Without Prejudice response to Customer Service review Submission (the Submission) from SWSI PSA Members.

Transcription

1 South West Sydney Institute TAFE (SWSI) - CUSTOMER SERVICE REVIEW Without Prejudice response to Customer Service review Submission (the Submission) from SWSI PSA Members. September 2009 This document has been prepared through consultation with PSA Members and representatives at each College throughout SWSI. After careful consideration of practical operations from those involved in performing the various roles, comments have been made, concerns raised, and at times suggestions made as to how operations suggested in the Submission may work more effectively. This document is not exhaustive, includes comments on Methodology used to formulate the original Submission, and notes some issues only in point form so further discussion can take place. BACKGROUND: A number of meetings have taken place throughout SWSI colleges seeking feedback from PSA staff members in affected operational areas. Staff welcome the opportunity to be part of a Customer Service model for the future and believe that only with their input will the design of an optimum model be achieved. Delegates have been selected to discuss members concerns and formulate a response which is tabled here. We believe that before a structure can be decided upon that practical consideration of the tasks that need to be performed, and the manner in which they are performed, needs to take place. METHODOLOGY: Comments are made in terms of querying methodology and data used for preparation of the submission. Staff consider there are occasions when practical aspects of various functions have not been adequately addressed. Comment is also made on what staff feel were inadequacies of the consultative process. Comment: A number of groups, e.g., Course Information, Operations Officers, were to be involved in focus groups. These never took place. Some staff were unable to attend Management briefing sessions due to operational requirements, i.e. they were required on duty. Wiki site: Not all staff had access to the site and those that did were not able to add comments. The most part of staff are not understanding of the principles of wiki. The 4 week consultation time was too short and the timing inappropriate. (Inconvenient time of semester: staff busy with enrolments, etc) The Student Satisfaction survey data, from 2005, is somewhat out of date and only selected portions have been provided in Attachment F. Notably statistics from a more recent study, 2006, from Dr Peter Kell s Future s Inquiry were not referenced. Please see particularly p46, Principles which should guide TAFE direction in the future. 1

2 TAFE is funded by all governments to be a provider of a comprehensive educational and training experience for students using professionally qualified teachers, managers and support staff and providing high quality and safe student services, equipment and facilities to enable learning that is relevant, appropriately resourced and connected to the broad learning needs of students, the community and industry. The use of old statistics undermines professionalism and credibility. Working Party: How and why were the external sources chosen? The RTA does not seem like an appropriate model, having a different type of business and different demographics within the client base. Further, a University would perhaps have been more appropriate. The methodology of calculating staffing levels based on enrolments (P9 of Submission) is problematic. Many customers return several times. A student will come in to pay for the TAFE NSW Fee, then come back and pay for their materials, then come back to pay for parking, then come back and pay for locker fees, exhibition fee, access fee, CISCO Fee, fast track fee IT Competency fee, licence fee and rug kit fee. Transaction numbers can be sourced through ECRI. Was this done? At enrolments additional staff are employed from the Institute and other agencies. The size and layouts (therefore maintenance) of campuses vary. There are a number of reasons why basing expected staffing needs solely on enrolment figures may be inadequate. THE MODEL: Questions 12 to 13 of our Specific Questions document refers in detail to issues of duplication of work. A number of issues arose when considering Attachment J. When possible they have been discussed in their relevant area later in this document (e.g. Petty cash under Cash Handling), however the following may have bridged a number of areas and are discussed here. In all job descriptions, and attachment J there is no mention, or limited information, on the following: Promoting and presenting TAFE NSW courses at Career Markets, open days, schools and community activities. Updating of Course brochures and keeping stands in supply. Coordination of final examinations, both for the college and on behalf of Open Training Network (OTEN) which include, section tests, monthly end of stage tests, allocating rooms, supervisors and the training of supervisors. Refunds are a frontline task, there are a few processes that need to take place, the receipt, the CLAMS attendance, and in many instances sundry materials that need to be followed up with head teachers for advice as these details are specific to the student. This needs to be followed up later and can not be done at the counter. The proposed process will mean more time is spent at the frontline with the possibility of long queues. 2

