Organisation: Department of Human Services
Job Title: EL1
Word Limit: One Page
Location: Zone North NSW
Possessing a proven record of success in leading at a senior level within the Department of Human Services, for the past 12 months I have been acting in the EL1 role of Service Support Manager, overseeing the performance of the Hunter 2 region of seven sites within the Zone North area. Under my leadership, this region has developed into one of the top-performing regions in the zone, consistently achieving and exceeding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). I drive this high level of performance through developing and supporting staff to increase the capacity of my workforce to meet service needs, and through ensuring that organisational strategic objectives are being delivered at the operational level within my region.
A strong collaborator, I demonstrate the capacity to build relationships and engage with diverse groups of people through ongoing communication with staff at a senior level as well as in customer-facing environments. In line with the Service Delivery Operational Model which has seen the ‘Workload Manager’ move workload allocation and capacity management from a site to a regional level, I have been a strong contributor to zone-level collaboration of EL1 and EL2 managers who as a group have prepared for and pre-empted the move to zone-wide capacity and workload management. In this forum I have worked with my fellow managers to develop strategies and processes that make more efficient and effective use of capacity within the zone. My focus on strategic priorities has also seen me actively participate in the Zone North NSW Cultural and Values Reference Group, which supports a ‘We’ culture focused on improving workplace performance and engagement, and participate as a member of the Indigenous Reference Group which pursues agendas and goals relevant to this particular client group. In an example of my capacity to commit to action and deliver results in priority areas, the region under my leadership successfully actioned the resolution to reduce debt amongst Indigenous clients within one week of undertaking this commitment.
As a leader of change, I have ensured that staff within my region, from Service Centre Managers down to Front of House and Back of House staff, have been kept informed about changes in departmental priorities and strategies and that they have understood the purpose of a move from a site-level view of capacity and workload management to a broader zone-level model. As a result, staff within the region have understood the benefits that are delivered through more centralised workload management and have therefore been supportive and accepting of the changes that this has made to their operational activities. Further demonstrating my capacity to lead staff through change, I have championed the digital transformation priorities of the DHS through my site, ensuring that all staff are provided with the training, resources and support to deliver this transformation at customer-level. For example, when I noted that one of the stand-alone Medicare sites within my region had been slow to adopt promotion of digital model of service delivery, I investigated the issues of relevance to this particular site and produced a Digital Transformation Site Paper, which made recommendations for change processes to be adopted in this site. Actions arising from this included a community engagement effort centring on digital workshops for the local community, and provision of opportunities for staff to rotate through a Centrelink site which had embraced a digital model and with which they were due were due to co-locate. Throughout this process I engaged staff in consultation and decision-making, enabling them to participate in and gain ownership of their site’s digital transformation. My focus on driving successful change at this site has ensured that the staff and their clients have successfully adopted the digital service delivery model and are prepared for a smooth integration with the Centrelink site with which they will soon co-locate.
Passionate about developing staff and supporting them to take on higher levels of responsibility, I build relationships with the staff within my region in order to understand their skills, ambitions and capacities. Through taking a proactive approach to developing future leaders within my staff teams, I ensure smooth succession in to leadership positions in times of change. For example, on an occasion where I needed to transition a Service Centre Manager to a different role for performance reasons, I was able to place a Team Leader from that site in to the role of Service Centre Manager. The prior training and development opportunities that I had provided to this Team Leader meant that he was well-equipped to assume this role and, with ongoing support and training, was able to transform the site in to a high-performing one that consistently met KPIs, maintained an engaged workforce, and delivered effective and efficient service.
