2012 ANNUAL REPORT

Key Performance Indicators

Introduction

The 'Creating Our Workforce for the Future' strategy is the key to creating an organisation where people embrace and accept those who aspire to bring innovative ideas, skills and perspectives to work. This strategy expands on one of the key areas of focus from our 2k12 Strategic Plan. It aims to ensure that the right people are attracted and retained to address future skill and competency needs that will sustain us into the future. Throughout the year, work continued on implementing a range of innovative, leading-edge initiatives aimed at creating a workforce for the future based on a philosophy that people are the key to a competitive edge.

Our Workforce Profile as at 30 June 2012

Workforce Statistics

We have a total of 1,160 employees (in headcount), however, some employees do not work on a full-time basis and therefore the total number of permanent employees is higher than the number of Full-Time Equivalents (FTEs) reported.

Regionally Based Workforce

Outside of our metropolitan-based operations, we have nine rural offices managing our regional road infrastructure. The employee distribution by region is shown below.

No. of Employees (Headcount)

Age Profile

In the below graph, we see that 30% of our workforce is in the 50-59 age group. A large portion of these employees are highly skilled and experienced people in important functions of the business. Over the last 10 years, we have increased attraction and retention emphasis on developmental employees and have steadily improved that number. Development employees who have completed their developmental programs now make up almost 15% of our total workforce. In addition, we have also introduced a phased retirement program, retaining employees from a higher age group which is pivotal in providing experienced knowledge transfer, mentoring and coaching to key areas of our business.

No of Employees (Headcount %)

Promoting Diversity and Equal Opportunity

Main Roads strives to create a rich, diverse workforce. There is strong emphasis on promoting equality to ensure our workplace is free from harassment and discrimination and that all employees have equal access to training, progression and promotion. Focus continues on the implementation of a number of initiatives in our Diversity Plan – The Road to Diversity. These proposals closely align with the Equity and Diversity Plan for the Public Sector Workforce which is a whole-of-government initiative aspiring to increase diversity in the State's workforce. Following are some of the initiatives that our Diversity Committee has been focusing on.

Women in Leadership

Once again, we have had a strong focus on continuing to improve our female representation at senior levels.  The Diversity Committee supported the implementation of our 'Women in Management' (WiM) Action Plan which targets attracting, retaining and developing women within Main Roads, particularly in the technical and professional areas encourages women to apply for acting, developmental and promotional opportunities. Since its implementation in March 2011, the representation of women in the workforce has improved.

As at 30 June 2012, 29.6% of our workforce are women, 32% of our permanent female employees are in Level 5 and above positions, and 32% of all acting opportunities were filled by women. Continuing our efforts with our Action Plan, we have:

• Developed and implemented a tailored Professional Women's Training Program
• Formalised a Professional Women's Speakers Series, targeting successful professional women to come into Main Roads to speak about their 'Road to Success'. Over the last 12 months, key speakers included Michelle Fyfe, Acting Assistant Commissioner for Police, and Lisa Scaffidi, the Right Hon Lord Mayor of Perth. 
• Promoted our flexible working arrangements through job advertisements and encouraged women and people with diverse backgrounds to apply.
• WiM Champions from each Directorate continued to meet on a bi-monthly basis to discuss and report on the progress of the implementation of the Action Plan.  
• Provided more women with acting and promotional opportunities by creating awareness in various Directorates to consider women for higher profile project work.

NAIDOC Week

We recognise the importance of engaging our staff in National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee Week activities throughout the State. We invite staff to recognise the significant contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within their local community and consider their contribution to our business. This year we invited Toby McGrath to speak about his 'Road to Success' and to share his stories with our people in the metro area.

Harmony Week

All Directorates and Regional Offices celebrated 2012 Harmony Week in their own special way. One of the most popular activities was based around sharing tasty international treats and wearing costumes to events. Morning teas and lunches were held across the State. Harmony Week allows us to celebrate the richness and diversity of all of our employees and the added value this brings to enrich all of our lives and communities.

The ROADS Foundation

The Austroads capability program identified growing skills shortages in the civil construction industry and in response Main Roads working with the Western Australian Local Government Association established The ROADS Foundation in November 2006.  The Foundation facilitates traineeships for young or unemployed people in regional communities that will lead to long-term careers in the industry.

Since its inception, The ROADS Foundation has successfully assisted and supported 164 young people in civil construction traineeships through 10 road construction contractors and alliances, 14 Local Governments and throughout Main Roads regional offices. In the past 12 months The ROADS Foundation has commenced supporting an additional 28 existing worker trainees employed by the Cities of Armadale, Gosnells and Swan, while a further 15 trainees have been placed within the Shire of Brookton, Leighton Contractors, NRW and Main Roads. The ROADS Foundation continues to support its existing 75 trainees across the State.  

In addition job readiness training has been provided to indigenous young people with new mentors continuing to be recruited and inducted across the State.   As part of its support of the Foundation, Main Roads provides access to a fleet vehicle and office accommodation, furniture and supplies within our head office at the Don Aitken Centre for three employees.  During the year our Managing Director, Menno Henneveld took over as Chair of ROADS following the retirement of the inaugural Chair Mike Wallwork.

Family Day

Family Day promotes a healthy work-life balance while recognising all contributions to the organisation. Each Directorate and region puts together a display for visiting family and friends outlining past achievements and current projects as well as new and upcoming projects and events. In turn, it allows our families and friends to be involved in all aspects of our work.