3 Gathering and consolidating requirements for pre printing of enrolment forms. Coordinating the printing and issuing the confirmation of enrolments, result notices, course completion and employer reports. No specific details on providing reports, information, statistics and generating, updating various reports relating to the maintenance of course, enrolment MEVI and Web CR systems. The processes involved with the Training Plans and also how to use the Training Plan Database?, authorisation and amendment alerts which are automatically sent via e- mail from the Training Plan Database, will they be sent to a designated officer as is presently the system or will they be sent to all? In regards to TVET processing, the statement made on Attachment J is very vague and unclear. We would like more clarification on the actual duties to be carried out. Have teachers been informed that they will have extra duties to perform. Commercial room hire, who will provide customer service to clients in liaison with the College Manager for the hiring of College facilities? Bankstown College offers and delivers Fast Track in Hairdressing as a TAFEPlus commercial course. Students in this course all sign a payment contract. Who is going to continue to monitor that all payments/repayments are met by the due date? How do we find out if a TAFEPlus course has reached its maximum participant numbers or has been cancelled, before we enrol anyone else into that particular course? Who will advise the teaching staff that their course is going ahead or cancelled? Is printing off TAFEPlus Certificates part of resources done by Teaching/Faculty sections as advised in Attachment J? The same could be said for Customised Courses currently run by teaching sections. Have Head Teachers been told/advised that they will now have extra duties that they will have to perform? TAFE card: There was never any consultation with staff on implementation of this task. Staff are performing the duty out of goodwill. How will this be addressed in the future model? Student password resets: (Currently SWSI is in dispute with the PSA). Members believe Admin staff shouldn t be required to do this. This issue needs resolution. Registration of Contractors: This process should be provided by Security not CS staff. Security staff are on campus over the whole day. Reconciliations: Clarification is required on the process/procedure. There are also issues of responsibility, Checks, Training/skills which need addressing. Comment on Submission Pg 3-1 st paragraph: Whilst the PSA membership recognise good customer services principles dictate that customer needs are completed whilst they are present (and staff currently meet these needs), the SWSI need to recognise that some transactions cannot be addressed straight away due to policy and procedures that are in place. How does the SWSI intend to explain and define the requirement of the customer? Clarification is required around the processes of refunds, CLAMS, applications, data entry, etc. Operations/Grading: Specific Question 17 a and b refers to this topic. Under the heading Workforce Capability the working party identified the lack of opportunity for upskilling. Further to this staff feel there is often no line of responsibility if the College Manager is away or unavailable; lower-level staff are required to handle complaints or issues that arise. By having a suitably graded position as the next in 3

4 line both the issues of upskilling/career paths and the presence of a responsible person would be addressed. E.g. Granville and Bankstown Colleges would have a Grade 9/10 sit below the IM 3. For Bankstown College a suitable grading would be a 7/8, comparing the size /student numbers to Granville we need to be compromising and flexible, generally the grading of the position would be commensurate with the grading of the College IM, i.e. higher grade at bigger college, reflective of College Manager s higher grading). Following this then: Campbelltown, Lidcombe, Liverpool, Miller, Wetherill Park: graded at 7/8, Macquarie Fields and Padstow: at 5/6. This suggestion is made upon current circumstances, subject to regrading of IM data surrounding Chullora and Ingleburn is not at hand. Comment: A structure such as this would prevent situations such as this recent example of the College Manager at Wetherill Park taking six weeks leave with NOONE designated to act in the role in his absence. Apart from other questions this may throw up this is also a perfect example of developmental opportunities not being offered when possible. Position Description s (PD s) In the interests of transparency we are interested in perusing the source document for determining the new PD s. What process was undertaken to determine tasks, PD s etc? In general, duties listed in Position Descriptions of the Submission are too vague, the tasks should be more specific. We reject any requirement for staff to work across campuses within the Institute. Staff should be appointed to one college. Workforce capability PSA members recognise there are inconsistencies across the institute, however contend that this is often due to a lack of supervision/training and inconsistent practice/implementation of policy and procedures across colleges. This could be remedied by providing staff with adequate time and training to learn new tasks and operating systems, and procedure documents, based on best practice principles, being implemented. Members have concerns regarding inconsistent/low quality of work due to staff rotation with lack of training. We seek guidelines on how staff rotation would be implemented. Would this be incorporated in staff Performance and Development reviews? Processing applications: Requirement for accuracy in data entry. Has adequate consideration been given to this process? Consideration of the delineation of duties between back and front office, security/access, training? OH & S Administration: Large campuses require dedicated person in the role. Has a Risk assessment been done? 1. Specifically at Granville, 2. As part of OH & S Act. 4

