.lpp360.com.au.

Needless to say, each of the ELP, TLP and SLP has now been revised/updated a number of times to ensure that its presentation and layout meet changing needs. The basic underlying capability framework remains, of course, tied to the ILS.

While the use of 360° feedback is now well established in the management development field, and its importance and benefits need no justification, it is nevertheless useful to comment on a few of the lessons learned and specific benefits which have flowed from using ELP, TLP and SLP on CPM's courses.

The first point to emphasise is that in our experience it is essential that ELP/TLP/SLP be contextualised and appropriately situated within the overall program. For this reason we always introduce them on the second day of our residential. This allows participants to have settled in and be relaxed when they receive their 360° report, whilst also giving them one or two days on the program after receiving it for reflection and consideration. We also typically introduce them after an overview session on emotional intelligence, during which we make the point that self-awareness lies at the very heart of emotional intelligence and that 360° feedback is one of the most effective ways of gaining a greater self-awareness of our work behaviours.

In addition to the usual comparative ratings for self and others and importance ratings given by self and supervisor which typify most 360° feedback reports, the ELP/TLP/SLP include an emotional intelligence quotient and a series of qualitative comments covering the person's work achievements, key strengths, development needs and suggestions for improvement. Significantly, we find that the qualitative comments are often invaluable in fleshing out and helping explain the different ratings given in the main body of the report.

Other consultants have used ELP/TLP/SLP very successfully as the basis for short 2-3 hour feedback workshops. Here the confidence building and confidentiality issues are particularly important to the success of the exercise, with an appropriately experienced consultant axiomatic to the success of the workshops.

Whether the ELP/TLP/SLP are used as part of a residential leadership program, or within a much shorter feedback workshop, they are supported by a 23 page workbook which guides participants through the key issues arising from their 360° feedback report, while also helping them to develop a structured action plan.

Recent developments have included the adoption of the ELP/TLP/SLP tools by a number of individual public service agencies. For example, in 2010 the Australian Federal Police contracted CPM and TMS to tailor and redesign the ELP around the AFP's Work Level Standards.

As regards the actual production of ELP/TLP/SLP reports, there is a very effective agreed division of labour between CPM/LPP360 and TMS. Essentially LPP360 markets ELP, TLP and SLP in Australia and handles all of the accreditation and helpline services for the completion of questionnaires. TMS for its part runs the website through which participants complete their ELP/TLP/SLP questionnaires and then processes and produces the reports, which are couriered to CPM or LPP360 or to the relevant consultant.

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In Conclusion

The above article highlights the value of having the flexibility to align your product or service to the particular requirements of the client. In most cases, the standard product will meet the requirements of clients – indeed the Leadership Behaviours Profile is used extremely successfully by organisations and consultants throughout New Zealand and Australia. However, in this case, by tailoring a successful methodology and technology to meet the requirements of an established competency framework, an even better suited instrument could be developed.

For further information on tailored 360° assessments please contact me at paul@tms.co.nz.

What’s Next?

The last three In-Touch articles have focused on the concept of leadership; the second factor of ten in the Star Performing Team model. The three leadership articles combined have shown how leadership behaviours can be measured using the power of 360° feedback, and the value of aligning 360° feedback with organisational competency frameworks. They have also shown how these tools can be utilised in training programmes to develop managers into dynamic, well-rounded leaders.

You may also remember the first Star Performing Team factor, which was explained in earlier In-Touch articles (Issues 1-3 inclusive). Using the first factor, Aligned, it is possible to align your team to the organisations goals and values. Teams that are not aligned with the organisations goals will not be contributing effectively. Teams that have misaligned values will experience difficult working relationships and conflict.

A Star Performing Team involves more than just being properly aligned and appropriately led. We still have eight other factors that require attention.

The articles that follow will unlock the keys to performance of each of these factors in turn, starting with the third Star Performing Team factor Informed .
In-Touch Issue 7 will explain how and why your team will not function effectively if it is experiencing communication problems. Advice on how to minimise problems and maximise effective communication will also be reviewed.

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Peter Robinson
Chief Executive Officer
Team Management Services Ltd.

P.O. Box 21-194, Henderson, Waitakere 0650, New Zealand
Tel: 64-9-836-5317 Fax 64-9-836-5318
email: peter@tms.co.nz
Website: www.tms.co.nz

© 2011 Team Management Services