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To attract, develop and sustain organisational capability through our people
We strive towards:
Projects and activities planned for next financial year, some of which have already commenced, include the following:
Our workforce profile helps to illustrate who we are. As at 30 June 2019, we have 1,083 employees.
| Demographics | 2017 (%) | 2018 (%) | 2019 (%) |
| Female employees | 31 | 31 | 31 |
| Male employees | 69 | 69 | 69 |
| Indigenous Australian employees* | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Employees with a disability* | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Employees of culturally diverse background* | 20 | 22 | 25 |
| Employee age profile | 2017 (%) | 2018 (%) | 2019 (%) |
| < 30 | 12 | 12 | 10 |
| 30-39 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 40-49 | 20 | 21 | 21 |
| 50-59 | 28 | 28 | 30 |
| 60+ | 19 | 17 | 16 |
| Regional profile (headcount) | 2017 (%) | 2018 (%) | 2019 (%) |
| Great Southern | 31 | 30 | 31 |
| Goldfields-Esperance | 15 | 21 | 21 |
| Kimberley | 30 | 29 | 30 |
| Mid West-Gascoyne | 45 | 44 | 44 |
| Pilbara | 24 | 33 | 28 |
| South West | 58 | 62 | 63 |
| Wheatbelt | 40 | 34 | 33 |
| New starters | Employees (headcount) |
| Number of new starters | 55 |
| New Starters by gender | |
| Female | 22 |
| Male | 33 |
| Turnover | |
| Turnover rate | 4% |
| Turnover by gender (headcount) | |
| Female | 19 |
| Male | 29 |
*Figures do not represent an accurate profile of our diversity, as the information is provided by self-declaration.
Our people are the key to our success. Investing in them and their knowledge is essential to creating an organisation where people embrace and accept those who inspire and bring innovative ideas, skills and perspectives. We seek to ensure that the right people are attracted and retained within our business and grow and develop in ways that will help us to make the most of the opportunities that are facing our industry.
In July 2019, we will be releasing a new corporate Learning Management System, called LearningHub. LearningHub is designed to be a ‘one stop shop’ for all training and development; that is, a centralised, easy-to-use portal to which all employees have access. It will enhance access to online learning for employees – offering a smoother process for registering for training and approvals; giving enhanced visibility to managers on training activities of their team; and providing compliance reporting capability at the fingertips of training coordinators.
Our tailored in-house management skills development program called TEAM (Training Engaging Accountable Managers) has continued over the last 12 months. The program empowers people managers to perform their role more effectively. It covers a wide range of topics including resource management, procurement and finance, conflict resolution, performance management and mental health in the workplace. In total 18 modules are available, offering a balance of internal and external experts, keynote sessions and coaching. TEAM has been popular with approximately 145 staff having completed individual modules identified as a development need or as refresher training.
With a renewed focus on Development Employee Programs, the Human Resources team is reviewing pathway programs to align with our capability gaps and long-term workforce planning. Recruitment is planned ensuring a pipeline of capability is developed. We continue to focus on diversity through our recruitment efforts. We aim to exceed the current gender split of our Development Employees – 31 per cent female, 69 per cent male – as well as look at Aboriginal Pathway programs involving sponsorship at secondary and tertiary level.
Our performance review process, Career Conversations, encourages open discussion between manager and employee on performance objectives, development opportunities, career goals and demonstrating our guiding principles in work activities. A streamlined form through MyHR focused participants on feedback, reflection and review. This year we had a 96 per cent completion rate for the initial Career Conversations and 89 per cent of mid-year reviews were carried out.
OUR PEOPLE
During the year we welcomed Dennis Kickett to Main Roads. Dennis has traditional ties to the people from the Ballardong and Whadjuk language groups. He brings...
The Innovation and Research Program encourages our people to collaborate, learn, solve problems and explore new and innovative opportunities.
Our Bright Ideas software package helps us to foster a high level of engagement throughout the year as people can participate in specific corporate challenges or submit their own ideas on innovative approaches.
Some of the activities and projects include:
We undertake significant activity to develop and enhance our collective knowledge of economic, environmental and social topics. We do this through close collaboration and partnership with industry and research institutions undertaking leading-edge road and transport research. These organisations include:
We regularly conduct a ‘Futures’ review to identify new trends, technologies and business models from around the world that might affect the transport sector. This review is updated periodically to ensure currency and that we understand the global and local context in which we operate.
Our employees are covered by enterprise bargaining agreements between the Commissioner of Main Roads and each of the unions. Negotiation and registration gives opportunities for key stakeholders to provide input into agreement provisions, in particular, recognising the needs of employees and our business. All employees are free to join unions and we recognise the integral role of unions in the agreement making process.
After successful negotiation we registered three Enterprise Bargaining Agreements (AWU, APEA, CSA) with the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission in mid-2018.
