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Culture change at Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority

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Coniferous forest by the water
Industry
Public Sector
Solution
Change Management

About

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (Reef Authority) is the entrusted regulator for the care and development of the Great Barrier Reef. They initiated a culture change programme to improve engagement with the communities along the Reef’s coastline.

The Reef Authority wanted better share knowledge and build trust and understanding. They hoped stronger community engagement would develop relationships and increase voluntary compliance with policies and improve business results through better management decisions and enhanced stewardship of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.

An essential task was creating a framework defining what working in partnership with the community meant for their organisation. This framework needed to describe the desired behaviours and attitudes (internal and external), tools and processes. To be adopted as a successful change initiative across the organisation, the framework content had to come from both the staff and directors of the Reef Authority.

Impact Australia worked with the Reef Authority on a three-stage solution to:

  • Illuminate - assess the current culture towards community engagement through an all-staff survey.
  • Develop - facilitate a senior management workshop to work through the issues raised and develop future strategies.
  • Implement - communicate a strategy for a culture change towards best practice community engagement and support the directors as they empowered their staff to undertake this in their jobs on a daily basis.

The Reef Authority chose to work with Impact Australia because of their expertise in driving culture change combined with a practical based solution. Their approach was seen by all who took part as an unbiased yet formal process to bring the ideas, problems and barriers facing the organisation to light. Impact’s involvement effectively depersonalised the process and enabled a greater focus on the issues rather than the people.

Impact’s staff survey was a comprehensive and multidimensional report. The resulting senior manager workshop unified that team. In turn, this led the directors to define the behaviours, attitudes, tools and processes that will best improve community engagement and communicate how this will be incorporated into everyday business. The Reef Authority benefited from a shared vision highlighting what community engagement means for their business.

Testimonials
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Michelle Stroman
Director of Professional Learning
Education in Motion
“What Impact really brought to the table was the human element. They really listened to what we wanted, and every time we posed a problem or had a question, instead of getting frustrated, they were excited by it! That attitude is the attitude we want for our staff and our students.”
Shona Marshall
Employee Development Manager
The Miller Group
"Working with Impact was certainly enjoyable. I particularly valued their ability to creatively interpret ideas into activities, their willingness to share their extensive knowledge and their flexibility in responding to our ever-changing requirements. The dedication and commitment the facilitators demonstrated throughout the actual event went above and beyond. The result ~ an experience that challenged our graduates, exceeded my own expectations and provided real value for our business.”
Gareth Owen
Deputy Director of Emergencies
Save the Children UK
"The involvement of Impact has been hugely valuable to us not only for the crucial professional insights and recommendations they were able to offer the training process and the programme as a whole, but also as their consultants bring such great energy and enthusiasm with them. It is uplifting and exciting to have them on board.”