FrankGroup (FrankAdvice/FrankCapability)

The FrankGroup (FrankAdvice/FrankCapability) team is going from strength to strength! Ps. Did you know that at FrankGroup we don’t announce new starters until they’ve been with us three months? This ensures the honeymoon period is over, and we’re both committed to the long term.

Welcome to the team, Heather Lucas, Client Services Manager. Heather brings a genuine warmth to client engagement, responding to clients’ needs with both efficiency and care. Her solutions-oriented approach ensures every interaction feels personal and thoughtfully managed, creating seamless experiences that deliver true value. With extensive experience spanning financial services, IT consulting, media, and manufacturing, Heather brings a holistic approach to business development, and operational management. Her international experience across London, New York, Hong Kong, and Thailand enriches her strategic perspective. Her track record ranges from successfully implementing global business systems for small business to managing corporate regional sales teams.

Like we teach in our 'What Makes a Great A3' course, visuals have power - and this image from the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment is a great example. It can be challenging to understand what the government spends its money on, let alone what it's getting in return. Here, the Parliamentary Commissioner uses what's called a Sankey diagram, which shows where funding's flowing from and what it's flowing to. It's such an effective way of making spending transparent that the Office of the Auditor-General has called it out in a recent post. If you'd like to learn the fundamentals of conveying advice in a visual format, we've still got places left in our 'What Makes a Great A3' course starting 20 March. Details on how to book your spot are in the comments.

Policy professionals! If you've ever wondered what makes the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) such a great analytical tool, this article about the consequences of what not being able to read or do maths as a teenager means for future life experience, is a good example. Policy professionals use different evidence sources to understand an issue. Small scale surveys and studies often give rich, qualitative details about people's lives. Bigger datasets can help answer population-wide questions, like what is happening for which groups of people. The IDI takes things further by linking bigger datasets together. That makes it possible to see the journeys (life course) of (de-identified) individuals through time. Using integrated data from 2009 to 2020 this study found that those with low reading and maths skills have poorer outcomes across a range of wellbeing measures: lower rates of participation in, and completion of, further education; lower employment rates and average earnings; and higher rates of hospitalisation and non-admitted secondary care events, as well as higher rates of criminal offending and convictions. Of course, understanding the issue is only the beginning. Public servants also needs to offer solutions. Their next job is going back to the evidence to figure out what should happen next. As a solution to the issue above, this government is investing in structured literacy and numeracy. This includes evidence based content, teaching principles and pedagogical approaches. Our next Evidence for Better Decisions, or Introduction to Social Investment courses will help you sift the evidence for understanding the issue and possible solutions. Go to the FrankCapability page of our website to find out more. www.frankgroup.co.nz

Policy professionals! If you've ever wondered what makes the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) such a great analytical tool, this article about the consequences of what not being able to read or do maths as a teenager means for future life experience, is a good example. Policy professionals use different evidence sources to understand an issue. Small scale surveys and studies often give rich, qualitative details about people's lives. Bigger datasets can help answer population-wide questions, like what is happening for which groups of people. The IDI takes things further by linking bigger datasets together. That makes it possible to see the journeys (life course) of (de-identified) individuals through time. Using integrated data from 2009 to 2020 this study found that those with low reading and maths skills have poorer outcomes across a range of wellbeing measures: lower rates of participation in, and completion of, further education; lower employment rates and average earnings; and higher rates of hospitalisation and non-admitted secondary care events, as well as higher rates of criminal offending and convictions. Of course, understanding the issue is only the beginning. Public servants also needs to offer solutions. Their next job is going back to the evidence to figure out what should happen next. As a solution to the issue above, this government is investing in structured literacy and numeracy. This includes evidence based content, teaching principles and pedagogical approaches. Our next Evidence for Better Decisions, or Introduction to Social Investment courses will help you sift the evidence for understanding the issue and possible solutions. Go to the FrankCapability page of our website to find out more. www.frankgroup.co.nz

The strategic policy work programme for Local Government is both extensive and challenging. If you and your team would like to learn how to deliver advice that is rigorous, compelling and useful to decision makers, consider attending this course. Limited places are still available! Book now to reserve your place.

Have you checked out the LGFA Taituarā Local Government Excellence Awards?  Because if you are part of a local authority or council-controlled organisation that goes above and beyond, the moment to be recognised is right now! FrankGroup has a longstanding friendship with Taituarā — Local Government Professionals Aotearoaā - and this year, we're delighted to be supporting the LGFA Taituarā Local Government Excellence Awards. The FrankGroup Award for Excellence in Community Engagement will honour programmes, projects or initiatives that get outstanding results through excellent community engagement or community empowerment. Any local authority or council-controlled organisation can enter. Entries are open until Friday 14 March. Use the link below to check out the award categories and enter now! #Taituarāexcellence #supportinglocalgovernment

Public servants are spending too much time in unproductive meetings. Is the stereotype harsh, fair, or a bit of both? Last week, we posted on Sir Brian Roche's recent speech on reorientating the public service (see link to article below), and how Sir Brian has brought a modernising take to the classic themes of productivity, performance, and capability. Today, we want to delve a little deeper into one of the themes Sir Brian raises: public servants spending too much time in unproductive meetings. We've worked with many clients and friends across central government, and meetings are part of their jobs - especially for agencies who are leading cross-agency work. This is simply because any well-developed advice needs to be tested with all the key players. Otherwise, both fishhooks and opportunities can be missed. But Sir Brian makes an interesting point. As he puts it, attempts to collaborate can end up meaning a process only goes at the pace of the 'slowest participant or the poorest performer'. What's the answer? Over years of working with central and local government clients, they've shared some wonderful wisdom with us. Here are our key take-aways about what makes a productive meeting:   1. Pre-reading needs to be short and sweet, with attendees coming to the meeting knowing the key points they want to make. 2. The meeting has a clear purpose and agenda, which identifies the specific decisions required. 3. Point 2 means that the right people at the right level to make the right decisions are in the room. 4. There's just enough whakawhanaungatanga to build the trust that gets everyone working at their best.  5. The chair is active and attuned to what's going on, giving everyone airtime, but without letting anyone dominate or get off task. They've thought in advance about potential sticking points and come ready to constructively unblock them. 6. Attendees recognise that every agency in the room brings their own interests and responsibilities, and all need to support each other to succeed. 7. There are clear next steps, circulated promptly, and minutes as appropriate. Chairing is a leadership skill that's sometimes undervalued, and we think this is a great time to recognise those who do it well! What do you think? Is there anything else you would add that helps contribute to a productive meeting? https://lnkd.in/gWeZEtgB

Latest news and insights from FrankGroup. #policyprofessionalsnz #policydevelopment #betterdecisions

Places are still available in our next What Makes a Great A3 course starting 20 March. Book now to secure your place.