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Defending Australia and its National Interests
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Minister |
Navy |
Army |
Air Force |
Department
Defending Australia and its National Interests
FeatureFocused on the future: retention and recruitment key to sustaining the APS workforceRetention and recruitment is a major issue for Defence – but what about the rest of the Australian Public Service (APS)? Defence recently spoke with the Deputy Public Service Commissioner, Ms Lynne Tacy, about the situation.Defence magazine: Defence is currently facing recruitment and retention issues both within the military and APS. What are your views on this situation and is this common across the whole APS at present? LT: The broader environment in which the APS recruits and manages its workforce is continuing to change. As with other employers, we are experiencing a tighter labour market, with the ageing of the population and a dwindling supply of younger workers projected to enter the market in the next few decades. Defence, like other APS departments and agencies, is needing to compete on a national and sometimes global front to attract and retain skilled and talented staff. The most common challenge faced by 88 per cent of agencies over the past year was recruiting experienced people with required skills. This is a significant increase from just three years ago when 62 per cent of agencies reported this as their main challenge.1 Those particularly in demand within the APS at present are ICT professionals, accountants and statisticians. But it’s not all bad news. Evidence suggests that in terms of base level recruitment, apart from some specialist areas, APS agencies are currently experiencing few difficulties in attracting quality recruits to fill vacancies.2 Defence magazine: Defence has a range of strategies in place aimed at improving workforce planning issues. What are some of the strategies in place across other departments and agencies that have worked, or are working? LT: Agencies are increasingly aware of the need to adopt strategic approaches to sustaining their workforce. Fifty-eight per cent of agencies have in place formal workforce planning strategies and another 37 per cent of agencies reported they had strategies in development.3 It is important that agencies translate the findings of their efforts into the development of initiatives; workforce plans are not an end in themselves. The success of initiatives will depend on how well they are aligned to the specific context of the agency. Issues like:
For example, strategies aimed retaining staff with critical skills will need to take into account the diverse career paths and aspirations of their staff. Tools being used within agencies to secure critical skills include:
In terms of service-wide initiatives, much is being done to make the APS an attractive and accessible place to work from a candidate’s perspective. The Commission is redeveloping the online Gazette into a sophisticated APS employment and recruitment portal, and is developing a guide to APS selection processes that can be distributed to applicants to help de-mystify the application process. At the same time, agencies are being encouraged to identify and adopt strategies for making their recruitment processes more accessible and attractive to potential recruits. Like the APS, many private and other public sector organisations are also placing a strong emphasis on mentoring and career development schemes in managing the career aspirations of their workforces.4 Internationally, the United Kingdom Civil Service adopts a longer-term and structured approach to recruiting and retaining specialists in some disciplines, with job placements, learning and development and career paths being determined through a cross-agency process.5 Defence magazine: In your view, when did the retention and recruitment situation begin to become a major issue and why? LT: As with other sectors, we are competing for a limited number of qualified staff in some professional and technical areas. This competition is increasing as the effects of an ageing workforce have started to bite and the baby-boomers continue to retire. What we need to do is to remain future focused, with an aim on becoming an employer of choice (for the right people). Where we can compete strongly is in terms of what we offer potential employees; things like work/life balance, flexible work practices, development opportunities and, of course, an ethical and rewarding environment. Defence magazine: Do you think this is a problem across the entire workforce: private and public sector? LT: Unfortunately, sustaining organisational capability is a challenge faced by both private and public sector organisations due to the broader demographics of Australia’s ageing population and tight labour market. The next few years are sure to bring intense competition among employers for new entrants to the labour market. The traditional concept of a public service career as long-term and advancing up a hierarchy of classifications is being overtaken by changing career expectations amongst employees, for example, younger workers who are tending to pursue portfolio careers.6 What I mean by this is, those who seek to develop a flexible set of skills and make several changes of career during their working lives. Agencies will need to respond by developing strategies to attract, recruit and educate school leavers and other younger and/or less experienced staff to address emerging skills shortages, and by facilitating flexible career paths within and outside of their own agency. Defence magazine: Is the ‘ageing’ public service still an issue and how is this being addressed? LT: As you can see, the ‘ageing’ of the public service is definitely an issue with a majority of agencies recently reporting the loss of valued mature-aged employees as a particular workforce challenge.7 This is not surprising given the APS has an older age profile than the Australian labour force, with a much lower proportion of young people and more in the 35-45 age group – just over 60.1 per cent of APS employees were aged 35-54, compared with only 45.1 per cent of the labour force. Compounding the ‘ageing’ issue is the superannuation arrangements for many public servants that allow for retirement with full benefits from as early as age 55. As a result, the APS also has a lower proportion of employees aged 55 or over – compared with 14.2 per cent for the general labour force.8 Many of the strategies agencies are employing are resulting from agencies initially canvassing the retirement intentions of their mature-aged workers to better understand the potential impact for their agency, and also to identify strategies most valued by employees. For example, apart from offering flexible work arrangements that may delay mature aged workers’ retirement intentions, some agencies are creating Alumni programmes whereby they are able to keep in contact with valued ‘retired’ employees and provide them with opportunities for short-term contract or project work. Another major issue arising from the ageing of the workforce, and from the tendency for APS staff to retire or resign in their mid-50s, is that of a growing need for leadership succession planning. The Integrated Leadership System and EL/SES development programmes offered across the APS are only a starting point. Agencies will also need to develop their own strategies that facilitate greater diversity of career experience and invest in identifying, developing and supporting their future leaders. Defence magazine: What are the primary benefits to employment in the APS? Is this publicised effectively? LT: The APS is positioning itself as an employer of choice and can offer individuals a varied and rewarding career in a culture that supports work/life balance and provides significant learning and development opportunities. APS agencies are increasingly active and innovative in promoting not just their own organisations, but the APS, as a great place to work. This includes developing innovative recruitment strategies to successfully target particular groups of professionals, and developing tailored remuneration packages and flexible employment conditions to better attract and retain staff. As was noted earlier, the APS is particularly well suited to younger recruits seeking to pursue a portfolio career, as it offers an extremely broad range of career and development opportunities that can encompass policy issues of major significance, service delivery in all parts of the country, many areas of professional expertise, and even the opportunity to travel and work overseas.9 Successful candidates not only join the agency that has advertised the position, but also the realm of the broader APS with access to a wide range of career and development opportunities. Throughout 2007, the Commission is embarking on a major campaign to market the APS as a career. This includes sponsorship of the CareerFaqs book “@gov.au” (including foreword and advertising), a national accountancy recruitment initiative, representation at careers fairs, and advertising that promotes the benefits of employment within the APS.
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