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Department of Premier and Cabinet

Chapter 2 – Improving the Way We Work

Examination of the State Service Employment Framework

In August 2016, a discussion paper on the examination of the State Service Employment Framework was provided to Heads of Agencies and unions. The aim of the Paper was to open discussion about our current employment practices and the opportunities to make these more contemporary and relevant to today’s workforce, and move towards a less prescriptive and more principles-based approach to workforce management.

The feedback received from these stakeholders will contribute to the development of a conceptual draft framework, with a principles-based focus. It is anticipated that a draft will be provided to stakeholders for discussion early in 2017-18.

As part of this work, two Employment Directions (EDs) were revoked and replaced with principles-based policies issued in line with Section 15(1)(b) of the State Service Act 2000 (the Act):

To support their successful implementation the changes to these EDs occurred in consultation with agencies, public sector unions, and other stakeholders. Agencies indicated that they have reviewed or revised their policies and practices as a result of the new policies.

Work has also commenced on new policies in support of positive behaviour and conduct, and the management of grievances. SSMO will commence consultation with stakeholders on the draft policies and supporting toolkits in early 2017-18.

State Service Vacancy Management

The revised Managing Positions in the Tasmanian State Service (2016) framework continued to support agencies to meet the State Service’s commitment to reduce employment-related costs through:

  • identifying essential and non-essential functions;
  • maintaining strict controls for filling vacancies;
  • clarifying redeployment mechanisms; and
  • providing voluntary incentives to support specific individuals to cease employment.

In 2016-17 a total of 52 Targeted and Negotiated Voluntary Redundancies (TNVR) were progressed, and 64 people left the TSS after accepting a Workforce Renewal Incentive Program (WRIP) payment.

Enhancements to the PageUp system have been made throughout the year to support agency vacancy advertising, including the implementation of a streamlined vacancy control process which allows vacancies to progress through to advertising without manual approval from SSMO.

State Service Principle 7(l), requires that members of the community have a reasonable opportunity to apply for State Service employment.

In 2016-17, a total of 3,093 advertisements appeared on the Government jobs website, advertising 3,412 vacant positions[1].

"Government Jobs Website Visitor stats: 416,356 unique site visitors in 2016-1784,679 average site visits per month"

Workforce Reporting and Planning

In response to the Auditor-General’s Report No.2 of 2016-17, a Workforce Planning Community of Practice group was established by SSMO with representatives from all agencies. From April 2017, the group began meeting monthly to work through modules of the newly-developed State Service Workforce Planning Model. The group will continue to meet through 2017-18 to identify, and provide support for agency workforce planning activities.

Agency workforce planning has continued across the TSS in 2016-17, with the majority of agencies reporting they were undertaking activities that are part of the workforce planning process. Most commonly the activities were aimed at supporting managers to develop unit-specific plans. Broad activities reported included tracking workforce data and trends, leadership development and career pathway planning, and addressing gender diversity.

In June, SSMO released the Workforce Reporting Standard. Although not a mandatory reporting standard, it provides a common and consistent set of parameters for workforce data reporting across the State Service. In addition to this, SSMO is working to improve TSS workforce data collections and data analysis capability, and is contributing to interjurisdictional workforce data analysis through its involvement in the Interjurisdictional Workforce Data and Analytics Committee.

Activities Resulting from External Examinations

In October 2016, the Auditor-General tabled in Parliament his Performance Audit Report No. 2 of 2016-17, Workforce Planning in the State Service. This report identified areas for improvement to agency-level planning, and made a number of recommendations which are being considered and incorporated into whole-of-service and agency-level initiatives.

The Auditor-General also advised in March 2017 the commencement of the planning process for a Performance Review into Recruitment of Tasmanian State Service Senior Executive Service (SES). This is in line with the Tasmanian Audit Office’s Annual Plan of Work: 2016-17. SSMO provides assistance to the Auditor-General during performance audits.

In May 2017, the Integrity Commission Report No. 2 of 2017 was tabled in Parliament. The Report dealt with an investigation into a complaint of an alleged conflict of interest against senior executive officers of TasTAFE.  As a result of this Report the development of new induction processes for board members of public authorities, Chief Executive Officers, and members of the Senior Executive Service has commenced.

