DownloadCorporate governance
Management of human resources
At ASADA we value our employees highly and recognise the significant contribution staff make
in shaping the objective and outcomes of the organisation.
In 2007–08, our Human Resources team primarily focused on staff consultation, learning and development programs and performance and development for all staff.
Overview
At 30 June 2008, we employed 64 staff (61 ongoing and 3 non-ongoing) and we had engaged 375 employees on a casual basis in the National Testing team.
Tables 18 to 24 in appendix F show our employee profile.
Workplace relations and agreements
We are continuing to consult with staff on workplace matters, and our certified agreement reinforces staff involvement in decision-making.
Certified agreement
In late 2007, we initiated negotiations with workplace representatives on a replacement for the current certified agreement, which has a nominal expiry date of 8 March 2009. These negotiations were ongoing as at 30 June 2008.
Australian workplace agreements
At 30 June 2008 14 staff members were covered by Australian workplace agreements (AWAs), including 12 non-Senior Executive Service (SES) staff.
ASADA supported its collective agreement and AWAs with employment policies, procedures and guidelines providing staff with detail on how their terms and conditions of employment are administered and applied. Both agreements provide staff with a competitive range of terms and conditions of employment, placing both groups of employees competitively in the APS labour market.
AWAs were available to all ongoing employees until the revised employment framework provisions were advised in early 2008. A breakdown of staff on AWAs is shown in table 23.
Our current SES employees are employed under AWA provisions, which typically provides for salary, superannuation, performance pay, access to a motor vehicle or equivalent cash allowance. Our SES officers are required to provide strong leadership and direction. This includes upholding and promoting the APS values and Code of Conduct contained in the APS Act.
Performance management, recognition and benefits
Performance Management System
Our Performance Management System was upgraded during May 2007. This updated version offers increased access to individual, workgroup and whole-of-organisation reporting facilities.
Performance payments
A one-off individual performance-based bonus payment is accessible to employees employed under AWAs. Payment of a bonus is dependent on the outcomes of individuals’ performance assessments and whether they have met pre-determined personal objectives.
Bonus payments are based on the performance outcome and the sliding scale of payments provided through the workplace agreement.
ASADA-wide bonus
Under the ASADA Certified Agreement, an ASADA-wide performance bonus is provided for eligible employees. Payments made under this scheme are based on an assessment by the CEO and ASADA Members (in consultation with the Workplace Relations Committee) of our overall performance during the financial year. The ASADA-wide bonus will be paid to eligible staff during the first quarter of the 2008–09 financial year.
Based on performance in the 2006–07 financial year, ASADA made a total payment of $94,661 in performance-based bonus payments to 49 eligible employees during the 2007–08 performance management year. A summary of performance payments is provided in table 24.
Peer recognition
The ASADA Certified Agreement provides for a peer reward system, which supports our commitment to acknowledging and rewarding the outstanding performance of individuals and teams. The system gives staff the opportunity to recognise outstanding performances that demonstrate our core values.
Non-salary benefits
Non-salary benefits we provided to our staff in 2007–08 included:
- free influenza vaccinations
- an employee assistance program
- rewards and recognition
- a health and fitness allowance, and
- study assistance.
Workplace diversity
We are committed to creating an inclusive work environment that is free from harassment and enables staff to contribute to their full potential. The Workplace Diversity Program for 2006–09 highlights the following elements and measures for future reporting purposes:
- policies and practices
- fair treatment for all
- making the best use of diversity
- balancing home and work life
- building on equal employment gains
- making sure ASADA is an attractive place to work and is a workplace of choice, and
- ensuring ASADA enjoys quality stakeholder management.
Staff survey
During July 2007, our staff completed a staff survey. The survey provided an evidence-based evaluation of organisational climate, staff motivation and the workplace factors that impact on motivation and productivity.
The broad aims of the survey were to:
- measure staff perceptions and opinions in a number of employment-related areas at a given point in time
- identify how satisfied/dissatisfied ASADA employees are with various aspects of their employment
- ascertain how strongly employees are engaged with the organisation, and
- gather data so we can make comparisons with future surveys.
