Session 1, Friday 7 October 2011 MANAGING OUR MOST ...

AIJA Australasian Courts Administrators Group Conference 6-7 October 2011

Four Points by Sheraton Hotel, Sydney

Session 1, Friday 7 October 2011

MANAGING OUR MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE

Gen Y - the future in their hands

The Family Law Courts Young Employees Advisory Group

Speaker: Ms Rachel Holmes, Legal Associate Family Court of Australia

MANAGING OUR MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE The Family Law Courts YEAG Program

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Short Work Biography – Rachel Holmes Rachel Holmes is presently the Legal Associate to the Honourable Diana Bryant, Chief Justice of

the Family Court of Australia. Rachel attended Griffith University where in December 2010 she

graduated with an honours degree in Law and a degree in Psychological Science. In February

2011 Rachel completed a postgraduate diploma in Legal Practice, Skills and Ethics, also through

Griffith University. In March 2011 Rachel was admitted as a Legal Practitioner in Queensland.

Rachel has been employed in the Family Court since March 2009. She first worked in the

Brisbane registry in a client service role and then as an Associate to the Honourable Justice

O’Reilly. Rachel transferred to Melbourne in March 2011 to take up her current position. Rachel

has been a member of the Young Employees Advisory Group for 2010-11 and as such has

actively participated in a national leadership development forum and contributed her ideas to the

future of the Family Law Courts. At the age of 24 years, Rachel is also a member of Gen Y.


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MANAGING OUR MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE

Gen Y - the future in their hands

“Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser

than the one that comes after it.” George Orwell

Gen Y defined

The definition of Generation Y (“Gen Y”) can vary depending on who you talk to but Bruce

Tulgan, author of Not Everyone gets a Trophy1, defines Gen Y as consisting of those born

between 1978 and 1990. That means the oldest Gen Y’s are in their early 30’s, while the

youngest have just entered early adulthood and are celebrating their 21st birthdays.

From an organisational perspective, Gen Y ranges from employees with up to ten years

experience in the workforce2, down to university students in the process of completing their

degrees. Gen Y can be considered as young employees.

Generation Y: a little background

It is important to understand the historical and environmental influences that have shaped Gen Y

in order to gain a better understanding of who they are and what has defined their experience.

Gen Y are predominantly the children of the baby boomers. Gen Y grew up mostly in the 1990’s

and came of age in the 2000’s. Often referred to as the great “oversupervised generation”, Gen

Y grew up in an era where the dominant theme in parenting was making children feel great about

themselves and building up their positive self-esteem. The notion that “Everyone got a trophy”

where children were constantly rewarded merely for participating was a common reinforcement

technique3.

From a broader perspective, globalisation and technology, institutions in a state of constant flux,

and the information tidal wave have also being key contributors in shaping this generation4.

Gen Y have come of age in an era where advances in communication methods means they have

grown to expect an instantaneous response and where the pace of everything accelerating

doesn’t make Gen Y feel slow, rather it makes them less patient.

For Gen Y uncertainty is their natural habitat; globalisation does not make them feel small it

makes them feel worldly; technology does not make them feel like they are racing, it makes them

feel connected and powerful; institutions may be in a state of constant flux but this does not

trouble Gen Y as they are merely passing through trying to squeeze out as much experience and

as many resources as they can; the information tidal wave is not overwhelming, rather it makes

Gen Y feel as though they are experts on everything5.

1 Tulgan, B. 2009, Not Everyone Gets a Trophy: How to Manage Generation Y, Jossey-Bass (Wiley), California. 2 Assuming some tertiary study has been completed after graduating from High School. 3 See n1 above at pp6-8 4 Ibid 5 Ibid


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Who Gen Y is - and is not - at work

“Gen Y…are the most educated, tech savvy, flexible and potentially most innovative generation

Australia has known – an investment in the greatest competitive advantage any company will

have in a decade or so”. 6

Gen Y have been significantly criticised as “the most high-maintenance workforce in the history of

the world” and if you believe everything you read the outlook is bleak. It is more likely the case

that, as with other generations, where a new generation of workers enters the workforce it will

rock the boat, irritating the older, more experienced workers7.

What must be understood is that Gen Y also brings with them the defining characteristics unique

to their generation. Gen Y has particular work expectations and career aspirations that go

beyond a salary. Gen Y are employees who will not be content to labour quietly in a sink or swim environment.

