Institute of Public Administration (BIPA) holding its 1st flagship workshop.
After the success of its very first Forum, hosted by BIPA under the patronage of HE Shk Ahmed Bin Atiyat Allah AL Khalifa – Minister of Cabinet Affairs, attended by 43 dignitaries from all ministries and government organizations, BIPA is all set to host its first ‘Senior Leadership Development’ Workshop. The Workshop will be held for Undersecretaries from March 31st till the 2nd of April at the Bahrain Exhibition Centre. This Workshop is a platform where BIPA will put their plans of leadership development into action.
The workshop entitled “Leading in the Public Sector” and is part of a comprehensive leadership development framework organised by BIPA and the UK National School of Government. The objective of the Workshop is to enable senior leaders in the Kingdom of Bahrain to improve their understanding of leadership in context to the public sector. It aims to allow those involved in shaping and delivering strategy and policy, to understand how policies can be developed and delivered effectively. The Workshop will also aid senior leaders to appreciate the need for the strategic management of government communications and management of the media. A new mindset shift is expected: from well articulated and written decisions bounded by organisational walls to country-wide applicable policy making involving the whole body of government and focused on reforming public services by solving cross-boundary problems.
The content of the Workshop will mainly focus on three main subjects: Leadership, Policy Making and Media Management.
“It is very important that we provide the basis of how the Public Administration system can excel at delivering first class and customer oriented services to one and all in the country”, said Dr. Raed Mohammed BenShams, Director General of The Bahrain Institute of Public Administration (BIPA). He added, “This Workshop will offer a platform to all attendees to discuss the role of leadership and its impact on the organisational climate and atmosphere. We will also discuss how a leader equipped with effective communication methods and tools, fortified with well-organized publicity and campaigning, can help our Public Administration systems to achieve the benchmark and be recognised as the best in the region.”
Dr. BenShams further said, “The workshop will not only provide our Undersecretaries with the international best practices and tools for creating more effective and executable government policies, keeping citizens and stakeholders up-to-date about important issues and helping all to access government services with ease, but will also explain the need to inform people of the rights with which come responsibilities as well. There is an extensive need for us as government ministries and public organisations to understand public attitudes and behaviours so we can cater to the masses in an appropriate manner. In achieving all of these targets, the media plays a very vital role, hence it is a priority for any organisation to maintain and manage media relations well and provide them with constant updates on the various important issues and policies”.
The workshop will be attended by senior leaders and dignitaries of the Kingdom from the Undersecretary level. This interactive workshop which will consist of a variety of methods such as presentations, case studies, group activities and discussions offering participants an opportunity to consider their future development needs will also serve as an occasion for reflection and action planning to ensure that everything that has been shared by the facilitators has been captured and will be put to practice at the workplace.
Leading edge gurus in their respective fields of specialisation will lead the workshop during the three days: Ms. Kay Evans - Senior Leadership Consultant at the UK National School of Government on developing personal leadership, influence and persuasion skills, Dr. John Potter - Senior Associate with the UK National School of Government, Mr. Graham Davey - Head of Policy Making and Government Team at the UK National School of Government in change leadership, Mr. Rob Wright - Senior Associate with the National School of Government on policy development and international negotiations and Mr. Kevin Traverse-Healy – Senior Associate with the National School of Government and lead consultant at UK’s Central Office of Information. With hands-on experience of how the civil servants of a country can provide exceptional service and assist the organisation in achieving a good record of achievements, the facilitators are looking forward to sharing their international knowledge and best practices with the attendees and are eager to see it go in action soon.
Since its establishment BIPA, has been working towards its vision of being a partner of choice to develop civil servants for a first class public service and act as a key catalyst to improve the performance of the public sector. To see that vision come to reality BIPA has worked towards seeking assistance of national and foreign expertise in studies, research, training and development in the field of Public Administration. A comprehensive leadership development framework for all senior civil service officials is under development with international houses of repute. This is to benefit from their wide accumulated experiences and ensure the transfer of knowledge to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the region. BIPA will also be assisting the government by undertaking research projects in the field of public administration from ministries and offering professional services across the civil service. The core educational and learning curricula will be catering for new government recruits and incumbent civil servants, offering general, operational, managerial and executive themes of education. Education specifically tailored to the needs of our individual civil servants, the civil service and for the benefit of our general public.
