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Developing & Preparing People | Choices & Change Program | Competency Framework | Skills Acquisition Plan | Innovative Recruitment | Leadership Program | Graduate Development Program | Workplace Diversity | Peak JCC | Employee Profile | Wellness Program | Employee Safety, Health & Wellness | Industrial Agreements | Workers Compensation Statistics | EAP Usage Rate | Public Sector Standards | Breach of Standard Claims | Breach of Standards | Investigations | Compliance Audits
During DOLA’s transition to a statutory authority with commercial powers we have continued to pursue our strategic agenda in people management, with organisational transformation, and self directed workforce skills development as the key drivers of our people management initiatives.
This included the preparation of the Human Resources component of the statutory authority legislation; the establishment of a Jobs Swap register; the transition of the Crown land function and supporting functions to the Department for Planning and Infrastructure (DPI); the Recruitment and Selection Policy review, together with the review of other corporate governance policies; and the innovative career transition program Choices and Change. These all contributed to the strategic realignment of the organisation.
The infrastructure for strategic skills acquisition for the new organisation has also been put in place through the development of a Competency Framework and a Skills Acquisition Plan for the next two to three years.
Considerable work was undertaken on the people management aspects of the legislative framework for the establishment of the statutory authority. An extensive consultation process with all staff took place from March to May. The various options and implications were explained to staff in sessions conducted jointly by branch managers and HR staff. The Peak Joint Consultative Committee was invited to give input on behalf of staff.
A Job Swaps register was established to assist those staff who wished to explore other job opportunities during the transformation of the agency. This service, managed by Workforce Services, allows staff to register their interest in a job swap to another section of DOLA or to another agency or to take advantage of substituted severance arrangements.
Part of the Machinery of Government changes this year included the transition of Crown land functions and associated support functions to DPI. Human Resource Services played a key role in effecting the transfer of around 135 staff from DOLA.
In a changing environment we also needed to provide sound systems to support the reform. Workforce Services has implemented the Concept Web Kiosk. This is a self-service personnel and payroll system linked to Concept, allowing staff to view and update their own details, and to view their Payslips Online. The Web Kiosk was progressively introduced and expanded in 2002/3. A number of HR services are now offered via DOLA’s Intranet, including Web Kiosk.
In September 2002 DOLA commenced its new and innovative career transition initiative, ‘Choices and Change’, to assist and support employees during the transition phase. It encouraged a self-directed approach to planning for the future and provided staff with the tools to upgrade their skills. Topics covered included Change Management, Managing Change for Managers, Career Planning, Application Writing/Interview Skills, Financial/Retirement Planning, Positive Communication and Wellness (psychological and physiological). The courses were well attended, and extra sessions in ‘Wellness’, ‘Positive Communication’ and ‘Application Writing/Interview Skills’ were arranged to meet demand. The Program will continue into 2003/04 with an added component on skilling staff for the new commercial organisational environment.
In a more commercial environment there will be a need for all employees to develop a more business-like approach to their work. As the transition progresses new lines of business may be created and existing ones developed or reduced. It will be necessary to ensure that all staff have adequate and appropriate skills, knowledge and abilities to meet the needs of the organisation. A more commercial focus will also require staff to adopt new work behaviours that are more conducive to increased performance and productivity.
DOLA’s Competency Framework has been developed in response to this to ensure that there is a suitably skilled workforce in a changing environment and that all staff know the behaviours that underpin the competitiveness for an organisation with commercial powers. It identifies the knowledge, skills and abilities required to meet business objectives, now and into the future, and uses these as the foundation for skill acquisition across DOLA. These will be mapped out in the annual Skills Acquisition Plan.
A framework for implementing a Skills Acquisition Plan was developed this year. It supports the acquisition of DOLA’s critical and core competencies that are identified in the development of the Competency Framework. Whilst the Competency Framework continues to build, the Skills Acquisition Plan will deliver solutions that will enable us to better align the skills of our workforce with our business needs.
It is envisaged that for the next two years the focus of the Skills Acquisition Plan will be on the critical competencies required for DOLA’s successful transition to a statutory authority with commercial powers.
It was recognised that the new organisation would need to be more innovative in its recruitment and selection practices to attract and retain the most suitable people. Our Recruitment/Selection Policy and Procedures were reviewed, streamlined and tested in a pilot program. A more commercially focussed Policy and Guidelines document was also produced. A series of training courses that centred round the new policy were organised for convenors and potential panel members. The Policy is also available to DOLA staff via the Intranet, along with easy to use guides and templates to assist panel convenors.
DOLA’s pilot leadership program concluded in May 2003 with the final 360-degree feedback exercise completed for 11 of the 12 original participants.
The objectives of the leadership program are to:
Develop and excite our talented people;
Grow leaders;
Provide a framework for succession planning through developing our generic business skills; and
Encourage across agency team building and innovation.
The program is based on DOLA’s Leadership Competency Framework – a fundamental workforce planning initiative.
To date, the program has incorporated a range of development initiatives – from scoping and presenting projects (as business plans) to the Executive Board, to training on strategic thinking, scenario planning and corporate wellness activities.
An evaluation indicated that the participants felt they possessed the key talents to be a ‘leader’. Their managers and peers also believed that their leadership performance was high. The feedback provided by the participants will be used to enhance the next Leadership Program.
DOLA has a strong commitment to the development of potential leaders and as part of this, a Graduate Development Program was established in October 2001. The first four graduates commenced on 11 March 2002 and three completed their Program on 11 March 2003 (one graduate left the Program for another opportunity). During the 12 months, the graduates worked on a range of projects and made a worthwhile contribution to all their work areas. They have been made permanent officers and allocated to project areas to use their skills and expertise.
