3.2 People Management

We value the commitment, achievements and development of all staff; and our ability to apply our skills and training to the delivery of better health and ageing outcomes.

Following is a discussion of the activities undertaken by the Department in 2007–08 to ensure that the organisation had a workforce that was motivated and capable of delivering the Australian Government’s health and ageing policies and programs, now and into the future.

Staff Survey

The Department’s fifth Staff Survey, conducted on 21 November 2007, provided an evidence- based evaluation of the organisation’s culture, staff motivation and workplace factors that impact on motivation and productivity. Eighty- eight per cent of staff present on the day participated in the survey. The 2007 Survey tally score showed an overall improvement on the 2006 result. Similar to last year, the highest scoring drivers continued to be manager, job, employer and development.

Results for staff of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin showed a marked improvement in areas relating to the work environment and developmental opportunities. These improvements validated activities delivered under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Workforce Action Plan (discussed later in this chapter). Results for staff with a disability also showed significant improvement across the board, with the greatest improvements in areas relating to a supportive work environment and opportunities to provide input and contribute to business planning.

Recruitment and Selection

The Department continually reviews the effectiveness of its recruitment processes to meet operational needs. Following a comprehensive evaluation of processes in 2006–07, the Department implemented a number of changes that: place a greater emphasis on the type of advertising undertaken for vacant positions; provide a wider suite of information available to selection panels to assist in undertaking recruitment exercises; and help managers to improve the overall time taken to complete recruitment processes. The Department will work to further improve its recruitment processes over the coming year, to increase its ability to attract skilled and experienced staff in an increasingly competitive labour market.

Performance Development

The Department’s Staff Survey demonstrated that having a Performance Development Scheme agreement with clearly specified tasks, objectives and performance measures, and regular ongoing feedback from supervisors as part of this process, has a significantly positive impact on staff motivation. This compares with generally lower motivation levels found by the survey for those staff without agreements in place. An increase in the number of staff with a Performance Development Scheme agreement has led to improved 2007 Staff Survey results.

The Department continued to improve its performance management and development scheme in 2007–08, by developing an Online Performance Development Scheme. Launched in August 2008, this new approach enables staff members’ agreements to be stored centrally on the Department’s corporate information technology system and their performance results to be approved online.

Workplace Planning, Staff Retention and Turnover

In late 2007, the Department undertook a workforce planning process to address predicted and current workforce challenges, such as the ageing workforce and skills shortages. The Department’s business units were surveyed to determine the maturity of workforce planning activity, as well as to identify their immediate and longer-term workforce needs. In addition, qualitative and quantitative data on key departmental demographic information, staff and exit survey data, relevant research and reports, labour market data and benchmarking information, was collected and analysed. This resulted in the identification of the following three approaches for addressing critical workforce issues:

• improving the workforce planning process itself, with integration of workforce planning into cyclical business planning providing a structured, disciplined solution to the Department and its business units;
• attraction, recruitment and retention, with a range of corporate workforce management projects to establish protocols around internal and external movements, job design, critical roles and succession planning, and utilisation of non-Australian Public Service workforce personnel; and
• learning and development projects around graduate employment, capability and leadership development.

The Department has incorporated workforce planning into its 2008–09 business plans.

Figure 3.2.1: Staff Numbers by Classification Australian Public Service Levels 1 to 6

Source: Department of Health and Ageing Annual Reports 2004–05 to 2007–08. Further information relating to staffing numbers can be found in the 3.3 Staffing Information chapter.

Staff Training and Development

Departmental Training Priorities

The Department continued to align its training and development program with business needs as part of its Learning and Development framework. The Department completed a training needs analysis in June 2008, which obtained Senior Executives’ views on existing and emerging training priorities. The Department will use the findings from the analysis to better identify, target, tailor and deliver on staff development needs.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Career Development Program

The Department supported its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Workforce Action Plan in 2007–08, through a Career Development Program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff who have been at the same classification for eighteen months or more. A component of the program focused on coaching individuals to articulate their ambitions in a career plan and develop strategies to achieve them. Fifteen staff completed the program this year, and seven have nominated for the next round of coaching in 2008–09. Other components of the career development program included leadership training, peer support and secondment.

