Humanify HR delivers holistic 360-degree feedback leadership coaching program for SES and EL Leaders

Developing leaders in the Australian Public Service (APS) requires a deep understanding of the unique operating environment that leaders work in daily. Humanify HR Consulting (Humanify HR) was proud to recently partner with this APS agency to deliver a Leadership Coaching Program for SES and EL Leaders, including the Agency Head (Chief Executive Officer) that enhanced modern leadership capability, self-awareness and collaboration across the agency.

Humanify HR provides leadership coaching services with a unique difference, that difference being that our accredited executive coaches deeply understand the challenges faced by leaders operating in the APS.  Many of our accredited coaches have worked in the APS – including at SES level, or closely with Senior Executive APS leaders as both trusted internal and external advisors in navigating complex leadership and culture matters. 

The APS operates in a competitive market for talent.  Investing in a partnership with Humanify HR, ensures APS agencies can equip their leaders with modern leadership skills and capability that gives them a competitive edge when it comes to securing the best talent in the marketplace. 

This APS agency was looking for a partner to address the need for tailored leadership development options to support approximately 12 leaders (SES and EL Level).  As a small agency, it had strong employee engagement scores, and the goal was to continuously invest in building organisational leadership capability to ensure that high levels of engagement could be maintained.  The agency recognised that investing in leadership was a key strategic priority to maintain engagement, productivity and position the organisation as an employer of choice in a competitive market for talent.

Humanify HR in understanding the agencies requirements as a small APS agency, recommended as it was the first time some of the SES and EL Leaders had participated in formal leadership development, that a coaching approach was proposed to support the development of leaders. 

A number of unique considerations were factored into the design, development and implementation of the program.

The level of maturity of leaders was factored into the coaching program design, tailored in a way that was contextualised to both individual leader and organisational needs, to avoid overwhelming the leadership group. 

The internal language and narrative around “why” leaders were invited to participate in the leadership development exercise was identified as a risk early to the program, with it recommended that the use of “360 tool” was limited in any communications, as the use of “360” can have negative impacts on the levels of psychological safety leaders feel when taking part in leadership development activities.

To improve leadership self-awareness and provide leaders with insights on how they were being received in the workplace by the people they are responsible for leading in the agency, Humanify HR recommend using the Life Styles Inventory (LSI) by Human Synergistics. This 360-degree diagnostic tool is comprised of two parts:

The LSI 1 that requires leaders to complete an inventory designed to give them a better understanding of themselves and any behaviours that may be impacting their leadership effectiveness.

The LSI 2 that provides 360 degree feedback, allowing leaders to select up to 12 individual ‘raters’ who then complete the inventory to reflect how they view the leader’s overall effectiveness in the workplace.

Both parts of the LSI combined are used to take a behavioural science approach to coaching, using the data to generate deep, confidential and transformational coaching conversations with leaders.

Each of the SES and EL Leaders engaged in three coaching sessions with Humanify HR accredited coaches over three months.  The first debrief session focused on understanding and practically applying the results of the LSI, and the following two sessions to maintain accountability of actions agreed between the leader and coach.

“Here at Humanify HR Consulting, we aim work with purposeful organisations and people, that have a positive impact on their communities, just like this APS agency.  The vision of this agency resonated deeply with our organisation as a purpose-driven company.  It was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to support this agency in developing modern leadership capability, so both leaders and the organisation can continue to thrive in the APS.”

says Humanify HR Consulting Founder and Managing Director, Sarah Queenan.

Partnership Snapshot

Australian Federal Government Agency

Duration

4 months (part-time)

Outcome

Equipping SES and EL Leaders in the agency, through a contemporary 360-feedback diagnostic tool, with modern leadership capability, so they can thrive in response to challenges faced daily by leaders in the APS. 

More information

Are you looking for guidance on how to develop leaders using 360-degree diagnostic tools? Contact us at hello@humanifyhr.com.au to see how we can help through our accredited executive coaching services. To be the first to know about our useful insights and workplace resources, you can subscribe to our mailing list here.