SSMO and agencies continue to work together to review the recommendations from these and earlier reports, so as to enhance State Service workforce management policies and practices.

Governance Review

The State Service Amendment Act 2012, introduced changes to the governance arrangements of the State Service. Included in this Act is the requirement for a review of the changes to governance arrangements that had been introduced.

In November 2016, the Report on the Review of the Operations of the State Service Amendment Act 2012, was tabled in Parliament. The Review found that there have been improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of the governance arrangements as a result of the Act, and identified further opportunities for modernising State Service employment and management. The Review also identified the need for ongoing review of employment policies and procedures, and to ensure appropriate accountability and reporting mechanisms are in place.

SSMO continues to implement the recommendations of the Review, many of which align with existing work priorities and ongoing activities. An example is the commencement of the whole-of-service Workforce Planning Community of Practice.

Empower Integration and Automation Program

Work on the Empower Integration and Automation Program continued in 2016-17 with an agency-based funding model to support the Program being developed along with a governance framework for all agencies that use Empower. Detailed planning of the Program’s initial tasks commenced and supporting program documentation developed.

Work also began on a pilot data extraction program to support the Joint Agency Reporting System (JARS) in the Department of Justice. This pilot will be the model for a fully functional dashboard reporting system for all agencies in 2017-18. This will happen in conjunction with activities to evaluate the structure and configuration of existing production databases prior to a planned migration of a number of databases into a single, shared database.

Change Management

November 2016 saw the launch of the Change Management Toolkit to support better management and leadership of change within the TSS. The Toolkit includes resources such as checklists, factsheets, and templates on all areas the change process. The Toolkit was developed by SSMO in consultation with the whole-of-service Workforce Development Network and a group of key managers from three agencies. The Toolkit is in use by a number of agencies to manage a range of change processes that occurred, or commenced in 2016-17.

In addition to the Toolkit, agencies have demonstrated an ongoing commitment to positive change management through a mixture of consultation, providing information and keeping people up-to-date, and developing internal resource kits to help support the management of changes within their agencies.

A number of change processes managed through 2016-17, included:

  • the Department of Education commenced the implementation of the Education Act 2016, which will see ongoing implementation activities occurring through to 2021;
  • the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment implemented a new electronic document management system and undertook a document digitisation project;
  • the Department of Treasury and Finance oversaw the establishment of the Office of the Superannuation Commission; and
  • a number of agencies noted internal restructuring activities, or the physical relocation of employees across the state. This included processes to support relocation into the new Parliament Square development, and in support of the ongoing Royal Hobart Hospital redevelopment project.

Capability Framework

SSMO examined capability frameworks in use across Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to determine the viability and usefulness of a capability framework for general band employees within the TSS.

Capability frameworks provide a map of skills and knowledge that relate to occupational groups or across broad function areas. This assists with workforce development and planning.

The draft Capability Frameworks and the State Service report is to be finalised following a desktop analysis of existing frameworks, and consultation with Tasmanian State Service agencies and interjurisdictional counterparts.

The report’s recommendations will be considered by SSMO and agencies.

People Matter Survey

In previous years the People Matter Survey has been delivered by SSMO in partnership with the Victorian Public Sector Commission (VPSC) and Orima Research Pty Ltd.  Following completion of the 2016 Survey and the conclusion of the partnership agreement with VPSC, SSMO started the process of reviewing the delivery of the Survey, with the aim of identifying future delivery options. Because of this the People Matter Survey was not conducted in 2017.

The review of the People Matter Survey included gathering feedback from agencies on the delivery of the survey, as well as reviewing feedback provided from agencies as part of the 2016 survey process. A summary of the feedback and recommendations for future People Matter Survey delivery is currently being considered.

SSMO is continuing to work with agencies on the design and delivery of a new employee survey, and reviewing how survey results can assist agencies in workforce decision-making and planning.


[1] Vacancies that were withdrawn are not included in these totals. SSMO does not report on the number of appointments made.

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