Established and Supported under Australia’s Established and Supported under Australia’s Cooperative Research Centres ProgrammeCooperative Research Centres Programme

Pragmatic Leadership:Pragmatic Leadership:national principles: local practicesnational principles: local practices

Tom ShortTom ShortResearch Fellow – CRC for Rail InnovationResearch Fellow – CRC for Rail InnovationUniversity of South AustraliaUniversity of South Australia

About the researchAbout the research

Workforce development program Workforce development program

Leadership and management development Leadership and management development in the Australian Rail Industryin the Australian Rail Industry

• Two year CRC project Two year CRC project (2009-2011)(2009-2011)

• Six organisationsSix organisations• Five StatesFive States• 75 percent of industry75 percent of industry• Mixed methods – comparative dateMixed methods – comparative date• Case studies, interviews and surveysCase studies, interviews and surveys• Identify a capability frameworkIdentify a capability framework

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

CRC ProgramCRC Program

ARA Workforce

Development

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

Leadership in AustraliaLeadership in Australia

• 40% of Australian firms have increased their leadership development budget – the highest global performance outside of Asia

• But … Australian firms have the lowest number

of talented leaders able to fill senior leadership positions – in comparison with other economies

• 43% of leadership development initiatives are only moderate in terms of achieving results

• 72% of internal hires are successful in comparison with 68% of external hires

CIPD, 2011

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

Background in railBackground in rail

• Pressing need for industry to

develop leadership talent

• No unified approach

• Aspiration to harmonise

• Misalignment – need/solution

• Limited post-training evaluation

• Unknown ROI or cost-benefit

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

Leaders in railLeaders in rail

1. 73% percent of all leaders are located in front line roles

2. Of this 73%, almost 38% have no formal qualifications in management

3. High level of technical expertise, but low level of capability in people management

4. Front line leaders have longer service and are less mobile than middle/senior leaders

5. Front line leaders have less access to IT than other groups

6. Front-line roles are context-critical in relation to ‘being able to do the job

7. Training is largely undertaken on-the-job

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

Global

National

Sector

Leading practiceLeading practice

Pragmatic constructionPragmatic construction

GLOBAL GLOBAL KNOWLEDGEKNOWLEDGE

AUSTRALIAN AUSTRALIAN FRAMEWORKFRAMEWORK

ORGANISATIONAL ORGANISATIONAL NEEDNEED

RAIL

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

Research findingsResearch findings

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

LeadingSelf LeadingLeading

OthersOthersLeadingLeading LeadersLeaders

Leading Business

1 2 3 4

Analytical modelAnalytical model

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

1. Capability Frameworks

3. Feedback from leaders

2. Frontline Management

Initiative

Development frameworkDevelopment framework

Global Global

competenciescompetencies

Rail sector Rail sector prioritiespriorities

Unified approach

Leadership Leadership frameworkframework

Establish competencies from other frameworks

Identify the pressing needs of the industry

Align these needs with the AQF national framework

Establish a pathway to focus development on need

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

1. Capability frameworks1. Capability frameworks

• Popular, widely available• Generic, but related to context• Selected 20• Public sector, Australian focus• 200 capabilities/attributes• Reduce to 30 key areas• Identified meta-competencies• Arranged in order of frequency

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

Leadership capabilitiesLeadership capabilities

Generic

2. Frontline Management2. Frontline Management

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

• Aimed to up-skill front line managers• Australian Focus – Created in 1995• Aligned with AQF competencies• Staged at Level III, IV and V• Work-based assignments• 11 units – 6 core and 5 elective• Aligned with leadership capabilities and

rail themes • 5 core units = 50% of capabilities

• Cert III = 60% of capabilities

• Cert V = 80% of capabilities

3. Feedback from leaders3. Feedback from leaders

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

Caption Descriptor

Vision and purpose Provides direction towards long-term aims and objectives

Take intelligent risks Able to evaluate the upside and minimise the adverse effects of the downside

Innovative Develops ideas and fresh thinking on how to create new opportunities

Inspires Creates a sense of belief and inner passion towards the purpose

See the big picture Able to relate shorter term activities and issues into a broader context

Shows insight Can deduce the inner nature of things and relate to experience or context

Comparative analysisComparative analysis

Priority Leadership Theme Frontline Management Initiative

Rail Leadership Capabilities

Strategic Organised Results Caring Authentic Inclusive

1 Relationship building, collaboration Manage people

2 Communication Skills Managing information

3 Decision making and problem solving Managing operations █4 Change management Manage change and innovation █  

5 Compliance with structural Manage operations    █    

6 Strategic thinking n/a █       

7 Personal attributes n/a         █8 Values, integrity, ethics Leadership         █  

9 Goal setting and results orientated Managing work priorities      █    

10 Communicates vision and mission Leadership █          

11 Development of others, learning culture Manage people █     

12 Working with teams Building teams       █ 

13 Knowledge and information management Manage information   █        

14 Effective management of resources Manage work priorities   █        

15 Negotiates, influences and engages Manage people         █ 

16 Conflict resolution Manage people        █    

17 Self-awareness n/a            

18 Performance management Develop people      █      

19 Customer focus Manage customer service █          

20 Innovation and creativity Manage change and innovation █          

21 Mentor, coach and role model Manage people       █     

22 Continuous improvement Continuous quality improvement █          

23 Takes risks Manage work priorities █          

24 Manages projects Building teams    █        

25 Motivate, inspire and empower Leadership           █ 

26 Plan and organise Manage work priorities    █        

27 Understand diversity and differences Manage people         █   

28 External awareness, global environments n/a  █          

29 Community environment awareness n/a       █    

30 Stress and work life balance n/a       █    

  Rail references 8 5 3 5 3 3

  Number of references in analysis 238 151 113 106 99 87

  Position 1 2 3 4 5 6

© 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

GLOBAL

NATIONAL

LOCAL

Established and Supported under Australia’s Established and Supported under Australia’s Cooperative Research Centres ProgrammeCooperative Research Centres Programme

THANK YOU - QUESTIONSTHANK YOU - QUESTIONS

Tom ShortTom ShortCRC for Rail InnovationCRC for Rail Innovation

University of South AustraliaUniversity of South Australia