A
USTRALIAN
L
IFESAVING
A
CADEMY
Change Management
Plan
J
ULY
2007
Change Management Plan Distribution List
The recipients of the Change Management plan are:
Position National/State/Territory
CEO SLSA National
SLSA General Manager Operations
National
Australian Lifesaving Academy Manager
National
State/Territory CEO/GM State/Territory
Academy Manager Queensland
Academy Manager NSW
Academy Manager Victoria
Academy Manager South Australia
Academy Manager Tasmania
Academy Manager Western Australia
Academy Manager Northern Territory
Disclaimer
This Change Management Report is based on the feedback provided to GlobalNet ICT Pty Ltd by employees and volunteers of Surf Life Saving Australia throughout the various states and the Northern Territory – and on information and documentation provided to GlobalNet ICT Pty Ltd by Surf Life Saving Australia.
Every effort has been made to ensure that information used in the report is consistent with the intent of the feedback and information provided to GlobalNet ICT in the consultations. GlobalNet ICT expressly disclaims any responsibility for any omission in the report for information that it was not made aware of.
This report is not intended to provide legal or business structure advice and GlobalNet ICT expressly disclaims any responsibility for reliance on this document for the same.
Executive Summary
Overview
Change Management is a systematic approach to dealing with change, from both the organisation and individual perspectives. Successful adaptation to change is as crucial within an organisation such as Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA).
The move to a national academy changes the nature of work within parts of SLSA and requires both employees and volunteer members to gain new skills and to work on changes to the current structure and operating systems to include new processes and communication mechanisms that will require purposeful management.
Business transformation, the type of change being attempted by the establishment of the Australian Lifesaving Academy (ALA), challenges all the elements of SLSA operations. In an organisation celebrating 100 years of volunteer service to the community there are many entrenched traditional ways of operating and a very established culture.
The consultations with SLSA members, volunteers and employees have shown that, as much as this change does pose a threat to the ‘establishment’ in the eyes of some, it is also seen by many others as a great opportunity for Surf Life Saving to better position the organisation in areas such as increasing volunteer retention, assisting the sustainability of some clubs and establishing the famous SLSA ‘brand’ in the corporate training market.
Key Issues
GlobalNet ICT’s interviews showed there is confusion within SLSA about the ALA and what its establishment means to the members, volunteer members and employees. For example, there are different understandings about how the ALA will operate, and in states that already have academies, how the national academy fits in with their own academy.
There was also great concern for the ALA’s long term sustainability as a developer of resources and many expressed concern about the impact the failure of the national academy might have on the States and SLSA in general.
On the beach, the concern was about the amount of work now expected of volunteers. These concerns must be resolved immediately to gain the commitment of the different stakeholder groups as they are the key to success.
Key Challenges for SLSA
Strong leadership and management direction throughout SLSA will be crucial to the ongoing success of the organisation. Those leading and managing the changes need to communicate a clear vision of what the national academy looks like and how it will operate into the future.
At every level, the leaders need clear guidelines and communication protocols so they can make immediate decisions.
Eight Strategies of the Change Management Plan:
1. Pause the ALA project implementations and consolidate priorities, roles and responsibilities and expectations.
A strategy that provides an opportunity to confirm:
All stakeholders have the same understanding and expectation of the ALA projects
Direction proposed is still appropriate following those confirmations AQTF 2007 changes have been taken account of by National/State
RTO’s
2. Gain commitment to ALA organisation structure and governance arrangements within Surf Life Saving.
A strategy that provides an opportunity:
To align ALA activities and other key SLSA portfolios. For example: Development and Marketing.
To unify internal and external interactions with sponsors, clients and businesses to support better business outcomes for all.
To become an advocacy/peak body in surf-related training and education.
For ALA at the National level to work with States/Territories on future funding submissions that would continue to build upon the current ALA direction.
Eight Strategies of the Change Management Plan continued;
3. Lead, communicate with and engage stakeholders at all levels to carry the ALA projects forward.
A strategy that provides an opportunity to:
Provide strong leadership and management to drive the change Strengthen stakeholder engagement and alignment through
communication, collaboration and feedback strategies. Manage the flow of information and the storage and retrieval of
information requirements of ALA stakeholders to reduce confusion or error.
4. Continue to develop the capability and capacity of ALA employees, volunteers and licensed providers.
A strategy that provides an opportunity to:
Facilitate ongoing readiness through team effectiveness by preparing a succession focused set of activities that assists ALA in the areas of:
Recruitment and retention Training and development
Resource availability and utilisation
Commercial awareness
Management of knowledge
5. Develop ‘change request’ mechanisms.
A strategy that provides an opportunity to:
Develop and implement a process that has been negotiated and is agreed to by stakeholders that enables systematic change requests to be considered, planned and managed for the following:
ALA systems and processes
Business rules and protocols
Eight Strategies of the Change Management Plan continued;
6. Develop monitoring and evaluation mechanisms.
A strategy that provides an opportunity to:
Develop a negotiated and agreed process to monitor and evaluate the ALA projects at club, branch/region, state/territory and national levels. This process must include:
What has worked
What has been learned for continuous improvement and A consolidation of knowledge to assist in avoiding future
mistakes
7. Align individuals and teams throughout ALA and Surf Life Saving.
A strategy that provides an opportunity to:
Align individual and team performance for quality and integrity ALA outcomes and outputs. For example: The use of training and assessment resources Skills and knowledge of those delivering programs
This alignment also needs to include equitable reward and recognition for education services within SLSA.
8. Manage performance across ALA.
A strategy that provides an opportunity to manage and make decisions based upon:
Quality assurance
Continuous improvement
RTO compliance
AQTF performance measurement at the Education Manager level and below
Reporting and monitoring, value realisation (Return on Investment (ROI)) and the use of Balanced Score Card or similar methodology to provide business focussed data and information to CEOs and others to assist in their decision making.
These strategies provide an opportunity for SLSA national and state management to clarify their change vision for the ALA and to then appropriately position the ALA within the organisational structure to meet that vision. A clear direction forward with actions required and time lines can then be communicated to all the stakeholders of this new academy.
To enable the smooth and consistent adoption of the Change Management Plan and its subsequent implementation, GlobalNet recommends that change objectives should be provided for each of the different levels of SLSA and assistance be made available, if needed, for each level to develop strategies that facilitate the changes required within their own state, branches/regions and clubs.
Implications of the Change Management Strategies
The strategies outlined above have significant implications for the future operations of the ALA. In particular, over the next few months the ALA management group will;
1. reassess the licensing/reporting/funding arrangements that currently exist between each of the state centres and the national ALA office, and
2. ensure the integration of ALA functions with other operational divisions within Surf Lifesaving.
improvement required to underpin ALA operations. For example; procedures relating to; Processing of Improvement Requests, Performance Audits and, Reporting Outcomes.
1. develop their staff and volunteers and,
2. engage members in consultations relating to the ALA and associated changes
