Management Performance part 2

Staffing and recruitment

Museum staff are employed under the Public Service Act 1999 and employment conditions are established under legislation applying to the Australian Public Service.

At 30 June 2003 the Museum employed 242 staff consisting of 202 ongoing and 40 non-ongoing employees, representing an increase of 16 in the number of staff over the reporting period. A full breakdown is shown in the tables on page 96.

The Museum continued to consolidate and stabilise its overall staffing through recruitment, resulting in an overall decrease in the percentage of non-ongoing staff from 38.9 per cent at 30 June 2002 to 16.5 per cent at 30 June 2003. Between February and May 2003, the Museum conducted a bulk recruitment round for visitor services hosts with four ongoing and nine non-ongoing hosts commencing in May 2003. The selection process included the innovative combination of assessment centre and interviews which also provided an order of merit listing of an additional 30 people to fill host vacancies if they occur before May 2004. The Museum intends to repeat the bulk process each year.

Number of Staff by category

Status	Male	Female	Total
Ongoing full-time staff SES	1	1	2
Ongoing full-time staff non-SES	49	86	135
Ongoing part-time SES	0	0	0
Ongoing part-time non-SES	16	46	62
Non-ongoing full-time SES	1	2	3
Non-ongoing full-time non-SES	8	18	26
Non-ongoing part-time SES	0	0	0
Non-ongoing part-time non-SES	2	9	11
Temporary movements SES	0	0	0
Temporary movements non-SES	0	3	3
Total	77	165	242

Number of staff by Division

Division	Ongoing	Non-Ongoing	Total
Directorate	7	1	8
Marketing and Commercial Operations	24	8	32
Operations	87	10	97
Collections, Content and Technology	61	18	79
Children's Programs and Content Services	23	3	26
Total	202	40	242

Number of staff by level and gender

Staff Spread Across Levels	Male	Female	Total
SESB2	1	1	2
SESB1	1	2	3
EL2	9	10	19
EL1	10	11	21
APS6	10	36	46
APS5	16	18	34
APS4	10	22	32
APS3	4	17	21
APS2	16	48	64
APS1	0	0	0
Total	77	165	242

National Museum of Australia structure - June 2003

Workplace diversity

The Museum is committed to workplace diversity and equity through the creation of an inclusive environment that values and utilises the skills and knowledge of all the people who work at the Museum and the contributions they bring through their different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

The principles of the Museum's 2001 - 2004 Workplace Plan continued to be implemented, particularly in working toward a staffing profile that accurately reflected the cultural diversity of modern Australia. Vacancies were advertised in the ethnic community and Indigenous media, including radio, and applications for employment encouraged from suitable candidates from a non-English speaking background. As a result of this proactive approach, the Museum's staffing figures of people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds almost doubled during 2002 - 2003.

As at 30 June 2003, the Museum staff who identified themselves from particular groups were:

Group	Number of staff 2001 - 2002	Number of staff 2002 - 2003
Person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent	10	10
Person with a disability	4	5
Person from a culturally and linguistically diverse background	11	20
Women	142	165

The new work level standards and associated capability framework developed last year to underpin a consistent approach to job classification and recruitment have been progressively implemented during the year. The project developers, Yellow Edge Pty Ltd, also reported on the application of the work level standards and capability framework to a range of human resource management policies and practices, including individual performance management, learning and development, and rewards and recognition. This work contributed to the negotiation of a new performance management framework under the certified agreement and underpins continuing redevelopment of the Museum's human resource management framework.

Performance management

Through the new certified agreement the Museum is committed to implementing a new individual performance management framework by the end of the appraisal cycle in June 2004. The existing Performance Management Scheme, introduced in 2000-2001, was reviewed and staff suggestions for improvement were taken into account in the design of the new framework. The introduction of more effective individual performance arrangements is expected to generate significant productivity in support of the pay increases under the new certified agreement.

Development of the Museum's people

Staff are encouraged to identify their development needs through discussion with their manager and the development of individual performance agreements. They are also encouraged to develop their skills by participating in external seminars, forums and committees which are relevant to their field. Details of these activities are in Appendix 10.

With certification of the National Museum of Australia (Productive and Performance) Workplace Agreement 2002-2005, the Museum moved towards maximising opportunities for employees to pursue developmental opportunities. The agreement provides access and financial assistance to study leave for all staff, with special provisions for staff to learn languages other than English.

During the year three staff took part in cultural management programs and five staff attended advanced workplace skills training. Section managers received occupational health and safety training and a specific seminar series was established for visitor service host supervisors, focusing on the unique issues associated with managing a large front of house team.

A strategic learning and development framework for staff will be developed in 2003-2004 which will be linked to the Museum's new work levels standards, capability profile and performance management framework.

My favourite thing in the Museum is the Hosts, because they are very lovely people and very helpful!

Amity, aged 19

Consultative arrangements and employee relations

The Museum has had a good working relationship with staff representatives and the Community and Public Sector Union, with no matters notified to the Australian Industrial Relations Commission during the year. A highly consultative and cooperative approach to the certified agreement negotiations and other workplace issues during the year has helped the Museum address a range of workplace issues without any disruption to operations or services.

Formal consultation during the year focused on the Certified Agreement Working Group, with the former Workplace Relations Committee last meeting in May 2002. The Working Group met 14 times during the year.

It was agreed under the new certified agreement that the Museum would significantly redevelop its consultation arrangements to provide an opportunity to improve internal communications on important issues and provide staff with better ways to have their views taken into account in the Museum's decision making processes. Consequently two new consultative bodies were developed:

• the Museum Consultative Forum will provide an opportunity for staff representatives to provide input into the Museum's high level strategic decision making
• the Workplace Development Committee will provide a forum for formal consultations on broad management issues such as employment policies and guidelines, organisational change, accommodation and the introduction of new technology.

Work experience

Throughout the year there was keen interest from high school students within the ACT and around Australia to carry out work experience with the Museum. Over 40 inquiries were received and 13 high school students were placed across most areas at the Museum. In the second half of 2002-2003, the Museum implemented a more flexible and inclusive policy with the aim of enabling a greater number of students to be accepted in future years.

Post-separation employment

There were no applications for post-separation employment during the year.

Better service delivery

The Museum's human resource management and workplace relations operations were consolidated and strengthened during the year by combining the two functions into one operational team. This approach has resulted in improved integration and strategic planning of people management issues in the Museum, as well as linkages with overall Museum objectives and improved service delivery. Staff were also surveyed on the quality of internal human resource management and workplace relations services and feedback from this has been taken into account in business and work planning processes.