APS risks elitist approach to talent management

One of the recommendations of Ahead of the Game, the blueprint for reforming Australian government administration, is to improve talent management across the APS. What this recommendation focuses on is ‘top talent’, with specific reference to the SES and graduates. While not stated in the report, I would like to assume that people who work with this reform agenda will see the relationship of talent management to other reforms, particularly those concerning workforce planning, learning and development and capabilities.

Any model for agency talent management programs needs to take a whole-of-staff view and not be confined only to ‘top talent’. Yes, this group needs to be catered for. But if that’s all that is done such programs will foster elitism and the insidious view that if you are just an ‘ordinary’ staff person you are not important. As a manager in the APS and as a career development practitioner I have yet to come across a staff member who is not talented. Some staff may not fully appreciate their skills and knowledge. They may be ignored by managers and colleagues. They may not be hugely ambitious. What they do want is to do a good job, feel they are making a difference, and be recognised for their contribution. Ignoring this talent will be to the detriment of the APS. Everyone can’t be a high flyer. Most work getting done depends on the solid, sound, competent contributions of the many rather than the occasional sparks of brilliance of the few.

Blueprint reforms need to be underpinned by a career development perspective, one that sees ‘the interaction of the individual and the organisation over time.’ (Edgar Schein, Career Dynamics: Matching individual and organizational needs, 1978). This means taking into account a whole raft of human resource practices. Schein suggests reasons why a career development perspective needs to be adopted:

• It encourages analysis of the total person who comes to work and consider how activities related to self-development, career development and family development interact throughout the entire life span of that person.
• It encourages analysis of different careers and occupations within organisations and how they interact.
• It enlarges the concept of organisational development to be more realistic about how organisational development and long-range organisational health can be related to each other.
• It facilitates the analysis and understanding of organisational climate or culture.
• It provides a perspective on social changes.

Adopting a career development perspective in relation to talent management of all staff means several aspects of manager-staff interaction need to change. Here are four.

The APS needs to deal with short term appointments more transparently and simply. Managers need to let people know short term opportunities are available (the blueprint suggestion to make these opportunities known APS-wide will help with this); make their decisions known to staff and give useful feedback. Too often I hear of staff who weren’t told an opportunity existed, weren’t given an adequate explanation of the decision and were given vague, unhelpful feedback. All of which fosters the perception that short term movements are not merit-based

Better management is needed of appointments of staff who have been acting in jobs. The perception is still widely held that if someone is acting in a job they will likely win it, so there is no point in applying. Why not be up front about this and say yes, based on our records, 70% of jobs were filled by internal appointment, 50% of those were filled by promotion, and of these, 40% were filled by a person who had been acting in the role. If agencies want staff to see career paths in the public service then the tension between open competition, transparency and providing career opportunities needs to be better managed.

For individual managers to have fruitful career development conversations with their staff they need to separate these conversations from performance appraisal. So long as the two are linked, career conversations, as part of talent management, are likely to be tainted and ineffectual.

Managers and their HR colleagues also need to take a more serious interest in staff’s learning and development by providing opportunities to apply learning on the job. Too often I hear staff say they attend a course so they can ‘tick off the skill’ or they’ve ‘been sent’. Rarely do I find anyone who’s manager is taking an active interest in working with them after they have attended a course. Yet research indicates this is a key factor in training effectiveness.

Effective talent management is only going to be achieved if it is applied to all staff with a career development perspective informing decisions.

Other useful articles:

• How to streamline APS recruitment
• Time to get serious about 'One APS career ... thousands of opportunities'

Dr Ann Villiers, learning guide, professional speaker and author, is Australia's only Mental Nutritionist® specialising in mind and language practices that help people build flexible thinking, confident speaking and quality connections with people. Visit www.mentalnutrition.com to learn more about Mental Nutrition. Visit www.selectioncriteria.com.au for free resources unlocking the mysteries of public service jobs.