The Professional Management Program, offered by The University of Adelaide, is a program that seeks to enhance existing management skills, to help middle to senior level managers cope more effectively with the requirements of their changing work environment.
The introduction of the Local Government Act (SA) in 1999 has meant that Councils must adopt a different way of doing things. The Act requires Councils to prepare strategic management plans, align their actions with their strategic objectives and show how these objectives have been achieved.
This requires senior management to learn a new corporate language as local Councils become more accountable to the community. As a result, staff with considerable corporate knowledge and Local Government ‘know how’ are seeking to enhance their existing management skill set. Areas of interest include organisational development, strategic planning, performance management, financial management and leadership.
Elected members of a local Council, expect to be guided by professional staff, when making important decisions on behalf of their communities. These decisions extend beyond daily operational issues, to include economic, social and environmental issues that will impact on future generations. Their decisions require a balance of competition for limited resources against increased community expectations.
The business of Local Government is not about making money, but satisfying multiple community objectives. As a result, there is a need for management programs that will develop management skills, without focusing solely on maximising profit.
I was recently promoted to my current position at Playford Council; an achievement that I feel has been assisted by my completion of the Professional Management Program (PMP) at The University of Adelaide. Like so many others, I have had extensive experience in Local Government without previously holding a formal qualification.
I found the PMP to be ideally suited to those who are re-entering studies after a long break – I had not studied for 18 years. By completing the PMP, I gained the confidence to continue my studies and am now enrolled in the Graduate Certificate in Management (GCM).
While courses like the certificate in frontline management are useful in their application to the operational side of Local Government, I have found that the PMP gets our managers to lift their gaze and focus on the strategic side of our organisation. I have encouraged other managers at Playford to enrol in the PMP.
Andrew Lindsay, Group Manager People Relations, Events and Childcare Services, City of Playford. For more information please visit www.agsb.adelaide.edu.au/execed
* Copy supplied by The University of Adelaide
