Leadership Academy graduation

At HSS, we are purposefully building up great leaders. It’s not just about occupying positions of authority well, but part of our strategic vision for the whole organisation and sets us up to thrive for years to come.

Last week we congratulated graduates of the Leadership Academy – our second year of running this training program for our managers and team leaders.

Margaret Pyrchla, HSS’ Board Chair, Robert Toms, Chief Executive and Debra Thornborough-Owen, A/Executive Director Workforce and Organisational Development attended the events as guest speakers and inspired the group with personal stories about their management and career journeys. They also shared some of their lessons learned and seasoned leadership advice.

Debra Thornborough-Owen spoke about seizing opportunities to challenge yourself, and the importance of establishing your own brand. She also recommended working for organisations that match your own values.

The Leadership Academy is an important part of the commitment we made in our Strategic Plan 2022-24 to empower our people and grow a strong organisational culture. The Academy has been designed to invest in our leaders, further build their leadership capability and improve the overall employee experience at HSS, both for them and their direct reports.

The benefits of having solid leaders in an organisation flow into employee engagement, job satisfaction, productivity, and overall agency performance. When we have leaders who embody the values of the organisation, they will inspire and guide others. Leaders who are supported and equipped to do their jobs well, will feed that support back into the teams, and we’re already seeing that happen.

The Academy’s content is unique and customised to HSS.  It was developed in alignment with our Capability Framework and our Strategic Plan, and the modules were specifically chosen to align with the HSS values.

One key benefit to come out of the course is that leaders from all around the organisation learned together and shared experiences, 

making lasting contacts and integrating more deeply with the organisation.