CEO update

March 2023

In my introductory piece for the Western Articulator last year, I talked about the need for an efficient and sound governance framework for the organisation, which would oversight a strategic plan that is based on what members told us they want from, and of, their association. I further talked about the need to embrace organisational change, especially for a member-based association that seeks to remain relevant to its members.

Trevor Lovelle ADAWA CEO

from current state through a transformation phase to the desired state, and

• the continuum is balanced to ensure processes comply with the strategic direction of the organisation.

Preparation (or ‘readiness’) can include evaluating the existing culture of the organisation, understanding the organisation current vision and identity, auditing the current businesses processes, and communicating the objectives of the planned change to internal and external stakeholders.

In the context of increasing the functionality of the organisation, it is logical that the vision and identity (purpose) should be assessed, so too the business processes and the prevailing culture since these are the foundation attributes of the organisation on which the new business model will be developed.

Whilst it is generally accepted that there isn’t a ‘one-size-fits-all’ model for organisational change, there are nevertheless some principles that should be applied to achieve the desired outcomes:

• change actions are undertaken on a continuous basis;

• the process moves along a continuum

Over the last few months, we have undertaken three key planned change actions including a governance assessment process, a survey of members, and commenced a strategic planning process. These actions collectively underpin a process of continuous improvement, which is aimed at enhancing the business’s operations to meet our key strategic imperatives, that:

• our members highly value what we offer and promote the interests of ADAWA.

• ADAWA is a high profile ‘go to’ organisation that engages with and collaborates with all stakeholders.

• ADAWA is a high performing, sustainable and well-governed organisation.

As illustrated below, our approach to organisational change follows the principles mentioned above i.e. these actions are continuous and iterative, the organisation moves from its current state, and the interventions are informed by a robust strategic plan.

Continuous improvement requires courage from those charged with management and governance responsibilities. Courage to critically analyse processes, systems and performance, and courage to effect the required change that results in the desired outcome. As mentioned above, ADAWA’s change actions include governance assessment, member survey, and strategic planning. Importantly, these are not ‘one off’ events but will be undertaken on a continuous basis, however it is pertinent to review each action and ‘sense check’ the work undertaken to date to ensure alignment with key objectives.

Governance Assessment

ADAWA Council utilised the Australian Institute of Company Directors ‘Governance Analysis Tool™’ (the Tool) to assess current governance arrangements of the Association. The Tool focuses on specific quadrants including:

1. Individual directors – to understand Councillors’ role and duties, competence, leadership, behaviours, and the responsibilities and style of the chair.

2. Board – qualities and operation of the Council as a combined team of directors including use of committees, the effectiveness of meetings, group competencies, Council dynamics and the extent to which legal standards are understood and complied.

3. Organisational – how the Council’s governance practices permeate the organisation including systems and policies related to the organisation’s operating environment, reporting environment, the nature and role of the CEO and management, information flows, sufficiency of resources, strategy, risk management and performance outcomes.

4. Stakeholders – the approach taken by the Council concerning accountability to, and communication and engagement with, key stakeholders.

Councillors completed a survey of over 150 ‘good governance’ statements, related to the quadrants listed above, and assessed against ADAWA’s conditions. The responses were then benchmarked against leading practice in the not-for-profit sector.

Across all quadrants, the ADAWA average score indicated that Councillors considered there is scope for improvement and indeed key findings from the survey provide positive directions that Council should take to improve the governance arrangements of the Association. These findings include:

• Clear delineation of roles and responsibilities for Council and management.

• Defining strategic objectives for the organisation.

• Developing a risk assessment and risk register.

• Aligning Committees with compliance and reporting requirements.

• Developing an induction package for onboarding of Councillors.

Council is currently working through these findings and developing appropriate responses to address the required improvements. It is envisaged that Council will undertake similar assessments annually.

Member Survey

ADAWA undertook a member survey to understand the needs and expectations of members, which would then inform ADAWA strategic planning. In total 308 surveys were completed, representing a 12% response rate, which enabled statistical significance testing at 95% confidence level. Overall, 81% of respondents indicated they were satisfied with ADAWA (very satisfied + satisfied) with a third of all respondents being very satisfied, which compared to 75% satisfied nationally and 74% for WA in the 2016 survey.

The key ADAWA services that encourage people to join and demonstrate value to members are support and advice, CPD, insurance, and news and updates; therefore it is critical to maintain these services at a high quality.

Strategic Planning

The third of our planned change actions is strategic planning, which underpins the organisational change principles mentioned previously, is informed by both the governance assessment, and the member survey.

Council has undertaken the first steps in the strategic planning process with a facilitated workshop that identified our key strategic factors, our vision, and our identity (purpose and role). Importantly, and reflecting findings of the member survey, Council has identified that ADAWA’s support for oral health practitioners is underpinned by six key offerings:

• Education: to enhance quality and consistency of care

• Advocacy: to seek to influence

• Connecting: for professional collegiality

• Services: for prosperity and business risk mitigation

• Public awareness: for appropriate and timely access

• Volunteer efforts: for public value benefitting those disadvantaged and vulnerable.

The next steps in the strategic planning process include refinement of the draft Plan by the Executive Committee, sense checking of the draft plan by Council, socialising the plan with key internal stakeholder groups, ahead of launching the final ADAWA Strategic Plan by midyear.

Strategic responses to the members survey, and specifically those that are shown as ‘Industry Challenges’, will be addressed during the strategic planning phase.

I look forward to providing regular updates on this important and on-going work for the Association, and to hearing from members about how they perceive the work we are undertaking on their behalf.

Trevor Lovelle ADAWA CEO