Their career path will be shaped by a long series of short-term transactional employment

relationships8.

Gen Y has high expectations of themselves and their employers. They

have grown up being treated as equals by their parents and respond

best to this management style. In short, Gen Y want to work beside

you, not for you9.

Gen Y want managers who know who they are, know what they are

doing, are highly engaged with them, provide guidance, help them solve

problems and keep track of their successes. They want managers who

will spend time teaching them how to work well very fast10.

“What do you want

from me? What do you

have to offer in return

now and for the

foreseeable future? I’ll

stay here as long as

it’s working out for the

both of us”

Gen Y does not need work to be fun and do not want to be humoured. They want to be taken

seriously and want their work to be engaging. Gen Y wants to learn, be challenged, and to

understand the relationship between their work and the overall mission of the organisation and

wider community. Gen Y want to hit the ground running from day one, identify problems no one

else has, offer solutions, make existing things better. They want to make an impact11.

The ideal workplace for a typical Gen Y offers “flexibility, workplace culture, training, variety, in job

opportunities and a management style they can connect with”12.

6 Featherstone, T. 2010, ‘Fight for a place on the ladder’, BRW, 2 December 2010 7 See n 1 above at p4 8 See n 1 above a p10 9 Ibid 10 See n 1 at pp12-13 11 See n 1 a p13 12 McCrindle, M. 2010, ‘Generation Y at work – Part 2: a snapshot of emerging leaders, Keeping Good Companies, October 2010, pp556-569


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Bringing out the best in Gen Y: The need for employ ee engagement and leadership

development programs

“Yes, Generation Y will be more difficult to recruit, retain, motivate and manage than any other

new generation to enter the workforce. But this will also be the most high-performing workforce in

history for those who know how to manage them properly.”13

Robust employee development, engagement or other like leadership programs can increase

employee and organisational performance, but they require energy, resources, budget and time.

Gen Y have been described as bringing about the rise of employee engagement programs in

Australia14, a trend which has wavered slightly with the global economic downtown. This trend is

confirmed in the Australian Public Service by the results of the 2009-10 State of the Service

Report, which demonstrated that:

• only 17% of agencies had developed a risk profile for their workforce in order to

strengthen succession management for critical roles and leadership positions; and

• only 10% of agencies reported having a current active talent management strategy in

place.

Given that by 2015, 40% of the Australian workforce will be Generation Y, this trend is worrying.

The importance of implementing development programs for young employees should be an

organisational priority to ensure our future leaders are equipped to take on leadership roles as

our organisations inevitably undergo generational change.

The Gen Y literature is supportive of systematic leadership

attempts to engage young employees in ways that will develop

their skills and strengthen workforce capability. Research

demonstrates that Gen Y’s preferred training area is in “soft

skills” training, defined as presentation skills, management and

communication skills and that the preferred method of training

is on the job coaching and mentoring15.

“Although employers do not

need to react to every whim of

a new generation, they cannot

hold fast to the old ways of

doing things and expect the

emerging generations to

conform”.16

The research demonstrates that where the leadership of an organisation provide opportunities for

development those leaders are more likely to attract and retain Gen Y employees. The message

is simple: if you want high performance out of Gen Y, you had better commit to high performance

leadership17.

And now for an example…

13 See n 1 above at p 14 Lyon, Z. 2009, ‘Has Gen Y met it’s Match?’, Lawyers Weekly, 20 March 2009, pp 16-21 15 See n 12 at p566 16 See n 12 at p569 17 See n 1 at pp16-17


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Case Study: The Family Law Courts Young Employees A dvisory Group

Overview

The Young Employees Advisory Group (“YEAG”) is a national leadership development forum for

young employees which promotes innovation and best practice. The YEAG engages the thinking

and ideas of young employees in courts administration. It provides young employees of the

Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court (“the Courts”) with an exceptional opportunity to

contribute their ideas to the courts’ future planning.

Membership of YEAG is for 12 months, during which time the members develop and work on

projects of significance to the courts. Members also have the opportunity to attend the Chief

Executive Officer’s Management Advisory Group (CMAG) meetings on several occasions as

observers. At the CMAG meetings, YEAG members are required to make short presentations

about the progress of the group as a whole and about the individual projects. In addition, each

YEAG group is assigned a mentor (a senior executive of the courts), who helps guide the

members and their projects during the 12 months.

