We recently began the next stage of a long-term project to develop the leadership capability within a NSW Government department. We have been working since 2005 to develop coaching skills amongst their senior managers and have recently designed, developed and hosted an on-line 360-degree leadership tool based on the organisation’s leadership capabilities framework. The establishment of this important framework is an essential initiative towards developing a high performance culture in a department that has undergone significant change in the last five years.

This month we began data collection for a sample of almost 200 leaders from team leader to director level to help validate the framework and develop various leadership profiles throughout the organisation. A major initiative like this has involved a wide variety of stakeholders and considerable input from business leaders. A fully customised interpretive text report is being developed to make the leadership report quick and easy for individuals to interpret.

To assist in the interpretation process we are training several internal facilitators in the skills needed to interpret the report and assist managers in making sense of the report results. We are also providing external interpretation support for those leaders who would prefer a third-party perspective. Whilst the report will be self-explanatory, the organisation has taken the initiative to offer a variety of avenues for those leaders who might require additional support in relating their results to the work environment.

This is an exciting initiative and will underpin a range of additional people processes within the department including succession planning and performance management.