Recruitment and Retention
Finance is committed to building high-performance teams through its recruitment and retention practices. The department regularly reviews its recruitment policies and processes to ensure that they are efficient and meet the department’s needs. Finance also undertakes a range of workforce planning activities to ensure it continues to recruit the right people for the longer term. The department has specific recruitment programs for graduates, career starters and indigenous employees. In response to feedback from staff, Finance has initiated a range of strategies to improve staff retention.
In 2008-09, the department continued to implement the Finance Recruitment Strategy 2007-08 to 2011-12. The strategy outlines Finance’s recruitment, marketing and communications program, and highlights the department’s commitment to managing and sustaining its workforce while accommodating the increasingly diverse career paths pursued by staff within the department. During 2008-09, Finance received an average of 17 applications for each vacancy advertised, compared with 14 in 2007-08.
Finance aims to complete all recruitment processes (from close of applications to final delegate decision) within 30 working days, and these timeframes are monitored and reported to the department’s Executive Board. In 2008-09, the average time to fill a vacancy was 24.0 working days, compared with 28.3 working days in 2007-08.
Finance recognises that diverse workplaces are more productive and better able to attract the best people. In 2008-09, to increase the department’s ability to recruit and retain people living with a disability, Finance advertised all vacancies on the Disability Works Australia website, participated in the Diversity Network and has become a member of the newly created Disability Steering Committee coordinated by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.
Workforce Planning
Finance’s 2007-08 Annual Report noted that the department intended to conduct a comprehensive review of its workforce plan as part the 2009-10 business planning cycle. The department undertook this review during 2008-09 and it indicated that Finance has low workforce planning risks in the short-term, even in areas known to be subject to skills shortages in the broader labour market. While this analysis indicated that Finance’s current workforce is well positioned to meet the department’s objectives, it identified a number of areas where the department could benefit from more detailed planning. Consequently, the department is currently developing a retention strategy and a succession management framework.
Graduate Recruitment
The Graduate Recruitment Program is Finance’s largest entry-level recruitment program. It targets university students completing their final year of study and former students who have completed a degree within the last five years. The department structures the program to support students in their transition from study to work. Graduates participate in a twelve-month development program, which includes both mandatory and individually targeted training. They have the opportunity to be promoted to the Australian Public Service Level 4 (APS4) during the program and, at its conclusion, they can apply for promotion to APS5 positions within the department. In a survey of the department’s 2008 graduates, 93 per cent found the Graduate Development Program to be effective.
Finance employed 53 graduate program recruits in 2009. Of the 142 graduates the department recruited between 2007 and 2009, 75 per cent were still employed by Finance at 30 June 2009.
Finance’s comprehensive graduate development program is outlined in the Learning and Development section of this chapter.
Career Starters’ Program
During 2008-09, the department continued its Career Starters’ Program that targets school-leavers (students completing their final year of secondary education) for employment in positions at the APS1 level. The program enjoys good retention rates and a number of the better performing recruits have already won promotion in open merit selection processes – some recruits who commenced with Finance in 2006 have now reached the APS5 level. The department recruited 13 APS1 staff in the 2008 program and nine in 2009.
Finance’s Undergraduate Study Program for Career Starters is outlined in the Learning and Development section of this chapter.
National Indigenous Cadetship Project
Finance employed five Indigenous Cadets during 2008 and three in 2009 through the National Indigenous Cadetship Project. This project is an initiative undertaken by the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) that aims to improve the professional employment prospects of Indigenous Australians. It links Indigenous tertiary students with employers in a cadetship arrangement that involves both full-time study and work placements.
Other Recruitment Programs
The department has developed a number of other innovative recruitment programs to help attract, develop and retain valuable employees. These programs include Driver Plus for casual COMCAR drivers, a vacation employment program, a temporary employment register and recruitment merit lists.
Driver Plus is a program that allows suitable casual COMCAR drivers to undertake office work elsewhere in the department at times when they are not called to duty by COMCAR. During 2008-09, the department provided additional training to four COMCAR drivers to allow them to undertake administrative tasks such as payroll and travel processing during peak administrative periods.
Finance runs a vacation employment program that aims to give students practical work experience whilst studying at University. The program has two intakes each year that cover the winter and summer holidays. Students participating in the program have completed at least their first year of university study in disciplines such as Economics, Econometrics, Actuarial Studies, Accounting, Finance, Business, Arts, Law, e-Commerce, Commerce Accounting, Engineering, Town Planning or IT. The department accepted three students as part of this program in winter 2008, six in summer 2008 and five in winter 2009.
On 17 February 2009, Finance established a Temporary Employment Register to enable former APS employees and other eligible citizens to register their interest in non-ongoing employment with the department. As at 30 June 2009, there were 413 candidates on the register and Finance had placed 12 candidates from the register in non-ongoing positions.
Finance also makes eligibility lists from past recruitment processes available to managers in the department who are seeking to fill positions with similar duties. Using these lists reduces the need to re-advertise vacancies and increases the speed with which vacancies with similar requirements can be filled, while still basing placements firmly on a merit selection process.
Strategies to Increase Staff Retention
During 2008-09, and in response to the 2008 departmental staff attitude survey, Finance developed and introduced a number of initiatives to help reduce staff turnover and improve workplace culture. These included improving departmental processes for approvals, briefing and recruitment, and providing training and support to assist staff and managers to deal with inappropriate workplace behaviour. Additionally, Finance negotiated a number of provisions that aim to increase staff retention as part of the department’s 2009-11 CA that took effect on 16 July 2009. These include rolling performance bonuses into salary, revising arrangements for Time Off In Lieu, introducing overtime for staff at the APS1 to 6 levels, enhancing allowances, and increasing parental leave.
During 2008-09, Finance had a staff turnover rate of 12 percent, reflecting the department’s ongoing efforts to improve staff retention along with changed labour market conditions associated with the global financial crisis. This compares to turnover rates of 18 per cent in 2007-08 and 20 per cent in 2006-07 and 2005-06.
Finance monitors the information from its annual staff surveys and the APSC State of the Service Employee Survey to understand the further changes Finance needs to make to assist in retaining talented staff.