How the Working in Government Program is helping NSW public sector employees learn how to work ethically and effectively in government.

If you haven’t heard about the new Working in Government Program run by IPAA NSW, or want to know how it’s working for employees of the NSW Government, then read on.

The program is designed to be a new, engaging way of learning the fundamentals of working ethically and effectively in the NSW Government. It’s an online gamified app that can be done from a person’s PC or mobile in just a few minutes a day.

We interviewed the top scorer from our pilot of the program to ask her about what she thought about the program and how it has helped her learn the fundamentals and nuances of working in the NSW public sector.

Meet Alex Galassi , Senior Behavioural Advisor, NSW Department of Customer Service .

Alex can you please tell us a bit about yourself, how long you worked in the Public Sector and what is your career background?

I’m a Senior Behavioural Advisor in the NSW Behavioural Insights Unit - this is my first role in the Public Sector and have been here for 4 years. I studied psychology and rehabilitation counselling. The first role ?where I encountered behavioural science was as a mental health specialist for an insurer. I really loved it and actively looked for ways to apply behavioural science in my day to day work more broadly. Luckily someone told me about an opportunity in the BIU, so I jumped at it.?

Tell us about your current role?- what do you do in a regular day, what do you like and what are your challenges?

One of the things I love about my role is the range of different things I get to do every day! For the most part, I work on our ‘sludge’ stream of work, which is all about using behavioural science to identify, measure and reduce unnecessary frictions (‘sludge’) in government services. The goal is to make services easier and more inclusive. I love that this gives me an opportunity to work with teams across the Public Sector. Though this then throws up an interesting (but fun) challenge of learning about different processes and problem solving across Government. On top of that, I get to work with a fantastically supportive and fun team.

What made you want to join the WiG pilot program?

I’m keen to learn more about how government works so my manager suggested I sign up for the WiG pilot program. I thought it looked like a great way to learn a bit more about Government in a different way.

How did you find the structure and content of the program? What did you like?

I really liked the way the program was spread over the course of 3 weeks and came in small modules, I ended up really looking forward to a new micro-module in my inbox each day. The quiz format meant we could really engage with the content vs. traditional online modules, which can be quite passive.? The dashboard and gamification through the ‘answer streak’ badges were really motivating and my colleagues and I even compared how we were going each day for some healthy competition.

What topics on the WiG program did you find most valuable and why?

Learning about the nuanced elements of how parliament works was interesting, and I found myself trying to learn more even after I’d answered questions. The program also showed how seemingly distant operations in in parliament intersect with my role and the work we do in the Public Sector.

What’s something new you learned?

Tricky to pick one thing, there was a lot! For example, I had some vague understanding of how bills are passed in NSW, but it was all a bit murky to me! This was something new I learned through the course and something I’ve tried to learn more about afterwards too.

How do you think the program can/has helped you in your role, or working in government more broadly?

It helped me understand how things like budget estimates and the structure of government influences my role and how we provide advice.

Why do you think it’s important to understand the fundamentals of working in government, for any role?

It means you can understand the context and parameters you work in, so you can best serve the people who access government services and maximise positive impacts in your program area.

Would you recommend this to your peers and why?

Yes, for sure! The content was interesting, and the gamification made it engaging and motivating. The short modules also make it easy to fit in every day.

Is there anything else you’d like to share about your experience with the program?

Thanks so much to IPAA for organising the program, it’s really well done and I’m glad to hear there’ll be future intakes.

There’s only four intakes with registrations open now for intake two. If you would like to sign up to this limited time only program, or would like to sign up your team, go to the Working in Government website to learn more. We’ve loved seeing teams compare their knowledge against others, test yours today! https://www.nsw.ipaa.org.au/wig