A lot has changed over the past ten years, and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing is no exception! From the 2016 capability review, the COVID pandemic, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, and the second capability review in late 2022, DoHAC stands at a critical point in its history, having evolved considerably in how it approaches change and prepares itself for the future. Rachel Balmanno, First Assistant Secretary of the People, Communication, and Parliamentary Branch, at the department, joins us to discuss a future-oriented approach to change in our latest episode.

Listen to episode thirty-four:

Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify:

About this episode:

This episode is a masterclass in change management and future-proofing your workforce, emphasising how crucial it is to bring your people along with you to help shape and drive the narrative forward. It’s an episode that’s also packed with excellent advice from leader to leader on being self-aware in terms of your risk appetite, the factors that drive your response behaviours, and how you can plan to react differently, enabling you to lead more authentically and with empathy.

Rachel discusses the importance of everyone knowing their department's story and having the opportunity to be involved in shaping it and driving change. While DoHAC’s story may seem simplistic, it has been intentionally crafted that way through a consultative process that distilled their story down into three key things that their organisation thinks will make a difference now and in the future.

“Any investment in change management is better than no investment in change management.”

A similar sentiment applies to approaching change management, with Rachel sharing her advice on the importance of doing the work upfront, as it is more effective and efficient than doing what you think is right and ending up with workarounds that compromise the overall objective.

Rachel also explains how she defines systems thinking and how, at its core, it involves stepping back and looking at the issue more broadly, ensuring that context is taken into account when moving forward. Rachel acknowledges that, like most skills, it has to be exercised and used regularly. However, for many in the public service, capacity issues and the general busyness of the ‘must-dos’ in their workday can often get in the way and narrow their focus.

Another key topic in our conversation was DoHAC’s positive, no-blame culture, which has contributed to higher-than-average engagement and overall positive scores in the APS census, with further improvements this year in innovation and wellbeing.

Rachel shares how it started during COVID times, when the department’s priority was to act, and that their people needed the confidence to do so and try new things. To create this, they needed to provide a high level of psychological safety and an inclusive environment where people felt they could be themselves, try new things, raise issues, and make and learn from mistakes. This has resulted in additional benefits, including increased innovation, creativity, engagement, productivity, and loyalty.

Rachel leaves us with four key lessons that leaders throughout her career have taught her and inspired her to lead with, which are relevant to every public servant, in how to approach change, lead and work with others, be more self-aware, and take a future-oriented approach in everything you do, every day.

Find out more about this Trailblazer:

Rachel Balmanno

First Assistant Secretary - People, Communication, and Parliamentary Branch
Department of Health, Disability, and Ageing

After over 20 years working on health and aged policies and programs, Rachel decided to make a change and moved to her current role leading the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing’s people, communication, change management, parliamentary support and property functions. In recent years Rachel has had a keen focus on supporting the department to adapt to changing workforce expectations and responding to the department's 2023 Capability Review.

Tune in next time as we speak to a new trailblazer in another episode in our series on Thriving in Uncertainty.

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