Now running for three years, the YEAG program sits firmly at the core of the courts’

administrative framework and is a key initiative in our overall strategy to promote a culture of

innovation and best practice in everything we do.

The YEAG vision: theory, identifying a need and ris k management within our organisation

Identifying the need for YEAG

To achieve best practice, there is an ongoing need for the courts to understand the work they do

and the services they deliver. Harnessing the innovative potential of a younger generation of APS

employee contributes to this understanding. Young employees are our future court administrators

and leaders and engaging their ideas and developing their work capacity is critical to the future

growth and success of the courts.

In order to address these issues a proposal to establish a Young Employees’ Advisory Group was

developed. The purpose of the proposal was to canvass whether establishing a Young

Employees Advisory Group through which the Court could enable the voice of the Court’s young

employees to be better expressed would contribute to attracting, retaining and recognising young

employees. Rather than imposing on young Court employees a management driven concept of a

Young Employees Advisory Group, a series of focus groups and forums to ascertain the level of

interest of young court employees were facilitated and run by management. The opinions of

The YEAG Vision “I was fortunate to visit the Centre for Court Innovation in New York. One thing that struck me was a project being run with school leavers from the US public school system. I was so impressed with the work that the young people did and felt this initiative would translate well into the Family Court. Hence the vision for YEAG was born. I have a deep and personal interest in this initiative which has now been running for three years. It develops young people, it helps the courts better understand the work we do and the services we deliver and it engages the senior executive in the youth of the court, and they certainly bring a very different perspective to the way we do our business.” Richard Foster, CEO and YEAG Ambassador


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senior executives were also sought. Following the process of consultation the need for a YEAG

initiative was reaffirmed. The need for this program as identified by the Courts young employees

and senior executives is summarised below:

From the perspective of young employees

there was a need to:

From the perspective of senior executives

there was a need to:

• give young employees a meaningful

voice and an outlet for new ideas

• receive support including coaching and

mentoring from senior staff

• be provided with opportunities to grow

professionally

• be given levels of responsibility

commensurate with their ability

• take a lead in technology and

technology-based business solutions

• know that the courts have a plan for them

into the future

• encourage the leadership aspirations and

personal development of young

employees and invest in their future

development

• gain the benefit of new ideas and insight

into future directions in courts

administration and a fresh perspective on

the work we do

• attract and retain quality young employees

and strengthen our workforce capability

• ensure key APS goals and courts’

business objectives are achieved,

including fostering a culture of innovation

and best practice

The sentiments expressed by the Court’s young employees and senior executives all resonate

with the available Generation Y literature.

Risk management

The CEO and senior executive were aware that when introducing the YEAG initiative there were

inherent risks. For example, the CEO was conscious that older staff not eligible for the YEAG

program may consider they were not being offered the same opportunities for involvement.

However this risk was considered to be lessened due to experience and time in the workforce

older employees had, making them better able to bring their views forward of their own accord.

It was also acknowledged that ongoing management commitment would be vital for the continued

long term success of the YEAG concept. It was noted that if the initiative was introduced and

management interest subsequently waned it would affect the ongoing success of the YEAG and,

further, had the potential to taint the credibility of Court management in a general sense. This risk

has been managed by the commitment of the courts’ executive since the introduction of the

program in 2008 to actively embed the YEAG program and its innovative achievements within the

organisation.


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How does YEAG operate in practice?

The YEAG Governance Framework

The YEAG initiative operates under the following governance framework:

• The Chief Executive Officer is the overall sponsor and YEAG ambassador. The CEO’s

leadership and vision drives the YEAG initiative and ensures its continued success.

• The Chief Executive Officer’s Management Advisory G roup (CMAG) supports the

CEO, SES YEAG mentor and the YEAG to deliver the program. Members may also

undertake the role of YEAG project sponsors.

• A senior executive YEAG mentor is appointed each year and is responsible for

planning, designing and delivering the program in conjunction with the YEAG coordinator.

• The YEAG coordinator is a senior manager responsible for the day-to-day coordination

of the program. This includes face-to-face meetings, monthly teleconferences and

keeping in regular contact with the YEAG members and project managers to ensure that

project milestones and targets are achieved.

