Public Service Management in a

Multicultural Environment

Terry F. Buss, PhD

Carnegie Mellon University—Australia

Presented at thePresented at the

Razak School of Government

Putrajaya, Malaysia

February 22, 2012

1

Overview of the workshop

• Introductions

• How the workshop will operate

• What you will get out of the workshop

• Short break• Short break

• Presentation

• Short break

• Presentation

• What did we learn

2

Three caveats

• I have come here today to discuss the issues,

not to tell you what to do

• Working together on the issues should allow

us to gain insights into what is happening us to gain insights into what is happening

globally and regionally

• I’m hoping to learn a lot from you

3

My background

• Carnegie Mellon University-AUS [2-Poles, 3-

Britans, Welshman, Swede, South African,

Chinese, Filipino, Iranian, Indian, Malay, 2-

Americans]Americans]

• Florida International University [90% Cuban]

• World Bank [one of few Americans]

• Housing Urban Development [80% Black]

4

Recognition of Malaysia’s transformational

public service agenda

• Malaysian Government policy

1Malaysia Framework

Government Transformation ProgramGovernment Transformation Program

• Razak School of Government as implementor

Beyond Expectations as guidance

5

Multiculturalism defined

Rosado, 2006

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Dimensions of multiculturalism I

Geographic Location

Military Experience

Education

Work Experience

IncomeAge Gender

Religion

Communication Style

Work Style

Family Status

Organisation Role And Level

First Language

Sexual Orientation

Ethnic Heritage

Race

Mental/Physical Abilities and

Characteristic

Primary Dimension Secondary Dimension

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Dimensions of multiculturalism II

Source: Rosado, 2006

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Multiculturalism is a wicked policy issue!

• Historial past

• Political

• Economic

• Societal• Societal

• Cultural

• Regional

• Familial

• Individual

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Why attempt to improve management in

a multi-cultural environment?

• Government mandates it

• Moral or ethical imperative requires it

• The business case necessitates it• The business case necessitates it

• Legal requires it

• Political power demands it

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Evolution of Multiculturalism I

Source: Rosado, 2006

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Canadian Management Accountability Framework

Source: Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat. Management Accountability Framework. http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/maf-crg/documents/leaflet-depliant/leaflet-depliant-eng.asp

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How do we know whether an

organization is competent to make major

policy and management changes?policy and management changes?

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The competent organization...

• Strong accountability mechanisms;

• Ensuring performance against these mechanisms;

• Persuasive leadership for change at senior levels across the

sector;

• Applying existing tools and initiatives to create cultural Applying existing tools and initiatives to create cultural

competence for example, risk assessment/management,

continuous improvement cycles, triple bottom line reporting,

safety and quality initiatives;

• Systematic change management strategies;

• An evidence base built on culturally competent research that

can inform policy, planning, education and capacity building,

and evaluation; and

• Measures to build a culturally competent workforce.14

Four dimensions of multicultural

competence:

• Systemic

• Organizational

• Professional• Professional

• Individual

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1. Systemic

• Systemic — effective policies and procedures,

mechanisms for monitoring and sufficient

resources are fundamental to fostering

culturally competent behavior and practice at culturally competent behavior and practice at

other levels. Policies support the active

involvement of culturally diverse communities

in matters concerning their health and

environment.

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2. Organizational

Organizational — the skills and resources

required by client diversity are in place. A

culture is created where cultural competence

is valued as integral to core business and is valued as integral to core business and

consequently supported and evaluated.

Management is committed to a process of

diversity management including cultural and

linguistic diversity at all staffing levels.

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3. Professional

Professional — over-arching the other

dimensions, at this level cultural competence

is identified as an important component in

education and professional development. It education and professional development. It

also results in specific professions developing

cultural competence standards to guide the

working lives of individuals.

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4. Individual

Individual — knowledge, attitudes and

behaviors defining culturally competent

behavior are maximized and made more

effective by existing within a supportive health effective by existing within a supportive health

organization and wider health system.

Individual health professionals feel supported

to work with diverse communities to develop

relevant, appropriate and sustainable health

promotion programs.

