8 Human Resources Management
The Human Resources Management Unit lost the significant regular contribution
of the Administrative Assistant who was transferred to the Humanities and Social
Sciences Library in January. The Human Resources Management Librarian, Anne
Reilly, was seconded to the University's Employee Relations Unit for two days
per week from October to December. She also attended the Women and Leadership
Programme.
Staff Development. The staff development budget for 1997 was
$47,000. This was divided between a central fund and the Divisions. The central
fund paid for attendances at Supervisor training and the Women and Leadership
programme, training sessions for casual staff, and several IT (information
technology) training programmes. Central funds also paid for a staff member to
be trained in the National Library as an accredited ABN trainer. Two staff
survey forms were developed for distribution in 1998: one to survey the level of
IT knowledge possessed by staff and one relating to the effectiveness of Staff
Development News. Study Leave granted amounted to 86.3 hours per week. This
represented 0.94% of total staffing hours. Lunch-time talks were given by staff
who attended various conferences such as the On-line/On-disc conference in
Sydney, the American Library Association conference, and the Library
Technicians' Conference in Canberra. Other topics included: the Video on Demand
project, Metadata, and reports of study travel by staff to destinations in Japan
and the United States.
Library Restructuring. Mainly due to the various
departures documented above, major restructuring occurred in various areas of
the Library, including H&SS serials, Gippsland Library, Hargrave and
Biomedical Library. A Faculty-based model for delivering information services
was also introduced. The Human Resources Management Librarian participated in
the work of the Serials Integration Committee, the committee which made
recommendations for the restructuring at Gippsland in the light of staff losses,
and the STM Restructuring Committee.
Recruitment and Staffing. The Library advertised 41
positions internally. Three of these were also advertised externally. Not
surprisingly, therefore, most positions (26) were secured by internal
candidates. Of the 11 positions filled by external candidates, the majority were
filled by staff already employed as casuals. Two positions were withdrawn and
two were not filled until 1998. The applications of all 24 library staff who
applied for the Monash Package or Voluntary Early Retirement were supported, as
was an application from a MONINFO staff member. Table 7 shows the staff losses
from staff taking up Monash packages and VER during 1997.
Table 7. Staff losses 1997
HEW
LEVEL |
NO OF STAFF
DEPARTING |
% OF STAFF
DEPARTING |
% OF PROFILE
as at 1/1/97 |
| 2 |
1 |
4.2 |
9.8 |
| 3 |
7 |
29.2 |
9.3 |
| 4 |
5 |
20.8 |
8.6 |
| 5 |
4 |
16.7 |
10.3 |
| 6 |
1 |
4.2 |
8.3 |
| 7 |
3 |
12.5 |
7.9 |
| 8 |
2 |
8.4 |
14.3 |
| 9 |
1 |
4.2 |
33.3 |
The above figures do not include the 10 staff lost in 1996, and the
combination of these two figures will provide a clearer picture of the extent of
the losses suffered by the Library.
Double Increments. Following a recommendation from the
Library Staff Association, a Double Increments Committee was established. An
allocation of $10,000 was made in 1997 for the award of double increments to
staff. Five double increments were awarded, covering the period from 1 January
1997 to 30 September 1997. Nominations of staff due increments from 1 October
1997 to 31 December 1997 will be considered in February 1998.
Occupational Health and Safety. Minor injuries, incurred as a
result of manual handling procedures, continued to be a concern. Steps are being
taken to improve the procedures in consultation with Occupational Health, Safety
and Environment.
Other activities. The Library sponsored four work
experience students and six fieldwork students in 1997. The Vice-Chancellor,
Professor David Robinson accepted invitations to speak to the Library staff on
two occasions during the year. The Blue Book was updated and reissued in print
and electronic formats.
Congratulations to the following staff members whose performance was recognised
by various awards: Alanna Brown won the Bibliographical Society of
Australia and New Zealand's annual essay prize for her Master's Thesis
"Editing Ulysses: the struggle for a definitive text". Carol Ruddock
was awarded a Monash University Career Transition Scholarship. Lisa Smith was
granted a Vice-Chancellor's award for exceptional service by general staff. Sir
John Yocklunn was awarded an ALIA Victorian Branch Merit Award.
Ho Chooi-Hon was a member of the Senior Women Advancement Scheme Management
Committee. Marta Chiba was SESTICON Convenor. Vivienne Bernath represented
Monash University Library on the CAUL Database Trial Group. Stephanie Foott was
appointed Convenor of the Web Developers Group. Eiko Sakaguchi was funded by the
Japan Foundation to attend a three weeks training session at the National Diet
Library of Japan. Christine Cooze, as part of her Senior Women's Advancement
Program, went on a study tour of some US academic libraries to look at the
impact of change and restructuring. Simon Huggard lectured to RMIT students on
reference services.
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