Events

FACILITATOR: TOMÁS O RUAIRC, ACESA BOARD MEMBER

On Wednesday 31st October 2018 we held a Breakfast Briefing which was attended by 33 ACESA members.
Earlier in the year, the Board commissioned Fiona Ross (ACESA Alumnus) to compile a report highlighting the innovations which ACESA members are pursuing across the public sector. Subsequently Fiona was commissioned to carry out a second study, this time on Developing our People and Organisations. The report focuses on those good practices critical to the functioning of organisations in the areas of work force planning, leadership and development and culture and values.

On this occasion there was no formal speaker. Tomás presented the report’s key findings and led an open discussion which was much appreciated by the members attending.

The real value of this meeting was in hearing about the experiences of others, their challenges and their responses to those challenges. It provided meaningful engagement with peers, and lots of learning outcomes. We are a diverse network but there is so much we can learn from each other. One size does not fit all but we can look at what our colleagues in other organisations are doing and see if we can adapt their methodologies to influence outcomes in the context of our own situations.

Overall, the report was a positive vehicle for stimulating debate on the constraints experienced in trying to motivate and retain staff, and possible solutions to these challenges.

Some of the attendees suggested that this report should form part of a submission to DPER/C&AG as it highlights the real challenges involved with developing people and it gives practical, ‘at-the-coalface’ examples.

Following on from the positive feedback, the ACESA Board resolved to pull a list of ideas out of the report.

The use of Mentimeter at this session was definitely a success. The attendees could contribute ideas and comments in real time, a novel and exciting development, not only for this presentation, but for meetings and events in the future.