By Hamish Williams

For public servants, understanding the role they play as individuals as well as the role of their team can sometimes be difficult when viewed in the context of the wider context government.

This is especially true after elections as both new and incumbent governments generally use this period as an opportunity to examine and restructure government departments. A newly elected government could merge entire departments, create new departments or completely remove them depending on the policies on which they were elected. A re-elected government will make less drastic changes but a reshuffle of the front bench will often have an effect on policy developments and cause a relative measure of change within departments.

These changes aren’t just limited to post election periods as annual budgets will cause large scale changes to departments as will the introduction of new policies and legislation during the regular course of government business.

Amongst all of this change, how do you ensure that the public servants relied upon to keep the country running are motivated and energised? Experienced public servants who’ve transitioned from team to team and department to department will have developed a working knowledge of Mogs and their inherent challenges.For less experienced public servants, greater training may be required to ensure they understand the context within which they operate.

Developing their understanding of the context and influence of government environments, the requirements of public sector governance and their role as a public servant will increase their capacity and effectiveness to best deliver public value.

AIM has recently been working with a number of public sector organisations around Australia to deliver a variety of programs designed to build these key knowledge sets across entire sectors. Participants in these programs have learnt a variety of essential knowledge sets including the role of Australian political institutions and their impact on the role of public sector.

The ability to analyse frameworks to ensure government is responsive, responsible and accountable when delivering service is also vital knowledge being passed on to participants. These programs developed in partnership with AIM have also been vital in building greater understanding of the working relationships between the public sector, Ministers, Members and the Parliament.

AIM has been working with local, state and federal governments around Australia for more than 75 years in order to develop the vital skillsets required by high performing public sector managers and leaders.

For more information about how AIM can partner with you to build the capabilities of your team, please visit AIM Tailored Learning Solutions or to view our suite of dedicated public service options visit AIM Public Sector.