Publication
Launch and Commencement of The Senior Public Service (SPS) 2024 Strategic Leadership Programme
From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform
Published on
Last updated on
The Senior Public Service (SPS) 2024 Strategic Leadership Programme under the management of the Institute of Public Administration was formally launched on 19 April 2024, with 96 participants on the programme, comprising Assistant Secretaries Generals and Principal Officers from the Civil Service, and Chief Executive Officers, Directors of Services and equivalents from the Local Authorities.
The first in-person development session took place in Dublin on 9 May. The programme will run until December 2024.
The Strategic Leadership Programme is a senior level leadership development programme, initiated by the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform (DPENDR), led and managed by the Institute of Public Administration (IPA), and delivered by our delivery partner, the Roffey Park Institute (RPI).
Formerly known as the SPS Talent Management Programme, this leadership programme is a core part of the Government’s central strategic approach to build capacity at senior level and to extend the reach of executive leadership development across all areas of the public service. Ultimately, the aim of the programme is to equip existing leaders with the strategic knowledge, skills and expertise necessary for operating within a complex and fast evolving public service environment.
The environment within which Ireland’s public service operates is rapidly becoming more volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. Increasing global geopolitical conflicts and uncertainties have inevitable and significant impacts on our national and local public lives. Global and local demographic changes increasing the burden of national and local housing and healthcare needs, significant climate change driving the necessity for sustainability – these are but some of the complex challenges facing Ireland’s public service into the 21st Century.
Given such turbulent and dynamic environment, there has never been a greater need for an agile and resilient public service to support the Government in managing the breadth of complex issues and in preparing for any future crises. The need for significant continual professional development for senior public service leaders leading the delivery of our public service has become a necessity, rather than an option.
The Institute of Public Administration, with over 65 years of working alongside various Government Departments and agencies in supporting the development of public servants and the public sector in Ireland had taken the helm of the strategic leadership development and of the continuous professional development of the SPS. Currently, the SPS Division of the IPA manages the running of the Strategic Leadership Programme, the Executive Coaching for SPS members and the Leadership Development aspects of Secretaries General’s Continuous Professional Development (CPD).
The Senior Public Service (SPS) 2024 Strategic Leadership Programme is a robust, engaging and participative programme spanning 9 months of engagement. For senior public service leaders to excel in the face of a complex policy delivery environment, it requires from them deep analytical thinking, backed up by objective evidence-informed advice – so as to be able to deliver long term whole-of-government solutions. A key feature of this leadership programme is the cross sectoral element, which is a specific design of the programme to foster wide networking and strong collaborative working relationships.
More specifically, the programme incorporate significant opportunities for self reflection and collegial exchange on top of knowledge gathering. Over the 9 months span of the programme, participants will experience a full 360o psychometric exercise with guided analysis and advice in the form of a Development Centre to further explore their personal leadership capacity. They will also be facilitated to develop insights into leading with presence and impact, leading across organisational boundaries, and how to foster empowerment.
There are also Action Learning opportunities as well as availability of coaching and masterclasses supports. The Strategic Leadership Programme is therefore designed for not only fostering significant development of the participants’ professional leadership capacity, and thereby bring benefits back to the workplace, but to also foster the participants’ own personal development as a better individual leader.
Information for the next iteration of this Strategic Leadership Programme (the 2025 Programme) will be release in the fourth quarter of this year, and application will be opened for the 2025 iteration before the end of the year.