A pilot group of Sydney Councils has partnered with national consultancy, Chandler Macleod, to create the Local Government Graduate Development Program (LGGDP).
This program aims to enhance Local Government’s long term management capacity through a sophisticated two year management training program.
“Good recruitment and development is the basis for immediate good organisational results and the sustainability of those results,” said Ken Bone, Group Manager, City Services, Parramatta City Council and Chairperson of the LGGDP Steering Committee. “We can all read books and hire consultants to keep ideas flowing and organisational renewal happening, but recruiting quality graduates gives us all the ability to tap into new skills and creativity in a very direct way. The graduate recruitment program is about empowering all Local Government to deliver strong outcomes in times of rapid social, economic and technology change.”
The program has already seen some startling achievements following the year long design and implementation phase. In January, nearly 600 graduates from across Australia applied through the program’s web site for 24 positions in the first ever intake. Councils across New South Wales are invited to join the fully established program for the July 2003 intake.
“The LGGDP demonstrates the cost benefits of resource sharing and coordination across Council boundaries,” said Chandler Macleod Project Manager, Michael Priddis. “The program is marketed to graduates at an industry, not Council, level; graduates are assessed according to industry wide benchmarks set by the program, and the successful applicants enter a sophisticated cross Council development program designed specifically for Local Government and by Local Government. The end result is a market leading solution achieved through the most cost and time efficient means.”
He said that the nation’s aging population, the ‘baby-boomer’ composition of most organisation’s managers and the increasing demand for graduates in every sector put enormous pressures on Local Government to address long term issues before they arise.
“The only way Local Government can prevent a dire shortage of capable managers over the next five to 15 years is to act now to recruit and develop skilled graduate staff,” he said. “The effects of not doing so cannot be over estimated. General Managers and Councils need to act now.”
For further information about the program please contact Ken Bone at Parramatta City Council on (02) 9806 5601, kenbone@parracity.nsw.gov.au or Michael Priddis at Chandler Macleod Group on (02) 8913 7821, michael.priddis@chandlermacleod.com.
