The Vice-Chancellor answers your questions: human resources

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At the Vice-Chancellor’s Mid-Year Town Hall on 25 June, Professor S Bruce Dowton welcomed questions from staff. He received an overwhelming response and appreciates colleagues’ engagement and interest.


1. Can the University commit to diverse hiring practices such as making the initial processes blind application evaluations and ensure some positions are set aside for persons of colour, LGBTIQ++, females and Indigenous peoples?

The University has a strong focus on equity, diversity and inclusion, including in its recruitment processes. This is a key element of our Gender Equity Strategy and Accessibility and Inclusion Plan (to be released shortly). In 2018, a trial of anonymised recruitment in the Faculty of Science and Engineering was conducted and an extended pilot will occur over the next two years. Also, a new Recruitment Workshop for hiring managers will be launched shortly which has been designed to reflect inclusive practice and encourage mitigation of bias.

Walanga Muru and HR have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) Workforce Plan with specific actions related to recruitment of ATSI staff (for which there is scope for designated roles). Broader diversity and inclusion strategies include our ALLY Network (a Steering Committee has recently been formed to increase the reach and impact of the Network in progressing initiatives around LGBTIQ++ inclusion).

More than one-third of our staff identify as coming from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. We collect and analyse comprehensive data to understand staff experience of our culture and use this to inform our diversity and inclusion strategies.

2. Could the Vice-Chancellor speak to the checks and balances in place to ensure appropriate Executive pay and conditions, in the light of current budget constraints across the University.

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3. When is the remuneration of the Executive also going to reflect the difficult financial circumstances we are in?

Executive remuneration is overseen by the Nominations and Remuneration Committee (NRC) of University Council. Each year, the NRC determines the maximum annual increase for Executive and Senior Staff of the University who are not covered by the enterprise agreement increases.

A summary of the annual pay increase for Executive and Senior Staff over the past three years, as compared to professional and academic staff, is provided below:

Year Executive and Senior Staff Professional Staff Academic Staff
2017 Max 2% 3% 3%
2018 Max 2% 2% 2%
2019 Max 2% 2% 2%

 

The University uses the Mercer Salary Benchmarking Data Series to benchmark Executive and Senior Staff remuneration. This is the most comprehensive salary benchmarking data set in the Australian higher education sector. Comparison with this set of data shows that our Executive and Senior Staff are well within boundaries of the benchmarked data each year.

4. It is difficult to see meaningful purpose – and to have this motivate you – when you’re tasked with long-term work that needs to be done within the span of a very short-term contract.

I recognise the time pressure and extensive effort and hard work of the University community around significant programs of work, including the Curriculum Transformation Program. It would be desirable to have more time to work on these initiatives. As discussed in the Town Hall meeting, the University is responding to a rapidly changing context and seeking to maintain its position and standing in an increasingly competitive environment. We do not control the pace of change confronting us externally, but we are responding with an amazing work force which is showing its commitment to quality and agility. Additional resources have also been applied to these major change initiatives.

5. Do we hire people based on alignment with our values? Integrity, scholarship, empowerment?

Yes. The University has a merit-based selection policy, which is based on hiring the best person for each position. This includes the skills, experience and competencies of the position (reflected in selection criteria), as well as alignment with the University’s values of Integrity, Scholarship and Empowerment.

6. Staff mobility register seems to be tick box – staff secondments happen without transparency.

Career development for professional staff is a key priority for Human Resources. In the 12 months up to May 2019, there were 112 staff involved in 84 secondments across the professional staff workforce.

There are many opportunities for secondments each year, advertised on Jobs@MQ. Staff can also register interest for secondments through the Staff Mobility Register. The Vice-President of Human Resources, and the broader executive, is strongly supportive of staff mobility and secondments and encourage staff to move around the University to progress their careers and for professional development. For more information on professional development, please see the HR website.

7. What were the common themes at Macquarie from the YourSay survey?

We have not yet received results from the YourSay survey. The Voice Project (the independent group conducting the survey on behalf of the University) is currently analysing the data and will provide survey results to the University in the coming months. Information will be shared with the University community later in the year.

8. Why don’t we have a HR policy that preferences hiring MQ graduates to increase employability?

Thank you for this suggestion. It has been provided to the Vice-President, Human Resources for her consideration.

