Managers in the Australian public service are not coping with the demands placed on them by reform of the Commonwealth bureaucracy, according to a leading private sector HR expert.
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Bosses who find themselves out of their depth as the bureaucracy is reformed could be a key reason why the APS is struggling to keep its young people says talent management expert Karen Evans.
Public servants at the middle-management EL1 and 2 levels, used to managing two, one or even no team members, are now expected to lead teams of up to ten as departments strive to get better value for money from their supervisors.
But the push for greater spans of control could be having unexpected consequences, according to Ms Evans, Managing Director of talent management technology outfit Acendre.
The recently released APS statistical bulletin also shows an increasing use of contractors in public service, which Ms Evans describes "as an expensive and inefficient hiring method that keeps fresh blood from joining the APS on a permanent basis."
"EL1s and EL2s are being asked to manage an increasing number of direct reports and will need to work harder to maintain engagement to ensure productivity levels," Ms Evans says.
"The APS is skewing older than ever and there needs to be a plan to manage the retirement tsunami and encourage younger members and graduates to join the APS, or agencies could suffer a brain drain."
Ms Evans says the bulletin clearly identifies the problems the APS is having keeping young blood in its ranks.
"There's a need to get younger people in so when the ageing population leaves the workforce, we've stocked up behind ourselves so that knowledge is transferred," she said.
"Fourty-one per cent of the engagements were at the grad level, funnily enough, of the people who left, there were 74 grads and entry level people who left and 64 of those were resignations.
"That's a pretty big percentage, so there is an engagement issue.
"It seems they are getting them, they're just not keeping them.
"In the non-ongoing space, there was 19.6 per cent under 25 compared to 18.2 per cent who were over 55.
"If you could shift that around, getting your younger people in as permanent employees.
"You definitely need a shift around that massive difference between non-ongoing and ongoing in the under-25 age group."
Ms Evans says there re some positive steps being taken, citing the recent Talent Management Guide from the Public Service Commission as an example.
"I thought the talent management guide was really good, we've seen a few tenders come out that are much broader than just recruitment, looking at performance management and development too."
Ms Evans says the culling of the ranks of the middle management was throwing up challenges across the service.
"The EL1 and EL2 decrease, that's challenging for anybody," she said.
"Going from managing an average of two to three people to boosting to eight to ten, that's a really big shift and I think there's a real challenge to keep those workers engaged and some people might be struggling with that.
"We should be asking if we are providing the right support to help manage larger groups of people.
"It's probably a little more tricky in practice, some of the elements there but if we all agree that we need to bring more people into the workforce generally, not just in the public service, then engagement has got to be key."
