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From the beginning of the
partnership between Jawun and
the Australian Public Service
(APS), the APS was looking at
the big picture. ‘We were thinking
about what it was that we, as a
public service, could contribute
to Jawun and what benefit we
could receive in return,’ said
Katherine Power, Director of
Talent Strategies, Australian Public
Service Commission (APSC).
In 2011, the APS piloted the Jawun
program with 11 high-performing,
relatively senior Australian
public servants participating in
secondments. The pilot was
designed to achieve three
objectives:
• positive outcomes for
Indigenous communities
• increased cultural
awareness and personal
development for APS
secondees
• increased cultural
awareness and broader
awareness of Indigenous
matters for APS agencies.
‘We saw it as a two-way program
from the time we piloted,’
Katherine explained. ‘The first
objective was around making
a contribution to Indigenous
organisations. But it was also
important to us that we could
offer employees personal and
professional development,
and then experience those
ongoing, APS-wide benefits from
increased cultural awareness.
We always felt the program
enabled us both to give and to
get some benefits back.’
Immediately following the pilot,
the APSC conducted an evaluation,
consisting of surveys sent to
secondees and their managers,
to measure whether the three
objectives had been met. ‘We
wanted to check that the program
would, in fact, deliver the benefits
that we expected,’ said Katherine.
‘As a public service, we believe
it’s really important that any
investment in development is
delivering benefits. We spend
public money so every dollar spent
counts. It’s our strong philosophy
that we need to evaluate to make
sure our programs are being
delivered as expected.’
The pilot evaluation confirmed
positive outcomes from the
Jawun program against all three
objectives, and the APS committed
to a five-year partnership. Since
2011, the APSC has conducted two
further evaluations: one at the two-
year mark, and one the following
year. Going forward, evaluations
will be conducted annually. ‘We
check in with secondees and their
managers up to six months after
their secondment ends,’ explained
Katherine. ‘And then all the data is
pulled together on an annual basis.
This year we also surveyed agency
coordinators to understand
the value for agencies, so we’ll
effectively get a 360-degree view.’
The evaluation findings are shared
at senior levels of the public
service. ‘Agencies and senior
leaders have a genuine interest in
understanding the results from the
program,’ Katherine said. ‘It also
keeps us focused on making sure
the learning is translating from the
secondment to the workplace.’
‘You can see the value [of the
program] for secondees and the
APS is increasing over time,’ said
Naomi Jeacle, Jawun Program
Manager at the APSC. ‘Around
16 new agencies came on board
this year, and more are looking
to come on board in 2016.’ The
APSC believes the increasing
interest in the program is mainly
due to word of mouth. ‘Secondees
are coming back and spreading
the word about these amazing
experiences they’re having on the
program. And managers are seeing
the value for their employees and
pushing it internally,’ said Naomi.
Katherine agreed: ‘We know that
the Jawun program offers really
powerful, in many instances quite
transformational learning for
individuals and that translates
back into the workplace.’
How the APS evaluates capability
growth through secondments
CASE STUDY
Finn Pratt AO PSM (Secretary
of the Department of
Social Services and
Jawun Board member)
with Desree Simon at the
Werlemen Girls Program,
East Kimberley, 2011.
Photo: Daniel Linnet,
Linnet Foto
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