The survey was designed to measure the climate in ASADA and not the specific culture
of the organisation.
The survey results suggested that there was a climate of unease due to the major organisational and operational changes that occurred in transitioning the business to ASADA from mid 2006. Information resulting from the survey can be divided into the following categories:
- change management
- communication
- direction
- feedback
- job satisfaction
- learning and development
- the Quality Management System
- respect
- staff recognition
- stakeholders, and
- teamwork.
To address issues raised through the survey, ASADA is undertaking the following initiatives, and further developments will be communicated to staff.
- 1 Our Human Resources area provides a range of development opportunities to both recognise and encourage an ethos of ongoing learning for the ASADA community. During 2008–09, learning and development activities will focus on:
- > corporate-wide learning priorities
- > recording and aligning individual learning and development plans in the performance management system, to make sure economies of scale can be achieved and the budget
is spent effectively and efficiently, and - > role-specific training.
- 2 We have developed a new strategic plan through organisation-wide consultative processes involving staff, management, and board members.
- 3 We undertook a major project to review and revise position profiles to better reflect the responsibilities of positions and to set a unified format and standard throughout the organisation.
Workforce planning, staff turnover and retention
Planning to retain staff
Workforce planning is high priority. The benefits of workforce planning are that it will help us to:
- position organisational capability to support business outputs and outcomes
- encourage an understanding of the workforce profile through an analysis of workforce data
- facilitate strategic responses to change
- manage our people by providing knowledge critical for effective and efficient business operations, and
- provide a direct link between expenditure on people with business outputs and outcomes.
In 2007–08, 95 per cent of employees were engaged on an ongoing basis and 5 per cent of employees on a non-ongoing basis.
During 2007–08 turnover was 2.7 per cent, a dramatic drop from 8.5 per cent in 2006–07. The high figure in the previous year was a direct result of the restructuring in early 2006 and entry into the APS providing employees with career opportunities. The lower figure in 2007–08 reflects the completion of the launch of ASADA, and a more settled workplace environment.
Learning and development
We re-aligned our learning and development during 2007–08 to place more emphasis on business needs, leadership, and individual development requirements.
As learning and development has a direct link into the performance management cycle, the 2007–08 program provided a range of development opportunities to both recognise and encourage an ethos of life-long learning for the ASADA community. The HR team took into account staff feedback from the annual survey to set up the learning and development program for the 2007–08 year and future programs.
To ensure equitable access to learning and development, training and development opportunities were categorised into three levels of priority. This provided a guideline reflecting management’s obligation to allow staff to attend and each individual’s right to expect support. The three levels are as follows:
1. Essential skills for the current role.
2. Skills that could benefit the current role or help prepare for a future role.
3. Personal development unrelated to current or future career path.
The prioritised list has been helpful in reducing conflict and reaching a compromise in outcomes.
The staff survey highlighted the requirement for staff to have a better understanding of what it means to be an APS employee and confirmation of the expectations associated with each of the APS work level standards.
Learning and development programs attended by staff during 2007–08 included:
- corporate-wide training inducting staff into the APS and providing an understanding of work level standards (a refresher course for staff who have previously worked in the APS and a new course for people who have recently joined ASADA)
- corporate-wide training in project management
- corporate-wide training introducing risk management practices
- corporate-wide training in security
- corporate-wide training in financial budget requirements
- training on reporting to the board
- leadership training for Executive Level and SES level staff, as provided by the Australian Public Service Commission
- media training
- budget and financial essentials training
- training in how to respond to questions on notice
- Executive Assistant training, and
- tertiary support (for three staff members).
The Executive recognises the continuing need to ensure individual and team learning and development remains a priority. The Executive is continuing to address this in the development
of performance management agreements and individual learning and development plans, as well
as in the context of the workforce planning framework.
Commonwealth disability strategy
We are committed to providing employment opportunities that support a physical working environment and underpinning workplace conditions that are healthy, safe and ensure equal access for all employees. We achieve this through the development and regular review of employment-related policies, procedures, programs and practices in the following areas:
- occupational health and safety
- recruitment and selection
- induction
- training and development, and
- individual performance monitoring and management.