An independent consultant carried out a review of the Program and findings indicated that it was successful from the point of view of the graduates, the managers and supervisors, and also by the mentors and buddies. Suggested enhancements and refinements will be incorporated into the next Program due to commence in late 2003.
A Pilot Mentoring Program to support the Leadership and Graduate Development Programs was introduced in September 2002. There were 16 mentorees for the initial program, that is to be evaluated in the near future. Initial indications revealed that there were a number of successful ‘relationships’ that will continue in a more informal manner.
The Diversity Management Committee, an advisory committee to the Executive Board, oversaw DOLA’s integrated approach to managing diversity focused on women in management, youth and Indigenous Australians during the year.
Staff awareness of, and interest in, equity and diversity issues has increased significantly over the past 12 months, leading to establishment of four new sub groups: Women in Management; Indigenous Australians; Organisational Culture; and Youth.
The integration of diversity and equity into strategic and business planning has been an area of focus for the Diversity Management Committee during 2002/2003. This is being achieved through a number of strategies including the review of the Recruitment, Selection and Appointment Policy and Procedures. This policy advocates the ‘best fit’ for the organisation philosophy which was designed to enhance DOLA’s diversity profile.
Agency performance targets were exceeded in the following areas this year: Women in Management; People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds; and Youth.
The Peak Joint Consultative Committee is a communication committee composed of management and staff from various sections in DOLA, and is driven from the grass roots upwards. The Peak JCC has its own Constitution, which guides the committee on meeting procedure, electoral procedure and issues that are suitable to take to the Peak JCC. It provides the terms under which the Peak JCC operates.
The Peak JCC investigates aspects of concerns and instigates remedial actions ie: initiates quality programs for the advancement of staff welfare and employment issues.
Over the past financial year the Peak JCC has:
Prepared a submission on behalf of staff in response to the statutory authority consultation paper and the accompanying staffing Issues consultation paper.
Conducted a staff survey to determine the employment conditions staff wished to have included in the Agency Specific Agreement.
Participated in the HR workshop and provided feedback on Bereavement Leave, Carer’s Leave, Ceremonial/Cultural Leave, Short Leave, Eyesight Testing, Public Service Holiday Days-in-lieu and Hours of Work, Policies and Guidelines.
| Employee Profile | 2002-2003 % of employees |
| Land Information & Administration Services | |
Registration Services Branch (incl. International Services) |
24 |
Customer Services Branch |
8 |
Land Administration Services Branch |
12 |
Geographic Services Branch |
12 |
| Valuation Services | 20 |
| Business Development | 9 |
| Business Support Services | 11 |
| Organisational Transformation | 3 |
| WALIS | 1 |
DOLA’s average FTE level for 2002-2003 was 927.89 full-time equivalent employees. During the year 168 vacant positions were filled on a permanent or fixed term basis.
As part of DOLA’s commitment to wellness and promoting a healthy lifestyle, a number of information sessions on particular health issues were held during the year. Subsidised flu vaccinations were offered to all staff in April/May and 130 staff took advantage of the opportunity to have their vaccination done on site at Midland and in Perth.
The Occupational Safety & Health Committee actively promoted employee safety and wellness throughout DOLA. This included sponsoring a presentation on healthy eating habits during Nutrition Week 2002 and a series of backcare workshops at the Midland and Perth offices. The Committee also commenced a pilot program of safety audits in the Midland office.
The majority of DOLA employees are now under the Public Service General Agreement 2002. This agreement was introduced by Government to restore parity in conditions across the WA Public Sector.
DOLA completed negotiations and registered its agency-specific agreement. This agreement continues the flexible hours of work arrangements that employees previously accessed through their workplace agreements (now ceased). It allows staff greater flexibility in arranging their hours of work, promoting a work/life balance for employees while meeting DOLA's business objectives. DOLA was one of the first Government agencies to have its agency-specific agreement registered and the only one to negotiate a 24/7 working hours arrangement.
| 2002-2003 |
2001-2002 |
|
| Number of claims | 5 |
11 |
| *Rehabilitation Success Rate | 0 |
0 |
| **Lost time injury/disease frequency rate | 12.31 |
2.87 |
| Estimated cost of claims incurred per $100 wage roll | 0.0788 |
0.18 |
| Premium rate | 0.49 |
0.53 |
*Rehabilitation Success Rate – the number of rehabilitated employees expressed as a ratio of the number of eligible employees (calculated based on RiskCover parameters).
** Lost time injury/disease frequency rate – the number of lost time injuries/diseases where one day or more was lost expressed per million hours worked in this financial year (calculated based on Risk Cover parameters).
| 2002-2003 |
2001-2002 |
|
| Employee Assistance Program Usage Rate | 8.5% |
9% |
To assess compliance with Section 31(1) of the Public Sector Management Act the Department used the Nexus Strategic Solutions compliance audit results from June 2002 and a further review conducted by Human Resource staff in 2003.
My report in line with the Commissioner’s guidelines is as follows:
In the administration of the Department I have complied with the Public Sector
Standards in relation to: Recruitment, Selection and Appointment, Transfer,
Secondment, Redeployment, Termination, Discipline, Grievance Resolution, the
Western Australian Code of Ethics and our Code of Business Conduct.
I have put in place sufficient internal controls and checks designed to ensure such compliance to satisfy myself that the above statement is correct.
The Temporary Deployment (Acting) Standard and Performance Management Standards have been identified as areas for improvement and will reviewed as a high priority next year.
Three breach of standard claims were lodged during the year.
There were no breaches of Standards found.
No Investigation was undertaken during the year by the Office of Public Sector Standards Commissioner in accordance with Section 24 of the Act.
No compliance audit was undertaken during the year by the Office of the Public Sector Standards Commissioner.
Grahame Searle
Acting Chief Executive
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