Parent Resourse Toolbox

The policy has been written and approved (Step 6). It is now time to support its implementation.

“No matter how well-crafted a public policy, how pure its intent, all is for naught unless the policy is implemented. This process of converting “good” intentions into “good” results is a good basis for the public to judge the performance of leaders in government.” (Rockefeller Institute of Government)

The objective of this step is to support the implementation of the new policy such that compliance is maximized. Implementation may be very straightforward, if the policy does not reflect significant change. However, the more far-reaching the change, in both the numbers affected and the extent of change, the more challenging the implementation. (Rand Corporation - www.rand.org/publications/... )

Begin the implementation process by determining who is responsible for implementation. It is likely NOT those who approved the policy. It may require the designation of a person or group just for this purpose. Don’t let this decision fall through the cracks, or the policy will likely not come to be. Whom ever will be developing the implementation plan, will need to consider several processes:

Developing related procedures
It will be necessary to establish the procedures that will accompany the policy. This might include such things as:

Communication
It will be important that all those affected by the policy be informed about the specifics and the timing of implementation well in advance if it taking effect. The first step in this process is to determine who needs to know about it, and then to strategize how best to communicate with those people. Lastly, what is it specifically people ought to know – such as the restrictions, the rationale, the consequences, and the supports available to them. The rationale will be especially important if the changes induced by the policy go against the values of some of those affected. The implementation plan must include enforcement mechanisms and sanctions that lead targets to assess the costs of noncompliance as high, and thus increase the likelihood that they will choose compliance. The available supports will assist those who need to change their behavior in order to comply with the new policy. This communication process related to the implementation of policy change is very similar to other communication strategies such as persuasive campaigns, risk communication and media advocacy.

Environmental Changes
The Rand Corporation www.rand.org/publications/...pdf offers suggestions regarding the context in which change must occur once the policy has been approved.

Supports
Along with pressure to comply, policy mandates should provide support for implementation. If it was easy for people to comply with the desired behaviour, the policy would likely not have been necessary in the first place. Supports help to overcome the barriers, real and perceived. Support can take many forms. It might be:

Social supports

Physical supports

Incentives - a system of rewards that recognize compliance efforts.

Leadership support – Rand Corporation www.rand.org/publications/...pdf notes the importance of committed implementors as driving forces for policy change. Conversely, leaders uncommitted to a new policy may restrain change efforts. If implementors come to view the new policy as consistent with their own self-interest and with organizational culture, they will be far more likely to support the new policy and act in ways that enhance its implementation.

Timing
In considering the implementation of the new policy, timing needs to be addressed.
Act Quickly. (Adapted from the Rand Corporation)
Lessons from the implementation literature suggest that new policy should be decided upon and implemented as quickly as possible, for three reasons.

First, the waiting period is one in which personnel are unsure, and therefore anxious about, what the final outcome will be and how it will affect their lives.
Second, any waiting period also permits restraining forces to consolidate. Until the policy is decided upon and implementation has begun, those opposed will feel free to speak out against it, increasing the perceived strength of objections.
Third, fast and pervasive change will signal commitment to the policy. Any incremental changes would likely be viewed as experimental; commitment to the new policy would therefore be weakened. In addition, phased-in implementation might allow opponents of the new policy to intentionally create problems to prove the policy unworkable

Ensure Leadership Support at All Levels (Adapted from the Rand Corporation) Leaders within the system can and must become a major driving force for the proposed change. They take on this role when they are perceived to be supportive of the change and to be concerned that it be successfully implemented. Such a stance is sometimes difficult to achieve, especially when the new policy has been criticized by these same leaders early in the implementation process, when debate was occurring about the policy’s value and form. Ideally, leaders’ early criticisms are acknowledged and responded to during the policy formulation process in a way that enables them to emerge from the debate appearing convinced of the value and importance of the new policy. If lower-level staff do not believe that their superiors support the policy, they will have little motivation to abide by it. At the very top, the senior staff and/or elected officials must reaffirm their commitment to the new policy in language consistent with cultural norms of inclusion and equality for all. If senior leaders do not believe in the change, efforts must be made to present leaders as behaviorally committed to the policy (even if they remain attitudinally opposed). Such behavioral commitment requires that leaders send a strong, consistent signal of support for the new policy. Lack of attitudinal support makes behavioral signaling all the more important. Such signaling must include strict adherence to an existing or new code of professional conduct, with public sanctioning of personnel at all levels who fail to comply with it. It must also include smaller actions, such as allocation of time to the new policy and keeping the change before members through a variety of communication channels. This message of support must include a message of continuing involvement by high-level leadership.

TIP: Promoting Change when Policy is Implemented (Adapted from the Rand Corporation)
To promote change, planners should:

Convey the policy as simply as possible and build in supports for change. The most important support for change is a code of professional conduct that clarifies the criteria for behavioral compliance and stresses universal responsibility for respecting the feelings and sensitivities of others. In addition, senior individuals should be designated as responsible for successful implementation.
To the extent possible, convey the change in terms compatible with existing culture.
Stress behavioral compliance and create sanctions for compliance failures. Communication messages should be clear regarding what to do if non-compliance is observed.
Create a change process that allows members to voice their views and concerns and to know that these have been heard, even if they do not agree with the ultimate policy. The change should make clear that leaders have developed the policy and the implementation plan in a fair manner.
Ensure top leadership support, at least behaviorally. Set in place the means through which top leadership can send signals of support for the new policy, including continuing involvement in implementation, and frequent messages about the implementation process.
Involve leaders at all levels. Even in a top-down organization, implementation remains a problem of the smallest unit. Leaders at all levels must come to see that successful implementation is in their self-interest, and their ability to lead will be assessed in part by their own compliance with the new policy and the compliance of those under their management. They must also be provided with training designed to make them successful implementers. Such training should include practice in identifying threats to implementation, guidelines for behavior, and sufficient discretion so that they can begin to feel some ownership for the change.
Set up monitoring mechanisms (see Step 8), that will assess the implementation process. Monitoring efforts should capture as many aspects of the change as possible.
www.rand.org/publications/...pdf

TIP: Implementing policy in a government setting

The first piece of advice for appointed leaders who care about policy implementation is to move around, get out and about, especially early in your tenure. There are few things as harmful to effective management in government as spending all or most of one’s time in the office. Distant observation deadens sensitivity to the work state and local governments and myriad for-profit and non-profit organizations do at ground level. This is not to say that appointed leaders can grapple personally with all the details of implementing all public policies and micromanage them. However, unless a leader has a feel for what occurs at ground level, it is hard to provide direction for implementation. Not only do appointed leaders need to develop a feel for ground-level administration, it is good to be seen doing so. You signal in this way that you are watching. To succeed, appointed leaders must be alert to constant changes in public policy that occur in its implementation.

In closing, it should be noted that often policies have negative, punitive consequences that need to be communicated to those affected. Such is not always the case. In any case, these need to be actively communicated so that the incentive helps move people to compliance with the policy.

Once the policy has been implemented, move on to Step 8, the final one in the roadmap, to undertake the monitoring and other evaluation aspects.