• An external facilitator is employed to facilitate workshops and provide valuable insight

into achieving YEAG’s objectives.

• The YEAG members are responsible for allocating time to fulfil their YEAG commitments

in addition to their usual jobs. YEAG members who are project managers are also

responsible for reporting directly to their senior executive project sponsor and overseeing

the work of their project group.

The above governance framework is unique because it facilitates clear and direct engagement

between young employees and senior executives and demonstrates the high level of standing the

YEAG initiative has within the courts.

Young Employee Advisory Group 2010-2011 – First Workshop – 28th July 2010


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The YEAG planning cycle

A YEAG Mentor’s perspective

“A great deal of thinking and planning went into the 2010–

11 YEAG program to make it such a success. Each year,

the program evolves based on the learning from previous

groups. Now in its third year, we feel we have developed a

successful model and ‘bottled the YEAG formula’.

Organisationally, we have gained the benefit of our young

employees’ perspectives on vital areas of court operations

and invested in their professional development. The core

elements of this program may be adapted to other areas of

the courts and the program hopefully extended to other

federal courts and tribunals.” Marianne Christmann, YEAG

Senior Executive Mentor 2010–11

Marianne Christmann (centre), YEAG Senior Executive

Mentor 2010–11 with 2010–11 YEAG members Madeline

Angeletti (left) and Emma Beesley (right)

The Courts have continued to learn from experience and the YEAG model has undergone a

number of subtle enhancements since it was first introduced as a consequence of the courts’

vision to strive to be the best in everything we do.

The actioning of program recommendations has lead to better program outcomes with successor

groups, demonstrated by a higher output of project work from each subsequent YEAG and the

reporting of better professional development outcomes and overall program satisfaction.

The following planning and governance arrangements underpinned the program for 2010–11:

Pre-planning The senior executive mentor plans the design of the upcoming YEAG program,

building on the previous year’s program and reviewing feedback from the

previous YEAG members, mentors and sponsors. Budget approvals are

sought.

Selecting YEAG

members

The CEO calls for nominations in June each year. Nominations are submitted

to the YEAG mentor who makes recommendations to the CEO. The CEO

selects and announces the successful candidates for the year.

Getting YEAG up

and running

The establishment of the YEAG program takes place at the first workshop

session of the year. At this session, brainstorming ideas for projects takes

place, project groups are formed, project sponsors are announced and project

delivery milestones are set.

Implementation

and delivery

The YEAG projects are undertaken and are supported by the project sponsors.

Members also participate in workshops, sessions with external speakers and

other activities and events. The mentor monitors and reports on the program

through the above governance framework.

Reporting,

program review

and closure

Formal reporting on project outcomes and experiences are provided regularly

to the CEO and CMAG. The program is reviewed at the conclusion of every

year and formal feedback is sought from all participants which feeds into the

next year’s planning cycle. Opportunities to embed YEAG initiatives within the

organisation are also explored.


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The planning and governance arrangements for the YEAG initiative are effective and well

established. Qualitative feedback sought from CMAG at the conclusion of the 2010–11 YEAG

found CMAG were satisfied with the outcomes from the program and were supportive of the

planning and governance arrangements. Those arrangements were felt to support the successful

project outcomes and the observed positive changes in the professional capability of the YEAG

members.

Qualitative feedback sought from the 2010–11 YEAG members themselves in relation to the

structure of the program was complimentary of the planning and governance arrangements. The

YEAG members indicated that the structure was effective and the program was well-managed. In

particular, they considered that the meeting program, the project resources and templates, project

sponsorship and the project milestones and deadlines gave them a structure to work within and

all contributed to the positive results that were achieved.

Following the 2010–11 YEAG program, the planning and governance structure arrangements

were reviewed and were found to be operating effectively. No significant changes have been, or

are proposed. The YEAG experience

The YEAG initiate delivers a formal program consisting of four meetings over 12 months (total of

eight days formal contact time). There are also extensive informal interactions between the group

and the mentor, coordinator and project sponsors. Senior executive visibility is high at the four

formal contact sessions and throughout the duration of the YEAG program. The YEAG

workshops are also scheduled to co-occur with CMAG meetings to enable formal presentations to

CMAG and a higher level of interaction between the two groups.

