Established and Supported under Australia’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme Pragmatic Leadership: national principles: local practices Tom Short Research Fellow – CRC for Rail Innovation University of South Australia

About the research Workforce development program Leadership and management development in the Australian Rail Industry Two year CRC project ( ) Two year CRC project ( ) Six organisations Six organisations Five States Five States 75 percent of industry 75 percent of industry Mixed methods – comparative date Mixed methods – comparative date Case studies, interviews and surveys Case studies, interviews and surveys Identify a capability framework Identify a capability framework © 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

CRC Program LEADERSHIP CAPABILITY E-learning Skills Recognition Incident Investigator Training Attraction / Retention Mentoring & Coaching ARA Workforce Development © 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

Leadership 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 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 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 InnovationSeniorMiddle FLM

Global National Sector Leading practice

Pragmatic construction GLOBAL KNOWLEDGE AUSTRALIAN FRAMEWORK ORGANISATIONAL NEED RAIL © 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

Research findings © 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Leading Self LeadingOthers Leading Leaders Leaders Leading Business

Analytical model © 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation 1. Capability Frameworks 3. Feedback from leaders 2. Frontline Management Initiative

Development framework Global competencies Rail sector priorities Unified approach Leadership framework 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 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 capabilities Generic

2. 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 leaders Survey - over 200 managers 7 major organisations 700 responses 33% from middle mangers who provided insight on front-line leader performance Six key themes of development: −Strategic leader −Organised leader −Results-drive leader −Caring leader −Inclusive leader −Authentic leader © 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation

CaptionDescriptor Vision and purposeProvides direction towards long-term aims and objectives Take intelligent risksAble to evaluate the upside and minimise the adverse effects of the downside InnovativeDevelops ideas and fresh thinking on how to create new opportunities InspiresCreates a sense of belief and inner passion towards the purpose See the big pictureAble to relate shorter term activities and issues into a broader context Shows insightCan deduce the inner nature of things and relate to experience or context

Comparative analysis PriorityLeadership ThemeFrontline Management Initiative Rail Leadership Capabilities StrategicOrganisedResultsCaringAuthenticInclusive 1Relationship building, collaborationManage people 2Communication SkillsManaging information 3Decision making and problem solvingManaging operations █ 4Change managementManage change and innovation █ 5Compliance with structuralManage operations █ 6Strategic thinkingn/a █ 7Personal attributesn/a █ 8Values, integrity, ethicsLeadership █ 9Goal setting and results orientatedManaging work priorities █ 10Communicates vision and missionLeadership █ 11Development of others, learning cultureManage people █ 12Working with teamsBuilding teams █ 13Knowledge and information managementManage information █ 14Effective management of resourcesManage work priorities █ 15Negotiates, influences and engagesManage people █ 16Conflict resolutionManage people █ 17Self-awarenessn/a 18Performance managementDevelop people █ 19Customer focusManage customer service █ 20Innovation and creativityManage change and innovation █ 21Mentor, coach and role modelManage people █ 22Continuous improvementContinuous quality improvement █ 23Takes risksManage work priorities █ 24Manages projectsBuilding teams █ 25Motivate, inspire and empowerLeadership █ 26Plan and organiseManage work priorities █ 27Understand diversity and differencesManage people █ 28External awareness, global environmentsn/a █ 29Community environment awarenessn/a █ 30Stress and work life balancen/a █ Rail references Number of references in analysis Position © 2012 CRC for Rail Innovation GLOBALNATIONAL LOCAL

Established and Supported under Australia’s Cooperative Research Centres Programme THANK YOU - QUESTIONS THANK YOU - QUESTIONS Tom Short CRC for Rail Innovation University of South Australia