ARGO Top Public Executive

International training program for high level managers in the public administration

Funding sources

The project was financed by the European Social Fund, Operational Program POWER (Knowledge – Education – Development), Priority IV. Social Innovation and International Cooperation, Action 4.2 International Mobility. 

Project purpose

The main purpose of the project was to develop such key competencies as leadership skills, management skills of the senior civil service officials in the Polish public administration (governmental level) with the objective to increase the efficiency of transition and use of the best practices in public sector management.

  • Leadership: building and communicating the institution’s vision and strategy, motivating the team, a new approach to leadership, proactivity, ethic in professional life.
  • Management skills: strategic planning, macroeconomic process management, resource management, change management, large-scale project management.
  • Negotiation skills: effective communication, negotiation strategies and techniques, cooperation, conflict resolution, ability to delegate tasks, coaching and teamwork.

Beneficiaries

The project was addressed to the top managers in public sector (governmental level) institutions, holding positions of: secretary / undersecretary of state, president / CEO of a public institution, general director, head / deputy head of department, key expert.

The project was delivered in cooperation with IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain.

Description

The interdisciplinary training programme being a new training offer for the public service in Poland, had focused on combining of a didactic innovation (case method) and topics adressed to the needs of top public executives.

The programme consisted of 160 teaching hours (20 days) in Poland and abroad, and comprised:

  • substantive language briefing (1 day)
  • training sessions in Warsaw (3 modules x 3 days)
  • mobility phase (2 modules x 4 days) in Spain
  • closing module (2 days) including summary peer-learning session (1 day)

The content of the programme was designed to strength the competencies necessary for the efficient public policies management, introduce new standards and better understand the role of manager-leader.

Topics presented by professors:

  1. Current challenges for top public executives
  • Awarness of global context
  • Understanding financial performance and implications
  • Understandind the strategies
  • A Framework for complex problem solving
  • Digital density paradigm
  • Creating and capturing value in the digital world
  1.  Effective negotiation and communication
  • Introduction to behavioral insights
  • Nudging the change
  • Negotiation  strategies and technics
  • Communicatin skills
  • Communication in crisis situations
  • Conflict management
  • Interpersonal influence
  1.  Financial acumen
  • Use internal financial & accounting systems to measure and manage superior & sustainable value creation
  • Financial framework for assessing economics impact
  • Public discourse and activism
  • Financing infrastructure projects
  • Public-private partnership
  1.  Leadership style
  • Developing a leadership style and understanding the role of leader
  • Discovering the global cultural context and its implications for the future of leadership in a global world
  • Helping People Think
  • Getting things done through informal networks
  • Change management
  • Leading change processes effectively
  1.  Managing innovation
  • Understanding how to navigate in the political landscape, deal with innovation fatigue and overcome organizational resistance
  • The Government role in turbulent environment
  • From Smart Cities to Smart Governance
  • Digital mindset
  1.  What will it take to be the leaders of the future?
  • Driving change successfully and taking advantage of opportunities and synergies
  • Driving digital Transformation
  • Managing Talents
  • Crisis Management Principles
  • Leveraging networks to get things done
  • Career Development.

Topics presented by KSAP experts:

  • Ethics and responsibilty in financial management
  • Macro-economic management
  • International challenges: geopolitics
  • Programme and project management (large scale) – project organisation
  • International finance institutions and Polish economy
  • Financial markets
  • Strategic Games „Behavior Architects”, „Amusement Park” .

Results

The project was first implemented in 2017 and completed in December of 2019. The first edition was implemented in years 2017- 2018, the second one in years 2018-2019.

The project supported 120 participating officials, 60 participants in each edition. After completing the training programme, the participants have acquired:

  • higher level of competence in the areas covered by the programme (ex-ante and ex-post survey)
  • ability to work with the case method
  • new language competencies (the whole project was implemented in English).

The participants had also the opportunity to exchange the experience between their peers, supervisors as well as key administration stakeholders.

On completion of the Programme the participants received a joint IESE - KSAP diploma confirming the completion of a Top Public Executive course, which is equivalent to an Advenced Management Programme (AMP).

Media

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