The formal contact sessions are run by an external facilitator from the Centre for Public

Management. The learning process is focused on experiential approaches with minimal

classroom-style sessions. The program takes members on a journey through a wide range of

My YEAG experience

“I've always been interested in project management and matters of

Courts administration but as a legal associate it is not a skill that is

developed in my day-to-day job role. Never did I imagine that I would be

provided with an opportunity to manage a project that would be rolled out

nationally across our organisation and be taken up by over 500 staff. Yet,

through The YEAG program, I did! Although My YEAG experience has

now come to an end, I continue to reap the rewards of the program. My

career has been advanced through being promoted to a higher job role

and I continue to have regular contact with a number of senior

executives. The YEAG program has provided a stimulating and

rewarding work environment and I highly recommend participating in this

experience to my fellow young colleagues.”

Rachel Holmes, 2010–11 Program


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different experiences, forums and events including the opportunity to attend and present to

CMAG and to attend Senate Estimates.

The YEAG experience can be grouped into four key areas:

Promoting self-awareness: There is a strong focus on self-awareness. All members complete a

DiSC Workplace Profile at the commencement of the program to understand their individual work

styles and team dynamics. Practical team activities are also used to facilitate a rapid

understanding of team roles. These approaches accelerate the team formation stage, allowing

members to quickly understand where they each fit into the YEAG team.

Leadership and skills development: A collaborative approach is taken to leadership and skills

development. YEAG members engage directly with key senior executives and are coached and

mentored in their project work and presentations. The development and delivery of projects also

provides each member with an understanding of project management methodologies and the

importance of strong and effective governance mechanisms.

The context: The YEAG program contains a number of sessions designed to ensure young

employees understand the context of their roles within the courts, as well across the wider APS.

On the judicial side, this includes meetings with the Chief Justice and the Chief Federal

Magistrate, while on the Parliamentary side, members attend Senate Estimates and tour

Parliament House. They also attend CMAG meetings.

Teams and networks: A

significant outcome for each

participant is the journey they

undertake as a team. The

program builds a strong and

cohesive network of young court

professionals that span different

functional areas and geographic

boundaries. Members work within

a team (which is self-managed for

much of the year) of like-minded

individuals from across both

courts. Enjoyable team activities,

regular social functions and a few

‘fun’ features including a team photo shoot promote team formation and ongoing cohesion.

Bottling the YEAG formula

The YEAG program is such a success within the courts that the courts wish to capture and share

the program with others. The final workshop for 2010–11 brainstormed ‘bottling the YEAG

formula’ and the following key success features were identified:


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Opportunities for personal development and recognition

• The recognition given to the YEAG and the chance to work closely with senior executives

is a highlight of the program.

• The engagement within the organisation, including with CMAG members, helps develop

each member over the 12 months.

• The acquisition of skills in areas like project management, communication and

delegation, has enormous benefits.

Project work

• The projects are a highlight of the program, giving the group a chance to deliver tangible

outcomes to the courts in areas that matter to them.

• The brainstorming process that YEAG went through to develop their project ideas was

enjoyable and suitably democratic.

• The deadlines and the templates contribute to the successful outcomes of the projects.

Executive and organisational support

• CEO and senior executive support is considered vital to the success of the program.

• The project sponsors’ engagement was excellent and the time they allocate to YEAG was

appreciated.

• ‘Pete’s calls’ were important. The YEAG coordinator’s regular check-in calls were

appreciated and helped keep them on track.

• All members felt strong ownership of the projects and agreed this was a key part of their

success.

Other formal and informal feedback mechanisms were used which reflected positive and

supportive feedback from the wider internal court community e.g. evaluation surveys specific to

project initiatives. A high standard to leadership and change management as critical indicators of success

“We need leaders who are engaged in planning for the future workforce not as an ‘optional extra’

but as an integral part of how they think about the work they do.” Steve Sedgwick, Public Service

Commissioner

Support, commitment and leadership from the Courts senior executives is critical to the program’s

success. The vision for YEAG (which is set by the CEO) is to engage the thinking and ideas of

the courts’ young employees as the Courts strive to implement best practice.

This high level of leadership and commitment emanating from the very top of the organisation

fosters the leadership aspirations and professional development of YEAG members and gives

YEAG support and a sense of purpose. Encouraging and reinforcing the engagement between

YEAG members and key executives and managers, as well as engaging with them in core

business of the courts, reflects a truly collaborative partnership with the courts young employees

through the program.


