ASIC spent $1.5 million on leadership and culture consultants

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has over the past two years spent around $1.5 million on external consultants specialised in leadership, organisational psychology and culture.

The largest beneficiary of the spending was Oliver Wyman, a global management consultancy with an office in Sydney. The consultancy was awarded two contracts with a total value of $1 million. The first was focused on reviewing the risk management framework of the watchdog, while the second engagement saw Oliver Wyman advise ASIC on how it could implement its governance framework.

In December 2019 ASIC introduced its governance framework as part of the regulator’s revised leadership structure, with the aim of ensuring that accountabilities throughout the organisation are clearer and that decisions are more effective and impartial. 

Data uncovered by Australian Financial Review (AFR), following analysis into the firm’s accounts, further shows that Sydney-based leadership consultancy Bendelta was paid $53,000 to develop and run ‘360-degree assessments’ of senior ASIC leaders. Such assessments seek to create a full review of individual performance based on the views of peers but also subordinates and other stakeholders. 

Another Sydney-based leadership development consultancy, Maximus International, bagged $58,000 across two contracts this year for coaching sessions for leaders and senior regulators. People Rocket, an organisational consultancy, won a $50,000 tender in June this year for delivering training focused on enhancing innovation capabilities. 

Kiel Advisory Group, which is led by former McKinsey & Company and Deloitte consultant Elizabeth Arzado, was awarded a $360,000 contract aimed at assessing leadership and culture, and at identifying behavioural norms that needed to be fixed.

Meanwhile, human resources advisory The Leadership Framework won a $30,000 contract for consulting services to ASIC in August, while two months before that, global HR consultancy Mercer won a project focused on developing executive remuneration policy.

The $2 million figure also includes $150,000 that the Australian Securities and Investments Commission spent on Rigg Consulting Group, a boutique firm specialised in team and individual development. The Sydney-based firm provided coaching services to the regulator’s leadership team and individual managers, along with debriefs for senior managers.