When Griffith City Council’s senior management team sensed they were not meeting the high performance standards they had set for themselves, they called on external consultants to deliver positive change.
There were important challenges as Griffith employs about 400 people to serve a community of close to 25,000 people.Administration and delivery of municipal services and the decisions guiding these efforts were limited by the senior management team not working well together.
Council’s Group Manager People and Systems Kerry Sefton believed Council could do better as the workplace had become a series of silos
"Self analysis helped us see that our ability to lead was adversely affected by a lack of strategic planning and decision making," she said. "We were being hampered by a lack of understanding of senior management team members of their individual strengths and weaknesses and how to work effectively as a unit.
"They also needed to break free of the restraints created by that ever paralysing mantra – we’ve always done it that way. Most of the people here had come up through the ranks, so they were task managers, and now they’re in senior management, where you have to think strategically; more about the big picture."
But, as with most households, businesses and governments in today’s world economy, financial resources were limited.
Griffith turned to the expert coaches and change agents at The Coaching Room. With guidance from coaches Joseph Scott and Jay Hedley, the Griffith administrators took a hard look at who they were and where their organisation stood. This self analysis provided a snapshot that would provide the impetus for change toward a new leadership and management model.
Outlining the elements of good leadership and the characteristics of effective leaders, The Coaching Room guided the Griffith management team on a journey of self discovery.
Kerry Sefton said the company helped Council through sticking points "so that we enabled ourselves to develop and grow."
A guiding set of values soon followed, leading to fundamental change in how the managers perceive not only themselves, but also their group and its role in leading the organisation and community. It may sound like an easy step by step process, but change is always hard, and the more it is needed, the more difficult it often can be.
What The Coaching Room facilitators helped Griffith managers uncover came as no surprise, although the magnitude of the challenges it presented did.
According to Kerry Sefton, Griffith’s senior management is now open with their opinions and constructive in their disagreements. They are committed to working collaboratively to solve problems and address issues, something that was not possible, she says, prior to The Coaching Room’s evaluation, coaching and advising.
Those silos, so stifling to growth and change before, are now gone.
For further information contact Kerry Sefton phone (02) 6962 8188.