9. How can we continue work as usual when people leave the University, there is no communication about staff turnover, and there is an increasing sense of impending organisational change (e.g. significant restructuring and reductions in staff to save money – or fund loans…)?

Our latest annual turnover rate is 13 per cent (including expiry of fixed-term appointments). This rate is considered within the optimal range of 10-15 per cent and is below sector average, which is 16.3 per cent according to the latest figures available (AHEIA Benchmarking Report 2019). It is also appropriate to acknowledge, especially for long-standing members of our staff, the enhanced mobility between employing organisations has increased over the last decade.

Overall, our net staff numbers have increased year-on-year over the past three years:

2016 2017 2018
3,351 3,543 3,657

 

It is acknowledged, however, that there has been significant change across the University during this period, including a number of organisational change processes and some redundancies. The University seeks to ensure that all workplace change processes are conducted consultatively and with sound rationale.

As mentioned during the Town Hall, it is anticipated that change will be a constant over the years to come, in response to the rapidly changing context around us. We commit to conducting change consultatively and in accordance with our workplace change provisions.

10. Is there any discount for staff taking on more studies at MQ?

Continuing and fixed term professional staff can apply for a staff study grant or scholarship through a competitive application and selection process. They can also apply for the Study for Staff scheme which provides all staff with the opportunity to attend a lecture series as part of their approved professional development. For further details, please refer to Support and Schemes section of the HR website.

11. What is the University doing to ensure policies, procedures and systems work together more efficiently so that less money can be wasted on faff? 

Significant work has been achieved in the systems and technology area over the past year, with an ambitious program of work planned for the next five years. We have completed implementation of the research system, an upgrade of FinanceOne, and work on the Student Management System and Curriculum Management System is well underway. We are in the final stages of procuring a HR system, which will be a major project. We have also rolled out a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system to a number of key areas with significant impact, and with further rollout planned over coming months. As we implement new systems and technology, we are taking the opportunity to modernise and streamline our processes and work practices.

Policies and procedures are regularly reviewed and updated. Further information is available on the policy website.

12. Since we function in a very top-down, hierarchy-driven organisation, what work will the Vice-Chancellor champion to help reduce silos and increasing protectiveness across the institution?

As discussed at the Town Hall, a key area of focus is to ensure “our community remains whole” as we navigate change. Unlike many universities, the degree of silo behaviour is less prevalent at Macquarie. An area that has been identified for improvement is internal communications. An Internal Communications Strategy has been developed and is currently in the early stages of implementation, and the Town Halls are part of this. It is designed to improve communication channels and facilitate the sharing of information across operational areas to reduce silos. I anticipate that the design and implementation plan of the new approach to internal communications will be rolled out in late 2019.

 13. Is this presentation on contextualising and clarifying the role of universities intended to distract or detract from necessary, yet uncomfortable, conversation about professional and academic staff restructures (that the University may well be avoiding)? The lack of transparency is frustrating.

The University seeks to be open and transparent with all workplace change across the University. Our workplace change provisions include a consultation process. We seek to be respectful to staff directly impacted by change by consulting with them before any broader communication takes place. There have been a number of restructures within parts of the University. Unlike some universities, we have not chosen ‘a one size fits all’ approach to restructuring the workforce but rather have chosen, appropriately in my view, to focus time, energy and resources intensively on issues pertinent to particular aspects rather than sweeping catch all university-wide initiatives. To my view those organisation-wide change initiatives, while appropriate in some circumstances, deny the importance of understanding the detailed needs of particular work environments.  Managing change on a case by case basis enables more successful implementation and adoption.

 14. Can the Vice-Chancellor please lead an honest discussion about the casualisation of the academic workforce and perhaps workshop some strategies to ensure great younger researchers are offered a degree of stability (i.e. 2–3-year contracts)?

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15. What provisions are being considered in the near future to make career advancement possible for sessional staff?

 A key focus area for the University is to build our academic workforce to continue to improve our student experience and to accelerate our achievements in research. Our academic staff numbers have increased over the past three years.

Another key development over the past year has been the creation of new academic job families, including Teaching and Leadership roles. This provides an additional career pathway for casual and sessional academic staff into permanent roles, with potential promotion to Professorial level. We have recently advertised a large number of new Teaching and Leadership roles, with casual academic staff being encouraged to apply. Further information can be found on the Academic Job Families website.

