Implementing Whole of Government Approaches

In this edition of Forward Focus, we look at our learning on implementing ‘Whole of Government’ approaches.

What is a ‘Whole of Government’ approach?

“‘Whole of government’ is an overarching term for a group of responses to the problem of increased fragmentation of the public sector and public services and a wish to increase integration, coordination and capacity.” (Ling, 2002).

The rationale for whole of government work is to eliminate "silos"- departments working in isolation from one another - to achieve seamless government. It aims to avoid having different policies cut across or undermine each other, and to optimise government impact by using all instruments at the State's disposal in an integrated way to support particular outcomes.

Whole of government work has been applied:

• to deep-seated or ‘wicked’ problems, such as poverty, health or homelessness;
• to crises and to strategic challenges, such as climate change, global terrorism and disease outbreaks;
• as a means of delivering integrated service delivery to the population as a whole or to a particular geographic community or to a community of interest, such as young people, older people or businesses.

CES Primer

CES produced a Primer in 2014, drawing on developments in Government departments in Ireland and Northern Ireland, and our experience of working to support systems change. We also looked at the experience of implementing Whole of Government approaches internationally and the barriers and enablers in implementation.

What does whole of government work involve?

Whole of government approaches require a particular way of working, which involves:

• Joining up at the centre to achieve a shared vision: joining up policy-making at the centre in support of implementation. This is the feature that distinguishes it from interagency work. All stakeholders should have the same vision and buy-in to the same strategic priorities.
• Boundary management: In complex policy implementation, the boundaries between Government departments, between policy-makers and implementation bodies, and between levels (national and local, policy-makers and front-line personnel, administrative and professional personnel) must be managed if implementation is to be effective.
• Managing interdependencies: recognising and managing the interdependencies across areas of Government and among levels of implementation – national, local, professional and administrative.
• Shared understanding: In the case of deep-seated social problems (so-called ‘wicked’ problems), such as poverty, crime or obesity, a shared view among the stakeholders about the underlying causes of the problem is an essential foundation for effective whole of government work.

How can Whole of Government work be done successfully?

Successful whole of government work depends on clear objectives, political commitment, viable joined-up Government structures, strong cultures of collaboration and incentives to collaborate. In particular, engaging successfully in whole of government work requires:

• Leadership - A high level of leadership and commitment at the political and administrative level is essential for whole of government work.
• Culture - Key cultural capacities include the ability to work across boundaries, build strategic alliances and relationships, negotiate, manage complexity and capitalise on opportunities afforded by interdependence.
• New ways of thinking - a re-alignment of understandings about goals, roles and outcomes, and a shift away from narrower departmental objectives.
• Networked governance - This involves new forms of accountability, targets, budgetary management systems and performance indicators. It also requires a focus on monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation and outcomes.
• Structures that align with purpose - Whole of government teams and other interagency/ interdepartmental structures must align with purpose.
• New work processes - clear and sometimes restructured lines of accountability, budgetary parameters, and roles, risk management systems and performance management systems that reward whole of government work and whole of government reporting arrangements.
• Managing ‘gaps’ - These include the information gap, the capacity gap, the fiscal gap, the administrative gap and the policy gap.
• Providing supports - Capacity development initiatives are a feature of whole of government work in several countries and include building repositories of shared lessons and experiences, practice guidelines, joint training, networking initiatives and access to learning and development supports

The growing number of challenges to governments today that require joined-up thinking and joined-up working, along with the increasing complexity of government itself, new technological opportunities and the challenges of economic constraints – all point to the need for and value of whole of government approaches.

The challenge is to make it work effectively, with Implementation Science offering valuable insights to guide future development.

Further Reading

The full report is available here : Primer on Implementing Whole of Government Approaches

More information on CES’ work in Policy Development is available here: Policy Development