Giving back to the Community

Throughout the year we supported a number of charities including the Starlight Children's Foundation, SIDS, Kids WA and Cancer Council WA to name a few. This complements other initiatives including our 'workplace giving program' offered through payroll enabling staff to donate to selected charities throughout the year.

Attraction and retention

Workforce Planning Process

The workforce planning that we have undertaken has once again placed Main Roads in a sound position, successfully forecasting and setting in place the strategies needed to appropriately resource the organisation for 2011-12.

As one of the leaders in workforce planning within the Public Sector we were also heavily involved in sharing information with other agencies throughout the year on the way we involve the business in our workforce planning. We have developed a functional and innovative approach to workforce planning which attracts a higher level of participation from Senior Branch Managers and supports forecasting for the future, knowledge management, capability development and development employee programs in line with our strategic direction.

With the establishment of the Transport Portfolio, we have also taken the opportunity to work together with our portfolio partners and recently embraced a leadership role to integrate workforce planning and building capability across the Transport Portfolio.

Our Turnover Rate

Our total annual employee turnover rate is just under 8% of which less than 1% is made up of our development employees (see below).

Received Applications

Over the past 12 months we advertised 128 vacancies, receiving 1,898 applications. Of the total number of positions advertised, 114 resulted in appointment. An analysis of applicants shows that we are attracting interest from school leavers, graduates, overseas and interstate applicants, and as well as specialised professionals.

Enterprise Bargaining Agreement

Negotiations for two enterprise agreements covering AWU and APEA employees were finalised in May 2012 whilst the CSA enterprise agreement was finalised in June 2012. The agreements are for a three-year term expiring in January 2015. The agreements reflect our commitment to family values and new ways of working through increased flexibility around working hours and phased retirement, and creating more effective and efficient ways of rostering for shift workers.

DEVELOPING CAPABILITIES

Development Employee Leadership

We actively promote the development of our next generation workforce through our Development Employee Leadership Programs that enables graduates to develop their skills while professionally enhancing and building their careers in a practical environment. Our graduates receive valuable experience on the program through diverse rotations, mentoring, and continued alliance with Engineers Australia Professional Development program. Participants who have successfully completed the program will attain a Diploma of Management.

Project Management Development

A second cohort completed this program to develop and improve their competency in the project management discipline. This program is targeted at staff working in business related areas or on non-infrastructure projects. This year, 14 employees were awarded the nationally recognised Diploma in Project Management.

Inspiring Leadership Development

Currently in its second year, participants on this program are completing a range of workplace-based projects that feed into the processes of supporting the development of our new strategic plan. Participants will look towards providing creative approaches to scenario planning and reviews of our business processes.

Executive Development

Due to be finalised by the end of 2012, this program focuses on supporting learning for our senior staff against four corporate themes: Strategy, Innovation, Values and Leadership.

Accreditation Course for Bridge Inspectors

A second two-day course to provide training to qualified and experienced bridge engineers and associates was held during the year. At the end of the course, participants were accredited to undertake detailed bridge inspections on steel and concrete bridges throughout the State. Training helps to provide consistencies between different bridge inspectors in how defects are assessed and how the condition of each bridge clearly determines the priorities for maintenance works.

TechXchange

This program is an initiative that has been running very successfully since 2005. The one-hour, monthly forum provides an opportunity for technical experts to share their knowledge and experience with other employees and technical partners. The sessions are aimed at younger, less experienced employees looking to improve their technical skills and network with our technical gurus.

Lunch and Learn Seminars

Our Learning and Development Branch has continued running 'Lunch and Learn' sessions. Designed to broaden employees' thinking and encourage creativity, these workshops complement key components of our leadership framework and include strategy, innovation, leadership and values. Each 45 minute session allowed employees to leave the workshops with useful tips and tools to apply to their own working life. All sessions were presented by Curtin University and included kits designed to engage leadership, management, creativity and innovation.

Competency Development

With almost 50% of our workforce already over the age of 50 years, it is essential that we are able to maintain and increase our workforce capability as a large proportion of our employees with a wealth of experience retire. The new system is a competency-based approach for targeting the development of leadership and technical competencies of our workforce. This system focuses on operational and our employees' career development needs. It supports our workforce planning, succession planning, knowledge management and learning and development strategies through a modified Individual Competency Development Plan process. Training on the new competency development system has commenced in priority areas which have the greatest need for retention and competency development. All employees will benefit from this new competency approach which provides greater transparency and objectivity in our existing individual performance development system.

Giving the Green Light to Masters Placement Students

Over the past year we have played host to Masters' students from the University of Western Australia and Curtin University. We welcome the contribution that these students make to the organisation through additional capability and the completion of complex projects which significantly adds to our knowledge base.

Inspiring Innovation

At Main Roads, innovation is a key area of ongoing focus. We encourage innovative thinking in our employees, with graduates working in groups on innovation projects as part of our Development Employee Leadership Program (DELP). Some ideas explored include document currency audit system, digital signatures for verified submission of electronic timesheets, installation of solar bus shelters along Great Eastern Highway and an Online Graduate Rotation Booking System.

Some other initiatives that we have been working on in support of our commitment to developing innovative thinking include:

• Innovation Work Groups
• Publication of Innovation Magazine
• Development of an Innovation Framework
• Development of an Innovation Architecture
• Innovation Sessions
• Calendars
• Monthly Awards
• Benchmarking Survey
• Development Programs.