The casualisation rate of our academic workforce was 25 per cent in 2018 (latest figures available, based on the HEIMS government submission). This rate has been declining steadily over the past three years. For comparison, academic casualisation rate across the sector ranges between 8 per cent and 48 per cent, with the latest average being 24 per cent (2017 HEIMS data).  Also refer Q18.

16. After the merger of the Departments of Mathematics and Statistics, 10 people left Macquarie University. Would it be possible to let us know when new academic staff members will be joining us? Please note while 10 academics left, the student numbers have increased, therefore student/staff ratio has increased.

A number of academic staff have been recruited in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and will commence in early 2020. Further recruitment is currently underway.

17. Does the University have any plans to review the professional staff salary scales and bandings to ensure retention of excellent staff e.g. HEW8 and HEW9 staff.

The salary rates for all professional staff were considered in the enterprise bargaining process conducted in 2018. The salary rates and salary increases over the life of the enterprise agreement are detailed in Schedule 1 to the Macquarie University Professional Staff Enterprise Agreement.

18. We want to deliver an engaging student experience, with some areas understaffed and being overworked (which may lead to burn out). There are also budget cuts to staff. How do we overcome this?

The University takes a number of steps to ensure there are no disproportionate resourcing impacts on our people and their ability to deliver. This includes workplace planning and strategic prioritisation decisions at Faculty and Portfolio levels, including review of resourcing impacts during annual budget builds. The Enterprise Technology and Process Transformation work focuses on delivering more efficient and integrated systems and processes, which will have better outcomes for staff.

I acknowledge the significant work being done by staff and I thank you for your continued efforts.

19. The MQ staff are in the midst of two years of extraordinary change, and our focus is on students (as it should be), what do you want for the professional and academic staff of MQ in the coming 12 months, and beyond?

Our people are key to our success. Our academic and professional staff continuously demonstrate excellence and commitment to this University through their dedication to our values of service and engagement. As the University continues to respond to the rapidly changing environment, we recognise that our staff are instrumental in making this program of change a success. I appreciate your resilience and commitment to the future of our University.

As mentioned in the Town Hall, a core priority for me is that we ‘remain whole as a community’ as we work through the next 12 months. I would ask all staff to continue their collaborative and collegial approach to their work over the next 12 months and beyond. For all our staff, I hope you will see a sense of great purpose in the contribution that each and every person is making to enhance the organisational trajectory of Macquarie University and the experience that our students, staff and partners feel on our shared journey.


Read more in the series: 

Curriculum Transformation

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  1. #16
    I believe the number of academics lost from Mathematics & Statistics is significantly higher than 10. Could you please recheck this number and implement a solution to return staff workloads to sustainable levels this semester. If remaining staff must wait until 2020 for relief then they could leave too, making the situation worse.

  2. The comment at #4 has not been addressed. The point of the comment (and it was NOT one of mine, BTW) was that covering ongoing work with short-term CONTRACT staff makes it difficult for those staff to feel motivated in relation to their work. It wasn’t about working hard to meet compressed time frames and deadlines (although that’s also a workload and WHS issue). The use of short-term contracts (sometimes several consecutive contracts, for year after year) damages staff motivation, commitment and morale. Do you have a response to that point?

    On casualisation of the academic workforce (Q14 and 15 – and again, neither of these questions came from me), it’s kind of appalling that a casualisation rate of 25% is cited as somehow normal or acceptable, especially given that figures reported to government vastly underestimate the actual numbers of casual staff (25 tutorials a week – NO full-time academic staff member – even teaching-focused – does 25 tutorials a week). NTEU estimates that every FTE casual (as counted in the government stats) equates to 4.5-5 staff in terms of head count, That means most of our academic staff are casuals.

    I’m not sure how casual staff who teach tutorial classes that have been summarily reclassified as “demonstrations” are counted – but I doubt that it makes the stats any more accurate. And they’re being paid less.

    We are yet to see a significant number of appointments to the “Teaching and Leadership” job family – take-up is not adequate to have any meaningful impact on the size of the casual workforce. What will be done about the slow response in relation to this job family?

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