The Civil Service will become a continuously learning and improving organization. We will do this by becoming more open to external ideas, challenge and debate.
The specific actions that are to be undertaken in relation to this theme are:
Implement a programme of Organisational Capability Reviews
We will:
- Design and implement a light touch, objective review process that is aligned with our strategic planning process. This will, with minimal overhead and maximum expediency, reliably and objectively assess the capacity and capability of each department and office and recommend practical actions to develop and improve this on a phased basis.
- Establish a voluntary panel of peer reviewers external to each Department to participate in each review. Panels would be balanced with a mix of senior civil servants, senior public managers, and senior managers from other sectors of the economy.
- Publish the results of all reviews in full followed by regular updates on implementation.
- Coordinate the process centrally drawing in relevant expertise, under the direction of the Civil Service Management Board.
Publish the framework for assignment of responsibilities for all Departments
We will:
- Ensure each department annually publishes an assignment framework that describes ‘who does what and to whom they are answerable’ for senior managers (Principal and above)
- Link the assignment framework more effectively to Statements of Strategy and Business Plans.
- Develop a standardised approach for managing the efficient re-organisation of Departmental structures/functions when requested by the Government.
- Establish an Accountability Code for special advisers and support this with an induction programme.
Strengthen policy-making skills and develop more open approaches to policy -making
In addition to implementing the actions set out in Ireland’s Action Plan under the Open Government Partnership, we will:
- Learn from the range of innovative methodologies currently in international practice to develop and apply new approaches to policy design, evaluation, consultation and implementation.
- Host regular open policy debates involving networks of practitioners, academics and experts in developing and debating policy options at an early stage.
- Establish strong and joined-up approaches in each policy area so that policy staff and operational staff work together to understand the impact and implication of policy choices in practice and build this into policy design.
- Establish the expectation that all policy officials maintain an active network of key stakeholders in front-line service delivery, academia, and international administrations and engage this network regularly, particularly at the early stages of policy development.
Nominate a Civil Service Spokesperson to communicate on behalf of the Civil Service
We will:
- Develop a single Civil Service Communications Strategy.
- Designate the Secretary General of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, as a member of the Civil Service Management Board, to act publicly as a spokesperson and ambassador for the Civil Service.
- Establish a Civil Service Communications Unit to support this role, working closely with the Government Information Service, to improve how the Civil Service engages with its staff and stakeholders by disseminating accurate and timely information on its performance and operation.
- Reintroduce regular surveys of Civil Service customers to more fully understand user experiences, expectations and requirements.
Improve how data is collected, managed and shared
We will:
- Recognise data as a corporate asset and develop a coordinated approach to data sharing and infrastructure as part of the forthcoming ICT Strategy.
- Develop opportunities to deliver open data and transparency in line with the Action Plan under the Open Government Partnership.
- Build on Ireland Stat to publish outcome metrics for all services.
- Identify management information gaps and improve the quality of corporate data in the Civil Service.
Introduce an annual Employee Engagement Survey to involve staff at all levels in ongoing organisational improvement
We will:
- Introduce a short, annual standard engagement survey across the Civil Service to create a regular and consistent channel to track levels of staff engagement and receive staff feedback.
- Coordinate the process centrally through a team with the relevant statistical expertise to ensure robustness of the process and results.
- Publish the results of the survey annually.
- Use the results to inform our delivery of this Renewal Plan and organisational reviews so that senior managers and leaders are held to account for taking action in response to the results for their organization.
