Request for Information: Leadership Development for Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine Staff

Description

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has played a key role in the economic and social life of Ireland since its foundation in 1900. The DAFM vision is for a sustainable and competitive agri-food, forestry and seafood sector. The DAFM mission is to lead, enable and regulate the sector in a way that optimises its contribution to social, economic and environmental sustainability. DAFM currently employs approximately 4,000 staff across a range of disciplines including veterinarians, engineers, scientists, inspectors, and administrators. DAFM staff sources general leadership training for staff from OneLearning, the Civil Service learning and development centre. Leadership interventions are also made available to DAFM senior management under the Senior Public Service (SPS) in the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform. DAFM wishes to complement this comprehensive suite of interventions with a tailored leadership solution for its staff. DAFM wishes to consider training that is innovative, that is cognisant of the latest research and findings in the study of adult learning and that can enhance leaders’ understanding of how to best take action to develop new behaviours. We are seeking a proven capability in the latest scientific developments and advancements in the field of neuroscience and leadership. We are interested in how these advances apply in the areas of change/agility and people focus. In particular a programme of learning that includes aspects such as: 1. Social aspects of the brain – threat and reward 2. The connection between neuroscience and coaching and feedback 3. Thought leadership on growth mindset 4. The connection between neuroscience and habit change 5. Driving high performance and mindset 6. Empowering others to achieve success 7. Creating networks and facilitating collaboration 8. Involving others and listening 9. Inspiring others to thrive through change It would be envisaged that such learnings would be applied by DAFM leaders to drive and implement change, to refine vision in strategy development, to develop their own teams and to coach their peers. It is envisaged that training would be delivered to groups of 20-25 people based in a single Business Area in DAFM. The groups would be comprised of a pilot group of Principal Officer, Assistant Principal Officer, Higher Executive Officer, Administrative Officer (and equivalents for each of the grades listed). It is anticipated that this will be a one day programme. As the Department has nearly 4,000 staff it is anticipated that a train the trainer programme would be provided by the supplier following the delivery of up to 10 one day programmes. This would enable DAFM to establish an internal team of trainers to deliver the programme to other leaders. The Department welcome an e learning option if it was available for more junior grades in the organisation to be trained, following the pilot programme. A further requirement is the provision of details of comprehensive job aids that would be made available to learners (and could be purchased for in-house programmes and or made available through an elearning option). Materials would be expected to include conversation toolkits, practice supports (case studies etc) and action plans for learners to ensure the embedding of the learning over a sustained period. As part of this process, DAFM wishes to take preliminary market soundings to identify market capabilities to provide such a tailored solution. The purpose of this RFI is to assist us in developing a deeper understanding of the types of forward thinking and innovative learning interventions available in the area of leadership.