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Lewin Group Cultural Competence

Domains:

• Organizational values

• Governance

• Planning, monitoring and assessment

• Communication• Communication

• Staff development

• Organizational infrastructure

• Services and interventions

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1. Organisational values

• An organisation’s perspective and attitudes

regarding the worth and importance of

cultural competence, and its commitment to cultural competence, and its commitment to

providing culturally competent services:

• Leadership, investment and documentation

• Information/data relevant to cultural

competence

• Organisational flexibility21

2. Governance

• The goal setting, policy-making, and other

organisational vehicles to help ensure the

delivery of culturally competent care:

• Community involvement and accountability• Community involvement and accountability

• Leadership and management development

• Supportive policies

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3. Planning Monitoring and Evaluation

• The mechanisms and processes used for:

• Long and short-term policy, programmatic, and

operational cultural competence planning informed by

external and internal consumers

• The systems and activities required to proactively track • The systems and activities required to proactively track

and assess organisational cultural competence

• Client, community and staff input

• Plans and implementation

• Collection and use of cultural competence-related

information/data

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4. Communication

• Exchange of information between the

organisation/providers and the clients/population,

and internally among staff, in ways that promote

cultural competence.

• Understanding of different communication needs

and styles of client population

• Culturally competent oral communication

• Culturally competent written/other communication

• Communication with community

• Intra-organisational communication24

5. Staff Development

• An organisation’s efforts to ensure staff and

other service providers have the requisite

attitudes, knowledge and skills for delivering

culturally competent services:culturally competent services:

• Training commitment

• Training content

• Staff performance indicators

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6. Organisational Infrastructure

• The organisational resources required to

deliver or facilitate delivery of culturally

competent services:

• Financial/budgetary• Financial/budgetary

• Staffing

• Technology

• Physical facility/environment

• Linkages

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7. Services and Interventions

• An organisation’s delivery or facilitation of

public services in a culturally competent

manner:

• Client/community/taxpayer input• Client/community/taxpayer input

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Putting multicultural compentency

dimensions into a common framework

Queensland Ministry of Health

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http://www.health.qld.gov.au/multicultural/contact_us/framework.asp 29

Before you take any action: What kind of

problem do you have, how bad is it, and what

should you do about it?

Consider a formal assessment, conducted by an

outside organization...

• Survey management and staff• Survey management and staff

360o method works best

• Group process: Delphi and focus groups work well

• Organizational development assessment

• Benchmarking, international standards, best

practices30

Shared responsibility among....

• Policymaker and senior management

• Line manager and supervisor Line manager and supervisor

• Individual staff members

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For policymakers and senior

management...

Holding the public service accountable...

• Strategic management [planning]

• Performance management and budgeting• Performance management and budgeting

• Human capital management

• IT management

• Change management

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Making strategic management work

• There must be dedicated leadership with a

continued commitment to reform

• There must be a clear understanding of the

problem and its causesproblem and its causes

• There must be clear goals and objectives

about what is to be achieved

• There must be clear strategies that tie the

problem and its causes and to solutions

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Strategic management continued...

• Strategies must be aligned vertically and

horizontally across the organization

• The initiative must be of high priority

• The initiative must be fully resourced• The initiative must be fully resourced

• Effective organizational communications are

essential

• Competent project management is essential

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Strategic management continued...

• Best practices may not be

• Benchmarking is dangerous

Strategies must include not only process, but Strategies must include not only process, but

also action

Beware the Innovator’s Dilemma and Strategy

Paradox

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Performance management

and budgeting

• There must be clear performance measures,

metrics and indicators against which

policymakers and managers will be held

accountableaccountable

• Measures must reference not only outputs,

but also results represented by outcomes and

impacts

• Organizational, agency, ministry and program

performance must be tied to budgets

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Performance management continued...

• Organizational performance must be tied to

individual public servant contributions, and

that should be reflected in compensation

• There must be ongoing evaluations and • There must be ongoing evaluations and

assessments, and

• Performance must be publicized

(transparency) to encourage accountability

• A “results-oriented” culture must be created

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Alignment across process

Vision

• To become a truly multicultural ministry and the

ministry of choice for minority employment

• Must reference multicultural dimensions in some

Mission

• Must reference multicultural dimensions in some

way

Values

• Behave ethically, economically, efficiently and

effectively

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Alignment continued ...

Goals

• Increase minority employment by 10% over next 5 years

• Launch new leadership development

Strategy

• Launch new leadership development institute to build capacity for all

Performance

• Improve retention rate of highly qualified minorities by 20%

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Problem: the more goals and strategies,

the less likely things will get done.

