Our people
Wellington staff
Human capital development
Our leadership development programme has been designed to deliver appropriately customised learning modules to different groups of leaders across the organisation. The third and final cohort will complete the programme in December. Each year we have modified the programme in response to feedback from the previous cohort, and each year the feedback has been exceptionally positive regarding personal/professional development, relevance and interest, and meeting participants’ expectations.
We also introduced a $5,000 study grant to provide specialist development opportunities for technicians. Two technicians benefitted from external training that otherwise would have been unavailable.
Joint graduate school with University of Auckland
Landcare Research has formed a joint graduate school with the University of Auckland to produce postgraduate students in biodiversity and biosecurity sciences. Five Landcare Research staff have been appointed: three as professors and two as associate professors. The school will greatly enhance the number of postgraduate–qualified and ‘job–ready’ students entering the market – something that has been warmly welcomed by the government science and policy agencies responsible for biodiversity and biosecurity outcomes in New Zealand.
First Foundation Scholarship Programme
In October 2010, we selected a promising final–year secondary school student to work with us under the First Foundation Scholarship Programme. This targets talented students in lower–decile secondary schools nationally. The scholarship will continue through to the end of the student’s first three years at university.
Remuneration strategy
We are reviewing our remuneration strategy in a three–stage project. The first stage worked with staff focus groups; the second used consistent methodology across the organisation to size and evaluate science and support roles, and identify any trends or issues relevant to the remuneration strategy; and the third stage will involve working with the PSA to agree on policies and the wider remuneration strategy.
This year, science staff contributed to a band factor assessment process to review their current position; this led to a small number of important changes. We also introduced two new policies, on the cashing up of annual leave and trial periods.
Collective Employment Agreement (CEA)
The CEA applies to members of the PSA, the union acting on behalf of 45% of staff. The agreement is in its third and final term expiring at the end of April 2012. The remaining employees are on Individual Employment Agreements, which fundamentally mirror the CEA. Only managerial staff (tiers one to three) have separate Total Remuneration Individual Employment Agreements.
Staff engagement
This year we selected John Robertson Associates (JRA) to survey staff engagement, as JRA enables benchmarking with other CRIs and JRA’s Best Workplaces in New Zealand. With 71.5% of staff participating, overall engagement was higher than the CRI benchmark but below that for Best Workplaces. Staff were very positive in their perceptions of our Health and Safety (H&S) and sustainability practices, the flexible work environment, and the alignment of our ‘manaaki tangata’ and organisational values. Areas for improvement include a greater sense of common purpose, and stronger focus on both leadership, and on learning and development across the organisation.
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
We report on a wide range of good employer KPIs, including gender balance, pay equity, H&S, turnover and recruitment, ethnicity, training and knowledge management. A selection of KPIs are summarised on page 48. with comprehensive reporting and data on these sustainability web pages.