Seeking to further enable the capacities of officials and workers from the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the agency, together with the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC), recently held a Capacity Building Program on Leadership Development and Strategic Human Resource Management and Organization Development (HROD) at SEAMEO Innotech, Diliman, Quezon City. The program, which was attended by officials and employees from CSC Central and Regional Offices nationwide, aimed to enhance participants' understanding of emerging tools and trends in leadership development and strategic HROD. CSC Chairperson Karlo Nograles expressed gratitude to Australian Embassy Counselor for Political, Economic, and Public Affairs James Yeomans for piloting this activity that would pave the way for progressive and proactive HR endeavors. As the head of the central HR agency of the national government, Nograles recognized that leadership and human resources are both consistently evolving, driving CSC to upskill and reskill the bureaucracy to keep up with the changes and continue to deliver their mandates with utmost efficiency, diligence, and excellence. “This capability-building intervention is a partnership that resulted from a productive meeting that I had with APSC Officials in January of this year. Through that meeting, the significant role of HR practitioners and government leaders was emphasized, thus, magnifying the need to capacitate our workforce as an essential strategy for us to create and transform future-ready civil servants,” said Nograles. He also noted that the Civil Service Institute (CSI), as the Commission’s training arm, will benefit from the outcomes of the workshop that supports its mandate to build the capacities and competencies of the country’s 1.8 million civil servants. Subject matter experts Lisa Howdin and Jo Cantle from APSC shared information on digital and career options in the government through APSC's Career Pathfinder. They also discussed the processing and preparation of Training Needs Analysis tools and interventions, as well as demonstrating how to develop an Organizational Development Program Template. On the third day, APSC introduced concepts, theories, and best practices in Organizational Development (OD) that the Philippines can adopt. These included the Middle Management Continuing Development Framework, Wellness Program, and APSC Digitalization Journey. By the end of the workshop, participants were expected to prepare an action plan for the development of HR systems and craft a leadership development program for implementation in the bureaucracy. “I am most certain that this capability-building program with the APSC will be a productive exchange of knowledge and expertise; one that will definitely align our goals to becoming a future-ready and smart organization. Essentially, capacitating our workforce will greatly contribute to implementing positive organizational change as we will be able to strategically place key players in the right positions and roles,” said Nograles. Also present during the three-day event were Australia Awards Program Director Milalin Javellana and Tertiary Education Adviser Mark Kilner.