5 How will Peak period staffing levels be implemented? Use of Agency staff? What guarantee will there be that people will receive adequate training? Refer to Submission THE MODEL, paragraph 2. It would aid Customer Service staff if a clear definition of Customer Services could be provided. Further, create a benchmark of the length of time a customer at the counter would require before being referred to another Officer. We seek clarification on what training needs will be necessary to undertake the duties of the Senior Customer Service Officer position. Also it could be added that in larger Colleges the administration staff have undertaken multi skilling, but not to the extent of smaller colleges. Would staff in larger Colleges be disadvantaged in this instance? With respect to staff operating...across various corporate systems, data bases and customer service areas., for the purposes of maintaining consistency we seek clarification of PDs for clerical support in teaching sections. Switchboard How will the phone tree be managed? How can the Institute maintain consistency? Can the institute provide evidence that the current customer service provided by the switchboard is inadequate? Questions 16 to 16c also refers. Cash Handling Petty Cash How will this be managed? There are considerations of security, integrity, How many people will be handling money and over what timeframe? TVET The PSA rejects the understanding that college staff undertake the list of duties (pg. 6 of Submission) as this is a dedicated and funded position for TVET students. Commercial and Training Plans: Submission, 3 rd Paragraph. How does the model address the needs of students and employers with respect to training plans? And the 12 weeks follow up? How will access to individual training plans be managed for Customer Service Officers if, as we have been informed, the plans are currently linked to an individual officer and can t be accessed by everyone? Therefore, not all CSO s, as proposed, can undertake this task. What is planned for Commercial aspect? Ingleburn? (Infrastructure, Impact of Austools). Will all commercial courses be maintained from front office by CSO s? 5

6 Shared Corporate Services: Mail and booking of couriers, receipt of deliveries. How will this be implemented? Rejection of Options 1 and 2. Members believe that a modified Option 3 would provide the best practical model for all functions to be met, Options 1 and 2 being largely untenable/impractical. We believe adapting to the changes to the system would be difficult considering the diversity of the SWSI customer base. NOTE ON FACILITIES FUNCTION: A definition of small, medium, large colleges would be useful. Some Colleges have a larger customer base whilst others a larger physical footprint and/or associated facilities. What analysis was undertaken (statistical information, evidence of some sort) to arrive at staffing levels required in Facilities areas? There are a number of issues surrounding the Facilities Function which we feel require re-evaluation. Particularly with regards to the proposed Handyperson, OHS 3 / 4 at Granville, and other Supervisory roles, we feel the PD s don t truly reflect the workload, amount of assistance required, and the structure/layout of each campus. Handyperson This position is rejected in the strongest terms as being untenable: Maintenance and Gardening roles cannot be rolled into one. We believe staff should be consulted extensively to get an adequate picture of the requirements at each college and a number of possible solutions explored to provide a realistic function. (Please see annexure A ). The Handyperson could not undertake the role of gardener that is currently specified as they would need assistance to finish the work. We ask what analysis and risk assessments have been undertaken, as the workload seems too great for one person? What Trade Qualifications would be associated with the position? (As consistent with a Maintenance position). We request that selection criteria 1, current driver s licence, be removed. Clarification is needed in regard to the allocation of positions at Colleges and confusion surrounding the responsibilities of the College Facilities Coordinator, Clerk Grade 3 /4, and Assistant College Facilities Coordinator, Clerk Grade 3 /4. 6

7 Facilities Service Officer Clerk Grade 1 / 2. We believe greater efficiency could be obtained by renaming the position Facilities Stores Officer, and including points 12 & 13 of the currently proposed Handyperson s job. We also suggest the position can support the Operations Coordinator, e.g. doing journals. Assistant College Facilities Coordinator Clerk Grade 3 /4 Recommend this position undertakes investigation of OHS incidents at Granville and that current position be maintained. Question: How can the Officer ensure the College facilities are Safe and accessible? We do not accept this position works at various locations as required. COLLEGE CONCERNS Please note that in many instances the concerns are shared across colleges even though they may be stronger at the college which they are listed under. BANKSTOWN Lost: gardener tradesman, main stores officer, A/V officer, and 2 maintenance positions. Facilities Service Clerk has restricted duties of former Main stores officer need position duties broadened as there is no avenue for truck deliveries, forklift use, etc. A/V Officer who is now responsible for Asset Tracking, Service/repairs, smartboard mentoring, installations? Could position be recreated to cover other colleges? In Innovation and Technology Unit? Who will carry out Smart-board mentoring, audio visual unit s setups/asset control, repairs, installations? It would not be economical to call in a contractor. Who would be the contractor and what would be the cost? It is suggested that a position be created so this officer services 3-4 colleges, assists the Operations Coordinator 5/6 position, acting at times in the position, and assists in maintenance functions and customer service roles, with the duties listed in the new position description. This position should be audited. The AV Officer is currently involved with some Class support. Although there are no AV Officers at other colleges, there are other people involved with class support (e.g. Lidcombe Store Officers). Someone within the AV industry should vet purchase Pricing (he has already stepped in to save the College considerable sums of money). With new technology in teaching and learning the AV function should be expanding, not contracting. Facilities Clerk 1 /2 Statement of duties needs to be clarified. 7