Office of Health Protection Risk Assessment Training

The Department developed a training suite to assist the Office of Health Protection in its risk assessment of communicable diseases, environmental health threats, natural or man-made disasters, biosecurity and bioterrorism. The two courses conducted in 2007–08 provided participants with skills in risk analysis and risk assessment and included training in the use of software to model communicable disease outbreaks. Twenty-four staff members completed both courses.

Financial Management Training

Improving people’s financial skills and capabilities continued to be a priority. The Department developed a course on financial analysis to assist program managers in understanding financial statements. Participants developed an understanding of basic accounting practices, reading profit and loss statements and understanding balance sheets to enable them to assess risks in relation to organisations receiving grants. Two hundred and seventy-six staff received financial analysis training during 2007–08.

Improving Strategic Thinking and Executive Level Capability

The Department introduced a course aimed at improving strategic thinking skills, one of the skills required for all staff above the Australian Public Service Level 5 classification under the Department’s Capability Map. Four hundred and seventy-three staff attended the new strategic thinking course in 2007–08. The Department also introduced executive level transition courses to support staff who have recently moved to the Executive Level 1 and 2 classifications.

Graduate Development Program

The Department’s graduate program remains a key entry level workforce strategy that provides development opportunities in a wide range of areas in the Department and will help position the Department to meet its future workforce needs. One hundred and three graduates were employed in the 2008 program intake. This included three staff engaged through the Indigenous Graduate Program.

Health and Life Strategy

The Department continued to facilitate the health and wellbeing of staff, and to encourage a work/life balance. The Department’s fifth Collective Agreement provided for a variety of leave entitlements for personal, carers and parental reasons; part time work; and home based work. Staff also had access to education and awareness programs on the Department’s intranet site, including smoking cessation, good nutrition and physical activity.

Helping the Community Through Work/Life Balance Activities

The Department actively encourages staff to participate in activities that not only help with maintaining a healthy work and life balance, but also benefit the community. In 2007–08, these included walking challenges, triathlons, rides to work, workplace giving and participation in fundraising activities such as the Hartley Cycling Challenge.

In 2007–08, staff efforts in blood donation were formally recognised when the Department was awarded second place for ‘Public Sector Highest Number’ in the Australian Red Cross Blood Bank’s Corporate Donor Challenge. The award acknowledged the 906 donations made by staff.

Workplace Diversity

The Department’s ongoing employment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff and staff with disabilities remained above the Australian Public Service average, as reported in the Australian Public Service Commission State of the Service Report 2006–2007. The Department’s ongoing employment rate of mature age staff (ie aged 45 years to 54 years), however, was marginally lower than the Australian Public Service average.

Supporting Staff from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Backgrounds

During 2007–08, the Department continued to work with and support the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Network to deliver a broad range of initiatives identified in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Workforce Action Plan. This included holding the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Conference in Brisbane for staff and conducting National Talking Circles with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff. This encouraged thinking and feedback around issues pertinent to retention, development and recruitment. The Staff Survey results showed significant improvements in the areas of development and employer support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.

Supporting Staff with a Disability

The Department continued its membership with the Australian Employers’ Network on Disability, which supported advance employment opportunities for people with disability. The Department also drafted a Disability Workforce Action Plan 2008–2010 with an initial focus on supporting current staff with a disability and positioning the Department as an ‘employer of choice’ in the market place.

Brown Bag Lunch – Helping Staff to Manage and Develop People with Disability in the Department

The Department held a ‘Brown Bag Lunch’ session in June 2008 to help staff learn about managing and developing people with a disability.

Ms Suzanne Colbert, Chief Executive of the Australian Employers Network on Disability, outlined some of the key issues related to managing and developing team members with disability including:

• position descriptions and inherent requirements of a role;
• reasonable adjustments;
• disclosure of disability;
• barrier-free training and development; and
• barrier-free performance management.

