11 Human Resources Management
11.1 Staff Development
Much of the staff development budget of $51,000 was devolved to the branches;
only $17,000 was retained by the Staff Development Committee for Library-wide
activities. These included a training session for casual staff at the beginning
of the year, payment of fees for the 'Women and Leadership' program,
supervisors' training for several staff members, an in-house management training
program for 21 staff, conducted by AIMA, and a series of very successful stress
management sessions available to all staff. Twenty-seven members of staff took
up the offer of study leave in 1996. The Human Resources Management Librarian
continued her involvement with the Leadership and Management Reference Group and
the ACLIS HRM Group. The Library's Staff Development Committee made a submission
to the review of the Professional Development Centre.
11.2 Management Training Program
This ambitious activity was directed at the substantial number of Library staff
members occupying junior or middle management positions who have never received
formal management training. A highlight of the program was a series of
information sessions conducted by senior University Managers, including the
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), the General Manager, the Director of
Personnel and the Director of the Computing Centre, who gave the group their
perspectives on the future directions of the University. The development of the
group will continue into 1997.
11.3 Affirmative Action
The Library's Affirmative Action Committee sponsored a talk by Moira Raynor and
is planning a survey of Library staff in 1997. The Library nominated four women
from its staff to attend the 1996 Women in Leadership program. Ms Christine
Cooze, Deputy Branch Librarian, Humanities and Social Sciences Library, was a
successful applicant for the University's Senior Women Advancement Scheme
(SWAS).
11.4 Lunchtime Activities
Staff development films were shown at lunchtime over a week at Clayton, and this
activity will be repeated in 1997. Information sessions and lunchtime talks were
given on a range of topics, including enterprise bargaining, limits of the
attendants' authority, staff safety, CV writing and interview preparation, PALS
update, financial planning, lateral thinking, the 'Virtual Shelf' project,
Kiribati, the 1996 IFLA Conference, the digital library, and law conferences and
visits in North America. Occupational health and safety promotional videos were
shown at Clayton during the OHS week.
11.5 Recruitment and Staffing
There were 18 resignations in 1996. With the expectation of funding cuts in 1997
and the freeing up of casual and short term appointment advertising, the period
July to December saw a drop in the number of advertised vacancies. Some
positions were frozen; others were filled short term with casual staff.
Forty-seven positions were advertised in the eleven months ending November.
These attracted 693 applicants. Four secondments or staff exchanges were
arranged. The Library sponsored a twelve week placement and a two day
evaluation, under the Commonwealth Rehabilitation program.
11.6 Salaries Budget
A new spreadsheet was developed to give a more accurate view of expected salary
expenditures in 1997 and beyond. This was used on several occasions to calculate
'what if' effects of various staff restructuring proposals.
11.7 Positions Descriptions
The project to analyse all Position Descriptions in the Library with a view to
their standardisation continued throughout the year. Positions in the Technical
Services Division have been analysed and task descriptions for all tasks
identified in the Division have been completed, except for final editorial work.
'Synthesised' PDs have been developed for several Technical Services positions
on a trial basis. Progress reports on the project have been presented to staff
at both Clayton and Caulfield. Work on the analysis of H&SS position
descriptions has commenced and is approximately 50% completed.
11.8 Occupational Health and Safety
Very few incidents occurred during 1996. Focus has been on the testing of the 3M
rapid discharge units for EMR (electromagnetic radiation), safety aspects of the
front entrance reconstruction project, and personal safety alarms. Evacuation
and safety inspections have been held regularly. Numerous staff have
participated in fire extinguisher training.
11.9 Facilities and Buildings
There has been regular liaison with the Facilities and Services Division. Cost
estimates on several energy saving options (power and lighting) were obtained
from the Maintenance and Operations Section. The Library Disaster Management
Committee has been meeting and is developing procedures to cover all Divisions.
11.10 Other Activities
An updated edition of the 'Blue book', recording Library-specific staffing
policies and practices, was issued. The Human Resources Management Librarian was
involved in the restructuring of the pre-cataloguing unit, and the integration
of the H&SS Serials Unit with the Technical Services Division. A day of
talks by Library staff for students from the Graduate School of Librarianship,
Archives and Records was organised. Six fieldwork students undertook placements
in the Library. The Library hosted two international visitors, Mr Ardana Putra,
the Librarian of the Universitas Udayana Politeknik in Bali, Indonesia and
Professor Zan Pingchuan, Deputy Librarian, Technical Services, China Central
Party School, Beijing, China.
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