8 Eliminating a Main Stores Officer has left a gaping hole with respect to someone with necessary licences (and job description) to unload deliveries by forklift and trucks. Strategy and plans needed for who accepts deliveries to college and who delivers to sections. Direct delivery will cause all sorts of complications. i.e. theft, goods not asseted. Goods not acquitted. Specific Question 14a. (Accountable Student Hours), 15, 21a and b (Deliveries and A/V function) Bankstown College is the second largest in the institute with 2, ASH, (Accountable Student Hours). Full time students impact on the volume of travel concessions, knowledge of Department of transport policies, approving and processing of concessions, and create a high demand of work in the front and back office. Centrelink processes and requests are higher due to the amount of full time students that are on the premises. As Bankstown College is situated in a mostly predominant multicultural demographic, we are reflected by this, i.e. majority of our students are from a NESB background. Most of these students are referred to us by AMES Bankstown, Campsie and Auburn as well as Bankstown Community College, Muslim Women s Association at Lakemba. Mission Employment Bankstown/Punchbowl, Job Training Network (MTC Bankstown which includes Apprenticeships and Traineeships). The statistics show that Bankstown students needing help in English is 20% compared to Miller at 7.5% and Wetherill Park at 13.5%. Frontline staff, therefore, are required to spend more time and attempt better understanding; requiring a high level of customer service and expertise, to be able to explain processes and procedural needs within the organization. The Bankstown Local Government area has the highest mix of people coming from a high NESB background, hence their need for English and basic Vocational courses. The total number of people who speak a second language at home is 50.5% in comparison to the state which is 20.2%, therefore it puts more pressure and demand on English courses in Bankstown College. The unemployment percentage for Bankstown is 7.4% as compared to the state at 5.9%. Thus, resulting in Bankstown having the 3 rd largest and busiest Centrelink office nationally, resulting in most of their clients being referred to us in Bankstown College. Melbourne CBD being number one and Sydney CBD being number two nationally. This can be seen in the statistics relating to concession approval and processing, Bankstown processed in compared to Miller 668 and Wetherill Park 1000 this would in turn require more time, knowledge/analytical skills, also taking into consideration the NESB population in this area. Stores/Deliveries at Bankstown: In other Colleges stores officers can be called to assist when required to unload goods that are delivered to the College. At Bankstown this is not possible as we have one stores officer in hairdressing which would not be able to assist. Without a dedicated position it is likely that couriers would be going around the college looking for sections to deliver the goods and this would cause confusion, concerns in relation to deliveries being given to the correct section or left outside offices. The current stores officer ensures delivery and has a system in place to track delivery of goods. 8

9 Handyperson Comment: Option is to have 3 x HP s CAMPBELLTOWN Possibility of having 7/8 position overseeing Cust Service/Facilities roles and the Student Association/Library/Children s Services/Counselling. Rename Handyperson to Facilities Maintenance Officer, Engineering Grade 1? Opportunity for officer within switchboard area to be trained to access and undertake roles proposed as he is sight-impaired. For purposes of accountability and audit requirements Stores Officers position should be maintained. Without this position staff may be compromised. GRANVILLE Proposal: Creation of 9/10 position overseeing Facilities and Customer Service functions. (1) Creates a career path / development opportunity, and 2) ensures dayto-day functions are carried out. (Consistent with other Colleges). Create 1 x 7/8 Facilities, 1 x 5/6 Facilities, 2 x 3 / 4, 2 x 1 /2 s, and 7/8 Customer Service. LIDCOMBE Possibility of having 7/8 position overseeing Cust Service/Facilities roles and the Student Association/Library/Children s Services/Counselling Where in CSR is structure for Chullora campus? PSA has not been made aware of who works there. (OH& S impact). PSA is aware that staff are requested to undertake duties outside any agreement, this creates potential for a dispute. LIVERPOOL How will CSR address needs of International Students? (Non ESB, etc) There are requirements to deal with Heritage-listed aspects of campus. How will these be met with unexperienced/untrained staff being employed? The duties and PD of Qualified Horticulturist classed working as a Gardener experienced requires consideration. Staff concerned about Hospital takeover. Will positions be transferred? Information is requested as to intentions, possibilities, options, please. 9