Negotiations will soon begin with the intent of registering the three new agreements in January 2020. Agreements continue to reflect our business requirements while recognising the needs of our employees.
Our workforce planning cycle has identified that attracting and retaining critical skills, particularly in regional areas, continues to be a significant challenge. Workforce planning has been focused on identifying and addressing key capability risks and gaps in core areas within a five-year forecast. It involves a comprehensive environmental scan of the organisation and considers current capability, succession planning, recruitment forecasting and other capability development and resourcing strategies.
Activity over the past 12 months focused on Asset Management, Project Delivery, Maintenance Management, Network Operations, Traffic Management and specialised technical and engineering disciplines, in particular structures and materials engineering.
We also focused on the re-introduction of our Development Employee Programs. Last year, there were 14 Development Employees, including graduate engineers, engineering associates and trainees commencing programs. 55 new starters joined the organisation throughout the year with 40 per cent being female. Our turnover remains relatively stable at 4 per cent.
We want to have a workforce that is rich, diverse and based on equality ensuring that we can all work in an environment that is free from harassment and discrimination. We want all of our employees to have access to training, progression and promotion. We firmly believe that a diverse workforce brings a greater range of skills, knowledge, experiences, backgrounds and capabilities into our organisation. This environment will lead to higher performing teams and better outcomes for our customers. The public sector has an obligation to engage people from diverse backgrounds, reflecting the broader community, however, we want to see and deliver more than just an obligation. An update on achievements in this area follows.
Our Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Management Plan focuses on increasing the engagement and representation of:
Our Diversity Calendar notes dates and events of significance to our focus groups. These dates are highlighted and awareness raised through internal communications, information sessions by guest speakers and participation in community events and projects supporting these diversity groups.
As a business imperative, we recognise and value the role of women in the workforce and gender diversity at all levels of the organisation. We continue our focus on attracting, retaining and developing women in non-traditional roles and leadership positions. We recognise that women in positions instrumental to our future will lead to increasing numbers of women in leadership roles.
On International Women’s Day, celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, the theme ‘#BalanceForBetter’ was about motivating and uniting friends, colleagues and whole communities to think, act and be gender inclusive.
We promoted the day through both internal communications and by having four of our aspiring female leaders, nominated by Corporate Executive, attend a valuable networking event by Engineers Australia. This included a panel of industry leaders and keynote speaker Turia Pitt inspiring women with her life-changing events, personal journey, achievements and lessons learned.
| 2017 (%) | 2018 (%) | 2019 (%) | |
| Women in Level 6 and higher positions | 19 | 21 | 27 |
Our Reconciliation Action Plan focuses on:
Some key workplace and employment achievements through our Reconciliation Action Plan have been:
In support of the Government’s Aboriginal participation policy, our Aboriginal Advisory and Working Groups have progressed in implementing Aboriginal engagement initiatives specific to procurement of goods and services from Aboriginal businesses and engagement of Aboriginal groups in design, construction and maintenance activities related to our road infrastructure projects. See ’Our Stories’ for more on Aboriginal Engagement.
We are delivering on our commitment to increase the direct employment of Aboriginal people through targeted recruitment for Aboriginal-specific positions. We are achieving this by working in partnership with Nudge, a for purpose charity that focuses on getting young people into jobs and training opportunities. We will be looking at other employment pathways for Aboriginal people as an even more targeted approach next year.
This year we have engaged the expertise of a Senior Advisor in Aboriginal Engagement who has played an integral role in helping us achieve the outcomes of our Strategic Business Case for Aboriginal Engagement. We have also engaged the expertise of an Indigenous Employment Officer to assist with the consultation and coordination of our next Reconciliation Action Plan 2020-22.
This week reflects on impacts of Australia’s colonial history and the importance of ongoing reconciliation. National Reconciliation Week theme was ‘Grounded in Truth, Walk Together With Courage’. The week was celebrated by:
We recognise the importance of engaging our staff to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples during NAIDOC Week.
The 2018 theme was ‘Because of Her We Can’ which was a tribute to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who have played, and continue to play, crucial roles in our history.
Our celebration included a metropolitan office based event with a Welcome to Country and storytelling from Whadjuk Elder, Doolann Leisha Eatts. Her book Our Country, my Nyungah Home and husband Elder Walter Eatts’ book Somewhere Between Not White, Not Black, Not Wanted were promoted. This was followed by bush tucker inspired delicacies for afternoon tea sourced from Kuditj Kitchen, an Aboriginal-owned and locally based café. NAIDOC week raises the cultural awareness of our staff and also includes internal communications and articles on the meaning behind NAIDOC week and the celebration.
OUR PEOPLE
Becoming a role model and inspiration to her family, youth and community members, and encouraging them to pursue their dreams and career pathways, is a goal...