Problem: multiculturalism competes with Problem: multiculturalism competes with

numerous other goals.

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Human capital management policies

• Merit-based public service

• Talent management

• Capacity building—leadership and

managementmanagement

• Multicultural competencies

• Workforce planning

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Human capital continued...

• Meritocracy

If system is not based on merit, then

multiculturalism cannot be attained.multiculturalism cannot be attained.

Is any public service system fully based on

merit? No! But it must be continually pursued

as a goal.

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Talent management

• Recruitment

• Competencies

• On-boarding

• Career paths, development• Career paths, development

• Retention

• Employee satisfaction

• Flexible work rules

• Compensation, promotion, awards

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Capacity building...

For majority and minority staff

• Develop multicultural competencies

• Meaningful development opportunities

• Leadership and management capacity—• Leadership and management capacity—

mentoring, coaching

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Workforce planning...

• Develop database for planning and

assessment

• Determine where gaps are and try to fill them

• May need to develop people before they enter • May need to develop people before they enter

the public service ( e.g.,before leaving school)

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Creating the learning organization

• Continual feedback

• Flexibility to change course

• Formal and informal assessment and

evaluationevaluation

• Evidence-based management

• Knowledge management (best practices)

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Line managers and supervisors

• Multi-cultural capacity building

• Incentives

• Disincentives

• Recognition• Recognition

• Mentors, coaches

• Talent management

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The public servant

• What would you do?

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A role for IT management

• A lot of software available for human

resources management

• IT has capacity to support analytics for

planning, implementation and evaluationplanning, implementation and evaluation

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Change management

“It must be considered that there is nothing moredifficult to carry out, nor more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to success, nor more dangerous to handle, than to initiate a new order of things.”

Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince

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Stages an organization is likely go

through: Where is your organization?

Stage 1: Exclusionary

Stage 2: Club

Stage 3: Compliance

Stage 4: Affirmative ActionStage 4: Affirmative Action

Stage 5: Redefining

Stage 6: Multicultural

Source: Jackson & Holvino, undated

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Five-stage model of organisational

change: Where is your organization?

• Culturally resistant

• Culturally unaware

• Culturally conscious• Culturally conscious

• Culturally insightful

• Culturally versatile

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Five-stage change model from affirmative

action to multiculturalism

• Discovery

• Assessment

• Exploration• Exploration

• Transformation

• Revitalisation

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Resistance to Change

• Parochial self-interest

• Misunderstanding

• Low tolerance to change• Low tolerance to change

• Different assessments of situation

• Trouble maker

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Overcoming Resistance

• Education and communication

• Participation and involvement

• Facilitation and support

• Negotiation and agreement• Negotiation and agreement

• Manipulation and co-option

• Explicit and implicit coercion

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Keys to successful implementation

• Leadership

• Management

• Commitment

• Buy-in

SUCC• Buy-in

• Resources

• Institutionalization

• Realistic

• Communications

CESS

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Some personal thoughts on change

management

• Find an insider who can help guide you

through process

• Understand that there are is the formal and

informal organization to contend withinformal organization to contend with

• Carefully manage three types of people in

organization

• Try to get right people in place

• Demonstrate early wins to build credibility

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Creating a multicultural organization in the

public service may be the most difficult task

• Don’t underestimate the time and resources

requiredrequired

• Imbed change across governments and

leaders—political v. civil servant leadership

• Needs to begin with recruitment and proceed

with talent management over years!

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How can we apply the learning above to

the Malaysian civil service?

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Some valuable references

Australian Public Service Commission. 2011. Building an Indigenous Employment Strategy.

www.apsc.gov.au/indigenous/ieskit.htm

US Office of Personnel Management. 2012. The Human Capital Assessment and Accountability

Framework: Standards, Systems, and Metrics. www.opm.gov/Diversity/guide.PDF

State-wide Quality Branch. 2009. Review of Current Cultural and Linguistic Diversity and Cultural

Competence Reporting Requirements, Minimum Standards and Benchmarks for Victoria Competence Reporting Requirements, Minimum Standards and Benchmarks for Victoria

Health Services Project. Melbourne: Victoria Health Department.

www.dhs.vic.gov.au

Caleb Rosado. 2006. What Do We Mean By Managing Diversity?

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