Defence Transformation Programme Simpler and Better
Targeting Waste
The Defence Transformation Programme (DTP) is a comprehensive, New Zealand Defence Force change programme, supported by the Chief of Defence Force (CDF) and endorsed by the Executive Leadership Team.
Its vision is to have: ‘A single organisational approach enabling simpler and better support functions to the three Services and Operations’. What this means is that support functions will be driven by Defence priorities, with regard to Service-specific requirements. Through identifying improved processes and simplified structures that reflect a single organisational approach, the DTP aims to free up vital resources to invest back into our core business – supporting the front line.
The Executive Leadership Team set up the Defence Transformation Programme in 2007 to allow accelerated change and to meet a mid-2010 deadline. There were some immediate tactical needs to be addressed through five programmes, and the initial success of these gave space and resources to refocus on more strategic programmes.
Lieutenant General Mateparae, Chief of Defence Force, said, “I would note that we embarked [on DTP 18 months ago] because we thought it was the right thing to do. We wanted to become more efficient; we wanted to do things simpler; and we wanted to do things better. We embarked on the DTP because it made sense. It’s just that now the fiscal sense brings a sharper focus to the common sense of doing things better.”
In August 2008 the DTP programmes were reorganised, with a tighter focus on those streams that would accomplish truly transformational change. Three major streams were identified: Logistics, NZDF Headquarters, and Human Resource Management (HRM), which includes Education and Training to provide a holistic view of personnel training, development and management.
These programmes will constantly look for opportunities to preserve military capability, and offer a simpler, better, effective and more efficient way of working. There is significant work required across the three programmes, but by the middle of this year the DTP will put forward options for decision by the Executive Leadership Team, for simplifying and refocusing the support activities in the HRM, Logistics and HQ areas.
“My expectation is that by June 2010, the DTP will be delivering a new way of conducting logistics support; a new way of training, managing and leading our people through the Human Resource Management (HRM) stream; and will have improved the ‘value-add’ of my Headquarters,” said Lieutenant General Mateparae.
What are the three programmes doing?
HRM Change Programme: This programme will focus on Human Resource Management Structures and Delivery, assessing how Education and Training functions can provide required tools, and how Information Systems data can be improved to enable timely and quality decision making. A payroll project will also explore how to streamline and improve the complicated processes within the NZDF payroll.
Logistics Change Programme: Logistics is a substantial and complex business area, with significant resources attached in the form of personnel, budget, assets and inventory. Even small efficiencies in Logistics could create significant gain in other departments. The Logistics Change Programme is exploring all efficiency and effectiveness opportunities in order to identify the best Logistics model for the NZDF.
Head Quarters (HQ) Change Programme: The NZDF HQ is tasked with supporting the Chief of Defence Force and Service Chiefs to effectively deliver government requirements and operational outputs. The HQ Change Programme is exploring how to do this most effectively, removing process duplication and improving productivity.
Managing for Mission Success
Ongoing improvements to New Zealand Defence Force’s corporate management capability have been a key organisational change, says Corporate Financial Officer, Maurice Horner.
In a sense, you could say the New Zealand Defence Force runs its own airline, its own shipping line, and its own international logistics company – and they all need to operate in some of the most inhospitable and inaccessible environments in the world.
With over 14,000 employees, if the Defence Force were a private commercial business, it would be the fourth largest in New Zealand. So in the New Zealand context, the Defence Force is a large and complex organisation.
But our mission is simple: to keep New Zealand secure.
For the New Zealand Defence Force our day-to-day direction is set by the Executive Leadership Team (the ELT), which is the primary governance body of the Defence Force and is chaired by the Chief of Defence Force. It’s the ELT’s job to ensure we are ‘Three Services as One Force, being the best in everything we do’ – NZDF’s Vision Statement, which reflects the belief that the whole, or what we call the “joint effect”, can be greater than the sum of the parts.
So how has NZDF responded to this challenge?
For a start, we have gone about building our corporate management capability. In particular, the position of General Manager Organisational Support was established, taking responsibility for the Headquarters and NZDF’s massive procurement and ICT arms. This allowed the Vice Chief of Defence to concentrate more fully on the strategic direction and planning for the Defence Force.
A planning department was created – its first task, to pull together the Strategic Plan. NZDF launched its first enterprise level Strategic Plan in March 2007. That plan provides guidance for all subordinate strategic planning and for annual planning and budgeting through the Defence Planning Directive.
Concurrent with the development of the Strategic Plan was the development of the Defence Performance Management System. It includes a Balanced Scorecard to monitor the execution of the Strategic Plan and intent. We adopted and adapted the balanced scorecard developed by the United Kingdom Defence Forces.
The balanced scorecard methodology has been employed to transform the NZDF’s mission statement and business strategy into specific and quantifiable goals, and to monitor the organisation’s performance in terms of achieving those goals. Once analysed, the data gathered helps us make better business decisions.
The NZDF is also endeavouring to set a new standard for risk management that will improve and expand our risk management capacity without adding unnecessary process. The NZDF Risk Management Framework (RMF) requires that the organisation demonstrate it is actively managing risk. Risk management is therefore part of all governance processes. It is integrated into the development and implementation of any business plan, policy, programme or project.
All of these initiatives demonstrate that the NZDF has committed to strategic planning and performance management systems to ensure ‘mission success’.