Moonee Valley City Council continues to strive to be a creative and innovative organisation, able to address the challenges facing the city to improve the quality of life. Council is contributing to this through organisational change and bringing best practice in Local Government to its operations. This year, Moonee Valley was named one of the Top Five finalists for the Solterbeck Award for Employer of Choice in the 2007 Australian Human Resources Awards.
Organisational values program
The journey towards being among the best public sector employers has taken Moonee Valley City Council to what it is today – an organisation that prides itself in upholding its core values: strategic thinking, communication, accountability, leadership, innovation and teamwork.
Using the acronym of SCALIT, the innovative values program was first introduced in 2006, supported by an internal communication strategy using a strong brand, mascot and promotional materials. This values program has contributed to a positive work environment and enhanced staff morale.
The process to develop SCALIT involved strong collaboration among staff across all levels of the organisation. Now its ongoing implementation includes interactive workshops that enable staff to integrate the values into their own personal and work lives.
The values program supports the promotion of a positive organisational culture. In 2006, Council carried out an Organisational Culture Inventory (OCI) which provided a measure of the staff and organisational culture at this time. Initiatives developed to support this process include a Culture Champions Program, team development workshops, leadership development forums and values guidelines for leaders.
The recruitment and orientation processes have also provided an ideal avenue for educating staff and potential employees on the values. Prospective candidates are given the chance to discuss their own personal work ethic in relation to the organisation’s values.
Another touchstone of Moonee Valley City Council’s commitment to its staff is the development of its values driven Enterprise Agreement. Fittingly titled Future Directions, the agreement outlines the organisational values and corporate objectives of responsiveness, service delivery to citizens, value for money and the challenge of meeting OH&S standards.
In November, Council launched Service First, a new initiative to encourage and recognise excellence in service delivery – not just service to the public, but also within the organisation. Service First is an extension of the organisational values program.
Staff learning and development and work life balance
Council places a high priority on the personal and professional development of its staff. Two years ago, it introduced the Moonee Valley Learning Platform which provides the opportunity for staff to learn and develop skills through a Graduate Certificate, Advanced Diploma, or Diploma program. Since its implementation, more than 50 managers and staff have either commenced or graduated from the program. Council has also developed a Healthy Organisation Program (cleverly named HOP) that provides access to health and wellbeing activities such as yoga, pilates, gym memberships, and healthy eating seminars.
The organisation also aims to improve work life balance through a range of flexible working arrangements.
Occupational health and safety and risk management
All Occupational Health and Safety and Risk Management obligations are met in a constructive, systematic, seamless and participative manner through Council’s comprehensive Occupational Health and Safety Management System. All employees have adopted Occupational Health and Safety and Risk Management in their every day work and the commitment and support provided by specialist Occupational Health and Safety and Risk Management staff ensures that accidents, injuries, and lost time continue to fall.
Council proactively implemented legislative requirements for improving Occupational Health and Safety at the workplace by electing and training 30 health and safety representatives across all departments. These representatives are responsible for ensuring all work hazards are reported.
Achievements
Together, all these innovative HR strategies have contributed to improving the organisation’s performance and status within the public sector. This journey of being among the best has led to several noteworthy achievements, including:
- in 2003/04, the organisation’s WorkCover premium was $1.4 million, with a risk management public liability ranking of 64 per cent and property liability ranking of 72 per cent. Through the introduction of several innovative Work Safety initiatives, Council’s WorkCover premium has been reduced by half
- OH&S systems – lost time injuries decreased from 31 in 2003/04 to just six in 2006/07
- Risk Management system – Council is now in the top 25 per cent of Victorian Local Government Authorities assessed through statewide risk management audits
- Reference/Pilot site for Human Resources Information Systems (Frontier), Integrated Planning System/PES (CA Technology), Workers Compensation (Allianz), Learning and Development Platform (Swinburne University) • recognition for numerous industry awards including Allianz
Workers Compensation Insurance employer award, Victorian WorkCover Authroity work safe award for best OH&S strategy and SACCS leadership award for leader in Human Resources.
