Building Regulatory Capability to Achieve Excellence
What is Regulatory Capability and How Can It Help Achieve Excellence?
Regulatory agencies (regulators) play an important role in society. They are responsible for ensuring compliance with the rules and regulations that governments have established on behalf of the people to create a well-functioning society and trust in government. To do this, regulators need a capable workforce. Regulation is central to organised societies, ancient and modern. It protects and benefits people, businesses, and the environment and facilitates economic and social activities (level playing field). Regulation is key to governments achieving their social, economic, and environmental policy objectives. It is what citizens demand of governments when things go wrong.
Regulatory capability is the foundation for building a high-performance culture in regulatory agencies. It refers to the ability of the regulator to
Provide a sophisticated mix of regulatory approaches, including providing authoritative information and advice on compliance, working with organisations to help them understand the law, monitoring compliance, taking enforcement action when necessary, and meeting the community's expectations.
Build its capacity to identify, develop and use its resources effectively and efficiently.
In this article, I discuss some tips to help regulatory agencies build their regulatory capability.
The Benefits of Building, Maintaining, and Strengthening Regulatory Capability
Being a capable regulator is an ongoing organisational commitment to developing the skills, knowledge, behaviours, processes and technologies needed for success. At the employee level, ‘regulatory capability’ refers to the personal qualities, knowledge, and skills, including specialist expertise, essential to their given role. At the organisational level, ‘regulatory capability’ is the ability of the regulator to achieve its strategic goals and objectives. Regulatory capability
Building, maintaining and strengthening capability is a powerful tool for regulators to deliver on their strategic goals. Capability enables continuous improvement and helps preserve organisational knowledge, it offers a cost-effective way for organisations to establish and uphold high and consistent standards. Capability development emphasises people's capacity to perform at high levels in rapidly changing working environments and contexts. Developing skills and knowledge is just one aspect of capability development. It is the ability to apply those skills in different contexts with confidence that differentiates skill and capability. Creating capability is moving from segmented development activities to holistic ones with more meaning and purpose.
Developing capability is an ongoing process, not just a one-off event. It involves developing everyone’s capabilities - staff, team leaders, managers, senior leaders, executives, CEOs - to increase the regulator’s effectiveness and efficiency in meeting its strategic goals. This includes identifying areas that need improvement, setting targets for development, implementing plans for improvement, monitoring progress towards those targets, and providing feedback on progress made.
Capability development should be targeted, flexible and responsive to changes in direction, policy positions, workplace processes, and systems. These workplace structures (or sources of underpinning knowledge) must be kept current to reflect good practice as needs arise and opportunities for improvement are identified. This ensures they remain fit for purpose, provide the necessary operational support, and reduce the need for major project-based review and rework. It also enables staff to adapt to small incremental changes instead of major change management and re-training efforts. By clearly understanding their capabilities - what they are doing well and what needs to be improved - regulators can strive for excellence.
Tips for Implementing a Successful Regulatory Capability Program
A regulatory capability program is essential for regulators to ensure long-term success. It is a way of building a culture of learning and growth and developing the skills and capabilities needed for regulators to reach their goals. To implement a successful regulatory capability program:
Develop/Review/Update:
Organisational Development Strategy - that outlines how the regulator will develop its regulatory capabilities over time.
Regulatory Capability Framework - encompassing all organisational roles with a regulatory function, to understand current capabilities and identify areas that need to be improved/updated. The framework should cover the knowledge, skills, and behaviours needed across three key regulatory capability families: 1) regulatory practice (the regulator’s ability to administer and enforce the law), 2) operational/technical (the regulator’s subject matter expertise, and 3) interpersonal (the regulator’s ability to engage with its stakeholders - internal and external).
Authorised Officer Learning and Development Program - for all staff who have a regulatory function (authorised and non-authorised).
Leadership Competencies Framework - to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential future leaders. Leadership plays a critical role in creating and sustaining an organisational environment where people can thrive and perform at their best..Regulatory agencies must invest in leadership development for all levels of leadership, from emerging team leaders to the CEO. The leadership competencies framework should also address the three regulatory capability families.
Build a culture of learning and growth
As individuals grow, so do organisations and societies.
Foster a performance culture
That rewards excellence and encourages employees to strive for higher levels of achievement, e.g. recognition programs, reward systems, and development opportunities.
Establish/review/update processes for recruiting and retaining talent
The right people for the right roles at the right time.
Provide Quality onboarding, role induction, training, continuing professional development, and resources
To help employees, and the organisation, reach their full potential.
Make sure that:
Capability development is targeted, flexible and responsive to changes in direction, policy positions, workplace processes, and systems.
Workplace structures (or sources of underpinning knowledge) are updated to reflect good practice as needs arise, and opportunities for improvement are identified. This will ensure they remain fit for purpose, provide the necessary operational support and reduce the need for major project-based review and rework. It also enables staff to adapt to small incremental changes instead of major change management and re-training efforts.