1. Leadership Example – Mark Collett
Preamble
In 1998 the Australian Federal Government introduced an
employment program known as Job Network.
To measure performance and to insure value for money was being
achieved for the Australian Taxpayer the government introduced a
Star Ratings system. Ratings were measured from 0 to 5 whereas a
5 star rating was excellent.
The Albany and District Skills Training Committee was a non-profit
organisation and the employees of the employment services division
was made up of predominately female case managers who were
involved to securing work for a variety of Job Seekers (indigenous
and non-indigenous). The culture that was present in the division
was that that everyone shared the Organisation Values and its
Mission and Vision. This something we as a group defined ourselves.
However, what was apparent was that performance and its
relationship to the sustainability of the organisation were not being
considered and that a “she will be right attitude” evolved.
The Crisis
To be considered for an extension of contract the branches of the
Job Network organisations had to achieve a minimum of 3.5 Stars by
the end of the contract Term (2years). Results were released every 6
months.
As a result of past performance, in 2000 the division grew from two
offices to eight with a total of 110 employees throughout regional
Western Australia. This growth was not only entrepreneurial but also
created Tyranny of Distance challenges’ to the organisation. By the
first 6 months only one of the eight Branches had reached 3.5 stars.
We were at risk of losing our contracts and our future sustainability.
The Turn Around
To turn this situation around required a collaborative effort with all
who was employed in the division and as its leader I quickly
redesigned our Strategic Plan.
Key initiatives were
1. Redesigned team fit across the division
2. Bought all the team together and conducted a motivational
and team building workshop. This workshop also involved
communicating the Crisis and designing and agreeing on the
solution. As a bi-product of this initiative it encouraged
employees to think outside the box and provide a forum for
them to share their ideas for improving the workplace culture
for our services. I used various examples of comebacks that
were deemed impossible i.e. Australia 2 winning the last race
of the Americas Cup in 1983 from what seemed impossible

2. Leadership Example – Mark Collett
odds, to emphasis the reality of what we could achieve.
3. Secured exclusive marketing arrangements involving talk back
radio in the various regions that we operated in.
4. I designed a Balance Scorecard for the organisation to provide
a sustainable performance management framework and to
drive strategy execution and improve organisational
performance.
5. Designed and rolled out a customised Star Rating Performance
model that reported daily to the eight Branches how they
would be rated if ratings were released officially. This allowed
the staff to measure their own performance against target as
well as other branches.
6. Acknowledged performance when the branches successfully
completed a milestone they received team awards as
acknowledgement for their efforts, which made them feel
appreciated.
7. Provided mentoring to the branches that were falling behind
on their targets. Myself did not only provide this on site but
also by other staff members I engaged across the branches.
Some became specialists in the field i.e Indigenous
Employment. This exploited the talent of the Human Capital of
the division. Some of the key performers that were able to
impart their experience were as young as 18 and old as 65.
The Result
At the end of this particular contract period all branches achieved
more than 3.5 Stars with one achieving 5 Star and three 4.5 stars.
This result guaranteed the organisation an extension of its contracts
to 2006.
The organisation was recognised as the No 1 performer in the
Job Network program in Regional Western Australia.
A reminder of that achievement is a gold nugget gift to me
from the Kalgoolie staff which still to this day is referred to as
a piece of “Kalgoorlie Gold”.