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The YEAG members’ leadership and career aspirations are facilitated through a range of

strategies and experiential opportunities, including:

• engaging with the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, Chief Federal Magistrate, CEO

and courts’ senior executives and managers

• participating in workshop sessions with former senior executives and private consultants

on career development, building resilience, workplace profiling and team building

• receiving coaching and mentoring from the YEAG mentor, coordinator and project

sponsors on project work, presentations, delegation and communication, and

• facilitating networking opportunities between members.

Formal feedback mechanisms (facilitated workshop sessions and individual feedback sought by

the mentor and coordinator) monitor how YEAG members progress throughout the year. This

includes feedback from CMAG members on their growth and performance.

From the executive perspective, the CEO and senior executives actively support the delivery of

the YEAG program and the individual projects. They nurtured innovative project ideas; ensured

sufficient organisational resources were available to project teams; and actively participated in

project initiatives. In addition, senior executives also contributed to the personal growth and

professional development of the YEAG members through open channels of communication,

coaching and mentoring, committing time to project work and by providing direct and timely

feedback and advice to YEAG members.

From the young employees’ perspective, the YEAG members are given the opportunity to explore

their leadership aspirations through a national forum.

The YEAG initiative is endorsed at the highest level of executive leadership and this is the key to

its success. This provides the requisite mandate for young employees to thrive in relation to their

professional development and project outcomes. The enthusiasm which the leadership have

demonstrated and their commitment to the program shows an openness to innovative ways of

operating and willingness to support the develop the courts young employees.

Overall, the successful implementation of

the YEAG program can be credited largely

to the commitment of the senior executive to

embed a culture welcoming innovation

within the courts, which is supported by the

unique key design elements of the program.


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The results and achievements of the YEAG program

“As a group of under 27 year olds, we appreciated the opportunity to use our creativity, innovation

and enthusiasm and to get our voices heard. We learnt from the organisation, but we also believe

that the organisation learnt from us.” 2009–10 YEAG member.

The YEAG program has made the courts a stimulating and rewarding environment for its young

employees, as reflected in their outstanding results and achievements. In its broadest sense, the

YEAG program has delivered on its promise of engaging the thinking and ideas of young

employees in the courts.

The outcomes for young employees

Our young employees are given the opportunity to participate in a national leadership

development forum and contribute their ideas to the future of the courts.

The 2010–11 YEAG members reported through their facilitated feedback sessions that:

• the opportunity to explore their leadership and career aspirations and the mentoring and

coaching they received was a highlight of the program

• they developed a strong sense of self-awareness of their individual work styles and team

dynamics through the completion of DiSC Workplace Profiles, team activities and project

work

• the recognition given to the YEAG program in the courts is critical to the program’s

success

• the chance to network with senior executives and develop relationships with other young

employees is equally important

• they better understand the Parliament, Government, the APS and the courts by being

actively involved in meetings, by attending Senate Estimates, by touring Parliament

House and through meeting with the Chief Justice and Chief Federal Magistrate

• they learnt new skills in project management, communication and delegation as well as

strategies to assist in achieving work-life balance and resilience, and

• they grew personally and professionally.

In their feedback, the courts’ senior executive reported that YEAG members had professionally

developed and become a confident and highly effective network of young professionals over the

12 month journey.

Project outcomes

“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation.” Pearl S. Buck

The 2010–11 YEAG successfully delivered four projects all of which made an innovative

contribution to courts administration and best practice outcomes.


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The YEAG Challenge increased physical

activity levels, improved office interaction

and teamwork and fostered a friendly sense

of competition and fun. The challenge

involved over 500 staff participating in 72

teams, with staff logging an average of 11

991 steps per person per day (well above

the national physical activity guideline of

10,000 steps). Survey responses from

‘challenge champions’ and participants was

also highly supportive of the challenge. The project was described by the YEAG sponsor and

project sponsor as a great success for relatively little cost and will be repeated annually.

Think B4 U send explored ways to improve

internal communication within the courts by

reducing over-reliance on emails, reducing

unnecessary emails and promoting more

innovative methods of communication. General

all-staff information emails were targeted first

with information now placed on the courts’

intranets instead of being emailed to all staff.

