Behavioural change and cultural evolution, rather than cultural change: Insights for Australian Public Service Reform

Abstract

Cultural change is often positioned as central to transformation within the Australian Public Service (APS). The ongoing focus on cultural change suggests it has not yet been realised, which is unsurprising, given it is so difficult to change. However, cultural change may also be impeded due to the way it is portrayed within the APS. This article draws on the work of Schein to identify three problems with how organisational culture and cultural change are portrayed in the APS, including the focus on a unified APS culture, the simplistic way in which culture is portrayed, and the general and high-level claims for how to achieve cultural change. It provides three recommendations for how these problems can be addressed, including focusing on high-level principles for conduct across the APS (rather than a unified APS culture), focusing on cultural evolution at the department, agency, and subunit levels, and supporting cultural evolution through establishing mechanisms for behavioural change. Adopting this approach could enable the APS to realise desired changes and enable success of the Albanese Government's APS reform agenda.

Points for practitioners

• Cultural change is difficult to achieve due to culture being deeply embedded, underpinned by a stable system of values, beliefs, and assumptions.
• Change could be realised within the APS through focusing on cultural evolution, rather than cultural change—specifically at the department, agency, and subunit levels where there is some compatibility between existing and desired cultures.
• Cultural evolution requires the identification of the specific behaviours required for effective change, followed by a reconfiguration of a range of mechanisms required to embed and reinforce behavioural change.
• Leaders play a central role in facilitating behavioural change and cultural evolution, but doing this effectively may require leadership cognitive shifts; therefore, leaders need support and development.