10 MACQUARIE FIELDS Where is the staffing resource coming from for Austools? If admin staff expected to fill role more staffing will be required to meet operational needs of main campus. Query: Why hasn t Storeperson been appointed? Why? Proposal: Creation of 5 /6 position overseeing Facilities and Customer Service functions. (1) Creates a career path / development opportunity, and 2) ensures dayto-day functions are carried out. (Consistent with other Colleges) Sport & Rec facility will most likely see increase in Student numbers. Has this been considered? In what way? Who will be running the gym? Administering paperwork, maintaining equipment etc? Where in the restructure does the Course Information Officer position lie, bearing in mind there are two 3 / 4 positions in the main office (other colleges have three)? MILLER Miller TAFE wsould like access to Gardener for Plant and grounds maintenance; so an appropriate learning environment can be maintained. Staff are concerned that they have been taken for granted, have consistently shown goodwill. Will direct appointments take staff preferences into account? PADSTOW Loss of apprentices in Landscaping and Nursery. The Facilities Services Officer Clerk Grade 1/2 position appears to replace the store person position and is rated at only Clerk Grade 1/2 0.5 FTE. We feel this should be a 1.0 FTE, that there was not an appropriate amount of consultation regarding the duties and workload associated with the position, and that this position be reviewed. There is concern that the Senior Customer Service Officer, Clerk Grade 3/4 1.5 FTE, should be increased to 2 FTE, inline with the amount of workload and diversity of knowledge required and associated with the position. To reiterate concerns over the creation of the HandyPerson position. The PD appears to be extremely overloaded with duties and requirements that no one person would be capable of performing satisfactorily or efficiently. There appears to be some duties associated with this position that have been shifted from the Store person duties, mainly Points 10,12, and 13. WHETHERILL PARK Extra workload due to positions not being filled Current staff given first opportunity for Direct appointment. 10

11 Is there a need for full time Campus Manager, bearing in mind CM was absent for 6 continuous weeks and the College continued as usual? Appointment of College Managers should occur. For example Padstow and Macquarie Fields have had significant periods without a College Manager on site. Padstow has had 16 in the past 3 years, with 1 for 12 months or so. This creates low morale amongst staff and inconsistency of longer term projects and the work environment. SUMMARY: Financial Implications: In formulating our response members have been generally considerate of the need for cost savings particularly with respect to salaries. HR Implications We expect that staff within SWSI be given first opportunity to undertake the proposed positions, therefore quarantine (refer WSI as precedent). Direct appointments be made whenever possible, especially whenever displaced officers have been acting for lengthy periods of time in a position. We see this as an opportunity to place long-term temps into vacancies of permanent positions. Clerical Officers who are eligible should be appointed to Clerk as they are already doing the duties of the position. This meets the requirements of the recent MOU 2008 and requirements for direct appointment as staff have undertaken duties at 80% level of position. TAFE ideology of attempting to move workforce into a Part Year employment style, simply for economic reasons, needs to be addressed as a global issue. What kind of workforce will be created from this practice? Policy and procedure for employment of agency temps should be formulated and be transparent length of employment should not exceed 4 weeks. PSA suggests possibility of creating list of temp staff. PSA is against unfilled vacancies. Where the Department needs to meet strategic plan objectives they should put in place a system of engaging staff on a temporary basis to meet those needs. Often the case occurs where an officer is removed from their position to do other work and no one is employed to undertake the work of the vacant position. 11

12 Please provide provisions for disabled staff whose positions will be effected. How has CSR been communicated to disabled staff? Each college s specific needs have to be taken into consideration before implementation goes ahead. i.e. ASH (Accountable Student Hours) has not been taken into consideration as it was considered to have more relevancies to teaching staff areas. Staffing levels at individual locations are an issue. 12

13 Annexure A For example a SWAT Team? OPTION A: Create team of gardeners with current incumbents. Those that aren t qualified be given opportunity to be trained (RPL) and they visit colleges and maintain lawns, specifically weed eradication, edging, mulching, pruning, replanting. Garden restoration (undertaken in winter months including holidays) To fully maintain gardens Dept to consider indenturing apprentices. Trial period required to assess staffing levels? Employment of apprentices would be consistent with Fed govt s employment policies. It would be appropriate for a Teaching institute such as SWSI to have traineeships of this nature. OPTION B: Employ more people to cover this function. 13