Mature Aged Staff

The Department’s Mature Age Action Plan aims to meet the particular needs of mature age staff in a number of ways, for example by assisting mature age staff to remain in employment beyond their 55th birthday, and providing information on how they can make the best use of conditions available under the Department’s Collective Agreement. These conditions include flexible leave, part-time work and working from home.

In 2007–08, the Department provided access to six monthly superannuation information sessions to help mature age staff prepare for retirement. Under its Collective Agreement, the Department also financially helped staff aged 54 years and older to obtain advice from a registered financial advisor regarding their retirement options (as discussed later in this chapter).

Encouraging Respect in the Workplace

Following the success of the first phase of the Department’s Respect campaign in 2006–07, the Department developed and implemented phase two in 2007–08. This involved interactive workshops with senior staff to educate them on people management issues, specifically on the management of bullying and harassment in the workplace. Through this work, the Department reinforced its commitment to a harassment-free workplace.

Workplace Agreements in the Department

Following the announcement of the new Government’s policy in relation to agreement-making in the Australian Public Service in December 2007 and the release of the Australian Government Employment Bargaining Framework on 29 February 2008, the Department introduced a number of conventions in relation to its agreement making processes:

• Australian Workplace Agreements were no longer offered or varied by the Department;
• the Department’s Collective Agreement provided the terms and conditions of employment for non-Senior Executive Staff, with a flexibility clause available to provide other terms and conditions for individuals or a particular group of staff where appropriate; and
• in lieu of a suitable collective arrangement, comprehensive terms and conditions of employment for new Senior Executive Staff were provided via an individual determination under Section 24(1) of the Public Service Act 1999 and/or common law contract where required.

With the subsequent introduction of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Act 2008 on 19 March 2008, the offering of Australian Workplace Agreements was prohibited in the Australian Public Service. Current Australian Workplace Agreements will continue to operate until terminated or replaced.

Common Law Contracts

While not generally used by the Department, common law contracts may be used to establish and/or supplement conditions and entitlements.

New Collective Agreement

The Department’s fifth Collective Agreement was lodged with the Workplace Authority on 9 August 2007 and will expire on 9 August 2011. This agreement covers all staff below the Senior Executive Service level and is a principles based agreement, with the majority of detail on the operation of conditions held in supporting guidelines. The main features of the agreement are:

• pay increases of 4.2 per cent on lodgement, 4.1 per cent in August 2008, 4.1 per cent in August 2009 and 4.25 per cent in August 2010;
• changes to conditions of employment to comply with the requirements of the Workplace Relations Act 1996;
• ordinary hours of duty for staff covered by the agreement were increased from 7 hours 25 minutes per day to 7 hours 30 minutes per day;
• an additional two weeks maternity and adoption leave;
• the provision of a one-off $500 reimbursement to staff aged 54 years and older as a contribution to the cost of financial advice from a registered financial advisor regarding retirement options; and
• provision of a Public Transport Loan Scheme to promote and facilitate staff use of public transport.

Remuneration

The Remuneration Committee considers and determines requests for remuneration packages that fall outside the usual remuneration framework. These requests are generated by the Department’s need to retain skilled, experienced and high performing staff who make a significant contribution to its operations. The Remuneration Committee also responds to requests for the Department to attract high quality staff whose technical experience and other attributes have a higher ‘market value’ than the standard remuneration arrangements will accommodate.

Separately the Department participates in the Remuneration Survey conducted by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. This information is used to inform the annual review of salaries for Senior Executive staff.

Productivity Improvements

Productivity improvements were identified through the collective agreement negotiations, with significant items including:

• automation of the Performance Development Scheme and renewed focus on performance management, including informal feedback. In addition to reducing the administrative costs of the current manual process, this will increase scheme compliance, strengthen the link between performance and development, allow the Department to better meet the development needs of staff, and have a positive impact on motivation and retention;
• implementation of a new Learning and Development framework and strategy, which will have a strong link to attraction and retention, strengthen the link between learning, required knowledge, performance and business outcomes;
• implementation of an online e-learning program to complement ‘classroom’ and on the job learning;
• increasing the standard working day for staff by five minutes to 7 hours 30 minutes per day; and
• implementation of outcomes from the revised recruitment model evaluation and review processes.