Statistical information is now analysed to enable

the courts to measure change. Early indications

are that email traffic has reduced by 5.5 per cent from a national average of 152 458 emails per

week, down to 144 115 (comparing the four weeks before and after the launch of the project).

Key elements of the project continue to be rolled out which could see email traffic further reduced.

New Frontiers— Recruiting future generations was a targeted campaign to engage young

people and promote the Family Law Courts as an employment option for young people.

Successful Law Week activities were undertaken in May 2011 which included an open day in

Melbourne targeting school and university students and a stall at the Parramatta Courts Precinct

Law Week. It has been recommended that law week activities should be undertaken nationally

each year and further work be undertaken to advance a proposed Family Law Courts recruitment

web page for young people.

eFiling: Gateway to the Future increased

staff awareness and knowledge of the

Commonwealth Courts Portal and eFiling so

they can more confidently promote the Portal

to clients and the legal profession. This is

viewed by the courts as supporting key access

to justice initiatives. A workshop program and

materials were developed and piloted in the

Canberra registry. Following the workshop,

Canberra staff reported (through surveys) that their confidence in using the Portal had increased


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and staff registrations to use the Portal increased from nine per cent to 75 per cent. The program

is now being rolled out nationally.

Previous YEAG projects have also delivered innovative results:

• An environmentally based project included the development of a court-wide

environmental policy, a ‘Green Corner’ segment in court newsletters and research into

existing recycling facilities at all registries.

• An electronic technologies project explored the use of SMS and email technology to

improve client service.

• A staff development project explored options for staff development and included a staff

survey.

Organisational outcomes

From an organisational perspective, the outcomes include:

• Strengthening workforce capability by engaging the ideas of its young employees and

developing their leadership and skills capability.

• Embracing new ideas and different ways of working by piloting projects and

embedding innovation within the courts.

• Inspiring a high level of engagement across the cou rts with the judiciary, executives

and staff all participating in various projects.

How is YEAG innovative?

The APS Innovation Action Agenda promotes the facilitation of the creativity inherent in our

organisations and invites organisations to welcome tests, pilots and experiments. The YEAG

program and the high level of leadership which underpins it, demonstrates the courts’ willingness

to embed a culture of innovation in the organisation.

The YEAG program is not only an example of innovation in courts administration, but the courts

believe it to be a first of its kind in Australia; it is also an example of how leadership capability is

developed within the courts.

Our approach recognises that in order to successfully embed a culture of innovation within an

organisation, the CEO and senior executives must promote an innovative culture and effectively

‘hardwire‘ innovation into the organisation’s leadership systems and programs. The YEAG

initiative promotes innovation by:

• allowing projects, initiatives and features to develop ‘organically’ each year – thus

creating a unique journey for each new group

• expressing an openness and support for new ideas and innovation – the YEAG program

pilots ideas from small workshops or open days to whole of organisation initiatives such

as the YEAG Challenge


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• promoting an active and dynamic dialogue between the YEAG (young employees) and

CMAG (CEO and senior executives) members, and

• actively embracing all methods and means for the delivery of YEAG projects and

communications.

The YEAG program is unique in that despite the day-to-day time pressures and entrenched

constraints, the courts’ senior executive have generated transformational change by introducing a

program that encourages leadership and rewards innovation. This is achieved through:

• piloting new ideas ranging in size from smaller initiatives, such as an eFiling workshop, a

recruitment campaign, and open days up to larger whole-of-organisation projects such as

the YEAG Challenge

• the senior executive and YEAG members working collaboratively on the program,

projects and multi-media presentations in interactive and dynamic ways

• the senior executive mentor using effective goal setting and multi-directional

communication to engage young employees in the core business of the courts, and

• providing ongoing feedback and guidance directly to YEAG members.

Actively promoting YEAG initiatives also serves to promote a culture of innovation within the

courts’ environment. Ongoing promotion occurs throughout the year through:

• articles in courts’ newsletters, promoting the innovative projects and pilots, project

participation and members’ experiences

• formal CEO communications announcing projects, achievements and inviting

participation, and

• a YEAG intranet page containing information and photo galleries of the YEAG initiative

over the three years.

YEAG promotional shot for the YEAG Challenge


18

Presenting

the ‘YEAG news bulletin’ to CMAG

At the highest level, the courts seek to promote a culture where there is courage and support to

be innovative at all levels and to apply new perspectives to collaborative problem solving and

professional development. This in turn will make the courts an attractive employment option for a

new generation of employees. The YEAG program delivers the unique approach necessary to

promote such culture and to achieve best practice in everything we do.


