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LATN Workforce planning Staffing for the future

LATN Workforce planning Staffing for the future. Fides Datu Lawton Director (Library Resources Unit) UTS CAUL Meeting 16 September 2005. Background . Vicki Whitmell LATN consultancy on succession planning A report for all LATN members

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LATN Workforce planning Staffing for the future

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  1. LATN Workforce planningStaffing for the future Fides Datu Lawton Director (Library Resources Unit) UTS CAUL Meeting 16 September 2005

  2. Background Vicki Whitmell LATN consultancy on succession planning A report for all LATN members • Workforce and succession planning in the Libraries of the Australian Technology Network: preparing for demographic change, October 2004 A report specific to each member library

  3. LATN workforce planning project Project Group • Fides Datu Lawton, Director (Library Resources Unit), UTS • Jenny McCarthy, Associate Director, Library Services (Development), QUT • Gabrielle Gardiner, Research and Policy Officer, Library, UTS Project Reference Group including • Craig Anderson [RMIT] • Jennie Barwick [CUT] • Stephen Parnell [USA]

  4. Why workforce planning? • Developments in ICT • innovations in service delivery • Richer array of information resources • significant changes in work systems and processes • Internationalisation of teaching and research

  5. Why workforce planning? • Reduced government funding – greater reliance on other income ->More fee paying students - >clients -> customer -> heightened user expectations • Quality framework • Greater linkages between performance and reward and remuneration • Funding implications • Greater competition/ New competitors (more choices for clients)

  6. Why workforce planning? • Aging workforce • March 2004, UTS Library staff • nearly 50% = 45 years and older • ca. 10% = 55 years and older • Short term contractors; consultants, project teams =>less time for training & development (Must hit the ground running)

  7. Questions raised • What kind of library do we want to be? • What knowledge, skills, attributes do we need of our library staff to get us there? • How do we attract the right people? • How do we develop and retain them?

  8. Identifying core competencies Core competencies are the skills, knowledge, and behaviors necessary to an individual’s success in a position. By identifying core competencies for staff, libraries are able to sustain their ability to adapt to the changing environment and will be better prepared for the on-going changes in the future of higher education (McNeil and Giesecke)

  9. LATN – IKSAA (Inventory of Knowledge, Skills, Aptitudes and other attributes) • Client Services • Communication and Interpersonal • Decision Making • Information and Communication Technology • Library Technical Skills • Teaching and Learning Support • Information Management • Leadership • Marketing and Promotion • Personal Attributes • Understanding of the Higher Education Environment

  10. Personal attributes • Ability for independent learning (Whitlatch 2003) • Ability to demonstrate confidence, assertiveness, decisiveness (Breaks 2005) • Ability to demonstrate creativity and imagination (Fisher 2004) and innovation • Ability to think outside the box (Breaks 2005) • Displays an openness to new ideas (Ashcroft 2004) • Displays a willingness to take risks (Breaks 2005) • Evidence of resilience, resourcefulness and responsiveness • Lateral thinking skills (Fisher 2004) • Sense of humour (Fides)

  11. POTENTIAL USES OF THE INVENTORY • In drafting job descriptions • In recruitment exercises • Selection criteria • Interview questions • In identifying gaps in staff knowledge and skills • In developing and implementing staff development plans • In benchmarking staff competencies with other organisations

  12. LATN Meeting, 15 Sept. endorsed these recommendations 1) Enhance LATN website with: • links to PDs • links to salary scales for different positions • links to organisation charts • sample job advertisements, especially advertisements for new positions and their corresponding selection criteria 2) Identify evolving library roles/positions and matching these with their corresponding core competencies

  13. LATN Meeting, 15 Sept. endorsed these recommendations 3) work on a proposal to LATN for collaborative staff development programs to facilitate the development of the core competencies 4) LATN to provide the necessary resources (staff, venue, funds, etc.) to implement agreed collaborative staff development programs 5) LATN contacts to review programs after a year and submit a report to LATN

  14. Remaining challenges • Review appropriateness of job descriptions • from task orientation -> system-wide thinking and planning and highlight core competencies • Evaluate effectiveness of recruitment processes • Provide support and training to supervisors in effective interview and recruitment strategies “Hire people for future roles, not just for today’s vacant position” (Whitmell)

  15. Remaining challenges • Eliminate barriers to peak staff performance • Align performance measures & evaluation strategies with generational behavioural considerations (Whitmell) • Establish partnership with libraries, library schools and library associations • in attracting suitable people to the profession • in developing future library staff • in keeping them (and inspired and challenged)

  16. Whitmell onGenerations X and Y • value flexibility and a balance between work and life • put a premium on results rather than process • place less emphasis on guidelines, procedures, structures and organizational hierarchies • generally work well with others but … see themselves more as individual contributors than as members of a team • unimpressed with authority • will be seeking to work with and for organizations that value service and keep their promises…provide a flexible work environment with few levels or hierarchies… that value self-starters, and that welcome new and creative ideas

  17. Certainly the most contentious, expensive, and difficult resource to leverage effectively is people. People, particularly in service-based information organizations, have the largest effect on customer satisfaction, levels of innovation, and organizational effectiveness. Your competition can duplicate all of your strategic resources except the people in your organization. (R Bazile-Jones)

  18. Questions for CAUL • What workforce planning activities are happening in your organisations? • Have you developed core competencies for staff? Can they be shared? • How effective are your recruitment processes? • Is there broader interest in collaboration on workforce planning?

  19. References • Abram, S (2005) “Next generation librarians in the workplace” In Staff planning in a time of demographic change, ed by V Whitmell. Lanham,Md., Scarecrow Press • Bazile-Jones, R. (2005) Diversity and libraries. In Staff planning in a time of demographic change, ed by V Whitmell. Lanham,Md., Scarecrow Press • McNeil, B and J Giesecke (2001) “Core competencies for libraries and library staff.” Avery, E F, T Dahlin and D.A. Carver. Staff development : a practical guide. 3rd ed. American Library Association. • Staff planning in a time of demographic change (2005) ed by V Whitmell. Lanham,Md., Scarecrow Press

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