Mastering Expertship is a six-month program aimed to enable experts to deploy their expertise in the most impactful way possible. In addition to attending a combined 4.5 days of face-to-face workshops to network and to share experiences with others, participants also took part in a 360-degree survey, had two individual coaching sessions with their coach, and completed two formal check ins with their manager and coach.

About the New Zealand Government Expertship programs

Every quarter, multiple government entities in New Zealand nominate technical subject matter experts to attend the Mastering Expertship program. Over 400 public servants have attended the program. The program gets very positive reviews from attendees, including a recent participant who said it was the best program he had attended in his 12 years of public service in New Zealand.

Nominations for the 15th Cycle are now open and the details are as follows:

• Program takes place from April – September 2026

• Key dates are the two face-to-face workshops that occur as follows: Workshop #1 – 17, 18 June; Workshop #2 – 24, 25, 26 June 2026.

• Nomination deadline is 27 March 2026

Click here to download a two-page overview of the program including a guide on how to how to select the ideal participant.

Further programs are as follows:

• Cycle 16: Workshops in September 2026, nomination deadline 22 June.

• Cycle 17: Workshops in November 2026, nomination deadline 24 August.

Feedback from Cycle 11: June – December 2025

We recently wrapped up the 11th Cycle of our New Zealand Government Mastering Expertship program, with participants from 4 agencies joining us. 83 was the Net Promoter Score that the participants gave to the program overall, defined as ‘world class’.

Some points of feedback from the participants in Cycle 11:

• 100% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the investment of their time and effort has been worthwhile.

• 100% of participants agreed that the coaching contributed positively to their professional growth.

• 100% of participants agreed that the Mastering Expertship program has helped them feel they have advanced their ability to have more influence and impact in their role.

We ask participants a series of questions (shown in the graph below) to understand the value they gain from their coaches. The results are overwhelmingly positive and exceed the global average for this program.

Feedback from the 3 most recent cycles: April 2024 – December 2025

• 67 was the NPS score that the participants gave to the program overall, rated as ‘excellent’

• 100% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the investment of their time and effort has been worthwhile.

• 100% of participants agreed that the coaching contributed positively to their professional growth.

• 100% of participants agreed that the Mastering Expertship program has helped them feel they have advanced their ability to have more influence and impact in their role.

We ask a series of questions (in the graph below) to ascertain the value participants believe they have received from attending the program. The feedback is overwhelmingly positive, and above average for this program globally.

What did the participants think of the program

• “It pushes you out of the routine of being an expert to step back and consider what parts of the role fulfill you, and how to do that and bring real value to others.”

• “The program is exceptionally well-structured, offering a thoughtfully designed framework that supports both learning and collaboration. One of its standout features is the opportunity to engage with a diverse group of experts from various government agencies. This not only broadens your professional network across different sectors but also fosters meaningful exchanges that often lead to discovering synergies and co-creating solutions to shared challenges.”

• “I like that I don’t feel the need to make radical changes. It is more about refining my current approach and doing a bit more planning and thinking ahead of engagements to make sure I’m optimising them. The actions I have come out with all seem manageable.”

• “It will open your eyes and show you the way how to utilise the abilities you already have in a best possible way.”

• “The program has helped me to enhance my soft skills, and I have gained more confidence.”

• “It’s given me new approaches in engaging with colleagues that I was finding tricky to deal with. So far the results have been great, and it hasn’t required a drastic change in approach.”

• “It reinforced a lot of what I’m doing well while offering ideas on how to improve aspects of my work. I like that it was focused on enhancing my current approach rather than a complete revamp.”

• “It provided me with ability to easier spot opportunities for knowledge sharing and task delegation.”

• “The program covers a wide range of topics. It emphasizes real-world applications, ensuring that the skills and insights you gain can be immediately applied to your work.”

• “Built confidence, focus and commenced applying a different lens to a given situations.”

• “The learning and experience, and more importantly, the connection I had through this training programme will be invaluable.”

• “The course reminded me of some of the key enterprise skills that can be eroded by the day to day demands of producing end products in a time sensitive environment.”

• “The programme helps shift your perspective beyond your area of expertise to recognise the opportunities available when you shift your focus beyond what you already know.”

How to nominate a participant

Please email us at info@theexpertshipinstitute.org to either nominate a participant, or for further information.