People and Culture

The Western Parkland City Authority continues to evolve as an organisation, assisted by the ongoing development of dynamic and engaging initiatives from the People and Culture team. This team provides strategic and operational services and advice covering employee engagement, learning and development, resourcing, organisational design, wellbeing, remuneration and benefits, performance development and management, industrial relations, and reward and recognition.

The following paragraphs describe key People and Culture initiatives and activities during the reporting period.

People Matter Employee Survey (PMES) 

• For the second year, we achieved a 100% response rate for the PMES, demonstrating that our staff are actively involved in providing feedback about the organisation, and ensuring we have a holistic view across the organisation.
• Our highest scoring questions centred around risks and safety, flexible working arrangements and treating each other with respect. 
• Wellbeing had the largest increase in score compared to the previous year, which is particularly significant during a period of change and uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Areas of focus that required additional attention included communication of changes resulting in increased updates via channels such as the staff briefings, internal newsletter and the intranet; performance management which continues to be enhanced by the online human resources platform; and career development opportunities by providing staff with opportunities to increase their skills and knowledge through secondments to other organisations and internal staff movements
• Listening sessions were held with staff and the leadership team to gain further insight, while pulse surveys centred around health and wellbeing, ways of working and learning and development.

Performance management

• The Performance Development and Management component of our People & Culture online platform myCareer, was launched enabling staff to create their performance plans in a concise and centralised manner. 
• Embedded mandatory KPIs in the performance plans covering people and culture, regulation, and finance related business outcomes were implemented to ensure a consistent approach to core objectives. 

Resourcing

• Staff numbers continued to grow as we transitioned from planning to include the delivery phase of our projects. This saw a need to provide more stability to the structure of teams with a move from temporary to ongoing employment across all levels of the WPCA.
• A workforce strategy was developed to ensure the workforce has a clear understanding of our short, mid and long-term resourcing requirements that takes into account a general candidate shortage across corporate and delivery roles, the upcoming office move from Parramatta to Penrith, and limitations to remuneration and benefits within the public sector.
• The recruitment module in myCareer was implemented which allowed for streamlining of the attraction, recruitment and onboarding of candidates.

Learning and development

• A learning and development program was introduced that focused on key themes including working smarter, professional development, health and wellbeing, information sessions, and mandatory awareness.
• A diverse range of courses offered to staff included Working Smart with Outlook, Code of Ethics and Conduct, Gifts and Benefits and Delegations Awareness, Projects Fundamentals, Aboriginal Cultural Awareness, Team Success in a Hybrid Working Environment, and Healthy Brain Healthy Body.
• Tailored training courses were run in a hybrid environment, ensuring there were no barriers to learning opportunities for staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Online Learning and Development modules via myCareer could be linked to development requirements outlined in performance plans with training courses on offer through the online platform.

Traineeships, internships and graduate program

• Our commitment to developing school leavers, students undertaking tertiary qualifications and recent graduates has continued to increase over the last 12 months.
• Two trainees joined us via the Schools Infrastructure Traineeship Program. The program is designed to provide Year 12 school leavers across NSW with an opportunity for employment while they study a nationally recognised qualification. 
• Together with the Public Service Commission and CareerTrackers, we welcomed two new staff as part of the Aboriginal Internship Program where university students work full time during their extended semester breaks with the option of part time employment if study commitments allow. 
• The NSW Government Graduate Program enables graduates to join the public sector and gain experience through a number of rotations, with the WPCA proud to have two graduates come onboard in the operational and development teams.

People and Culture statistics

Staff profile by category and gender

The following tables relate to total staff headcount as at 30 June over the past three years. This is the first Annual Report that the ‘Other staff’ (secondees and contractors) category has been included.

Public service senior executives

The following tables relate to public service senior executives as at 30 June.

For the reporting period 2021–22, the percentage of total employee related expenditure that relates to senior executives represented 52.8%. As at 30 June 2021, this figure was 45.4%.

Trends in the representation of workforce diversity groups

The WPCA collects workforce diversity data for the NSW Public Service Commission as part of the annual workforce profile collection. The profile measures performance in meeting NSW Government benchmarks for employing staff from diverse groups. It also informs the planning and development of diversity initiatives.

The table below demonstrates the trends in the representation of workforce diversity groups with benchmarks provided by the Public Service Commission. The data is based on employees who completed a voluntary Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) survey upon joining the WPCA.

Note 1: The benchmark of 50% for representation of women across the sector is intended to reflect the gender composition of the NSW community.

Note 2: The NSW Public Sector Aboriginal Employment Strategy 2014 –17 introduced an aspirational target of 1.8% by 2021 for each of the sector’s salary bands. If the aspirational target of 1.8% is achieved in salary bands not currently at or above 1.8%, the cumulative representation of Aboriginal employees in the sector is expected to reach 3.3%.

Note 3: A benchmark from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing has been included for 'people whose first language spoken as a child was not English'. The ABS Census does not provide information about first language but does provide information about country of birth. The benchmark of 23.2% is the percentage of the NSW general population born in a country where English is not the predominant language.

Note 4: In December 2017, the NSW Government announced the target of doubling the representation of people with disability in the NSW public sector from an estimated 2.7% to 5.6% by 2027. The benchmark for ‘people with disability requiring work- related adjustment’ was not updated

Multiculturalism

The Authority’s Multiculturalism Strategy is reported on a triennial basis and will be reported in the 2022-2023 Annual Report.

People with a disability

The Authority’s Disability Inclusion Action plan is reported on a triennial basis and will be reported in the 2022-2023 Annual Report.

Exceptional movements in wages, salaries or allowances

There was one instance of exceptional movement in salary in line with section 24P of the Statutory and Other Offices Remuneration Act 1975 as determined by the Statutory and Other Offices Remuneration Tribunal.

People and Culture and industrial relations policies and practices

In addition to adopting and implementing its own policies and practices, the Authority also applied sector-wide and Cluster-wide policies and practices as appropriate.