19

“We are dealing with the best-

educated generation in history. But

they've got a brain dressed up with

nowhere to go.” Timothy Leary

A more serious focus: why might other organisations like to adopt the YEAG model?

What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who instructs the

rising generation? Marcus Tullius Cicero

There is clear evidence that the YEAG program has been a great success within the Family Law

Courts18, but why might other organisations like to adopt the YEAG program model?

The issues encountered within the Family Law Courts in relation to attracting, retaining and

recognising Gen Y or young employees; planning and developing workforce capability, are not

unique to the Court. On 9 August 2011, Steve Sedgwick the Public Service Commissioner gave

a presentation on Evaluating the Current State of the Public Sector and its Future Demands to Up

Skill its Workforce and emphasised the importance of workforce planning to achieve long term

organisational growth and success. Workforce planning was described as a business activity that

is the core responsibility of all leaders and managers, and therefore important for public service

organisations to have “leaders who are actively engaged … in planning for the future workforce

not as an ‘optional extra’ but as an integral part of how they think about the work they do”19.

As mentioned above, the YEAG program encourages and reinforces the engagement between

YEAG members and key executives and managers, as well as engaging with them in core

business of the courts. From an organisational perspective this demonstrates the active

engagement of court leadership to deliver on a commitment to develop young employees as

future court administrators and leaders and thus strengthening the courts workforce capability.

Where the work environment that we are planning for is

one of “rising education levels, changing roles, different

attitudes toward authority and work, and greater

demands for participation” it is important that leadership

systems and structures are built or adapt so that courts

continue to transform into strategic, forward looking and

resilient organisations. A core skill the future workforce will require a good understanding of

project management to operate in an environment focused on delivery. Presently an ageing

workforce is “the most prominent human capital risk in terms of productivity, capability and cost –

and will raise pressing choices about how best to retain access to experience while effecting

generational change and managing organisational renewal over time”20.

The YEAG program is an initiative which seeks to address this issue where the outcomes for

young people participating in the program (YEAG members) include:

18 Based on the reported outcomes in “The results and achievements of the YEAG program” section set out above 19 Sedgwick, S. 2011, ‘Evaluating the Current State of the Public Sector and its Future Demands to Up Skill its Workforce’, Australian Public Service Commission, Speech presented on 9 August 2011. 20 Ibid


20

• exploring leadership and career aspirations, through mentoring and coaching from senior

executives and external facilitators, while also exploring self-awareness through the

completion of DiSC Workplace Profiles

• gaining an understanding of the Government, the courts’ and the APS’ organisational

context through attending Senate Estimates, touring Parliament House, meeting the

Courts’ judiciary and attending the CEO’s Management Advisory Group (CMAG)

• learning new skills in project management, communication and delegation, and

• becoming confident and highly effective young professionals.

Further, YEAG members also make a positive contribution to innovation in courts administration

through the delivery of projects that provide genuine business solutions.

Finally, organisationally, the YEAG initiative achieves many positive outcomes for the courts. It:

• delivers on a commitment to develop the courts young employees as future court

administrators and leaders and strengthen the courts workforce capability

• embraces innovative new ideas and ways of working through successfully piloting new

programs and initiatives, and

• inspires a high level of engagement across the courts with the courts’ judiciary,

executives and staff all participating in projects and taking part in the fun.

Courts administration is dependent on the quality of its people and its leadership, with the

challenge being to develop and put into practice the types of initiatives that will contribute to the

resilience and enduring capability of the courts as they undergo generational change.

The Family Court and Federal Magistrates Court are “young” courts, constituted in 1975 and

2000 respectively, merging into a single administration in 2009. While the courts, in particular,

the administration are young and do not have the administration history that other Courts have,

the Family Law Courts believe this progressive approach could be developed and implemented

within any court.

The YEAG program has been, and continues to be, a very successful approach in addressing

some of the challenges to the core business of the Family Law Courts. It is a program that

systematically attempts to develop workforce talent by involving participants in a national

leadership development forum which fosters innovation and skill development, and we believe

that it is transferable practice.

Session 1, Friday 7 October 2011 MANAGING OUR MOST ...

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