Responding to a changing world
Hosted by the Municipal Association of Victoria on behalf of all State and Territory Local Government Associations, the third biennial National Local Government Human Resources Conference was staged in Melbourne from 18 to 20 November. HR managers from councils around the nation attended.
In welcoming delegates, Australian Local Government Association President. Councillor Geoff Lake, said that in the two
years since the last conference the landscape has certainly changed.
“With the global financial crisis, much has changed but it has not greatly affected areas of skills shortages impacting councils,” he said. “In the wider community where people have lost jobs, their needs can place additional challenges onto councils.
“At the same time the extra $1 billion that has come to councils through the stimulus package has created additional workloads and demands on council staff.”
With the conference theme ‘HR Evolution – Responding to a Changing World’, a range of keynote speakers and interactive workshops assisted delegates to understand the challenges confronting the Local Government workforce, understand the implications and develop solutions to respond to these.
An address by CEO of Learning Seat, Michael Solomon, ‘Bending with the Times’, looked at the changing shape of work, demographic trends and the value of employer branding.
He said that in 2001, taking account of people retiring and school leavers entering the workforce, some 170,000 new workers entered the Australian labour market. However between 2020 and 2030, with our ageing population this figure is expected to drop to 125,000, and this is for the whole decade – that is an average of only 12,500 new workers per year.
“At the same time many people will work longer, so this means retraining and reskilling an older workforce,” Michael Solomon said. “Don’t leave your planning for this too long. Start considering an older workforce now, as some employers are already offering ‘four weeks on four weeks off’ to tap into this vital talent pool.”
He also said there will continue to be an increase in female participation in the workforce. Flexibility and affordable childcare options will be required to tap into this source.
“If your council is marketing itself as an employer of choice, make sure you are doing the things you say you are,” he said. “Include how you provide work/life balance and flexibility in your job advertising.”
He said work/life balance is all about staff being able to say that “they are where they should be at the time they should be”.
“This means workplaces must be flexible to accommodate the important things in life,” he said.
As early as 2010 Generation Y will overtake the Baby Boomers as the largest demographic in the workforce.
“They are technically adept, have enormous economic clout and confidence,” Michael Solomon said. “But they are also very loyal and attracted to the values of an organisation, so make sure you actually do what you say you will do.
“They do frequently change jobs, so make sure you are changing their job role to keep them challenged and interested. Most of all, they relish mentoring not management: tell me what you want done, not how to do it; evaluate on meeting deadlines not on how they got there. Let Y Gen people select how they want to work.”
He also warned about the shortsightedness of budget cuts to training during the current financial crisis, as staff are likely to leave if opportunities are denied them.
