South Western Sydney Institute TAFE bulletin

South Western Sydney Institute TAFE bulletin 15 May 2015 (PDF version)

Customer Service Management Review Phase 2

As you would be aware, Institute Director Peter Roberts has advised staff the Minister has approved the SWSI Customer Service Management Review Phase 2 Change Initiative.

The Change Management Plan will now be submitted to the Managing Director, Pam Christie, for her approval.

Once this approval is gained, the final Change Management Plan will be distributed to both the PSA and staff.

This document will contain specific timelines for staff on the implementation and placement of staff to the new organisational structure.

Staff already moved

Members have been asking why Customer Service Staff have already been made to “co-locate” to “one-stop hubs” when Phase 2 of the Customer Service Management Review had not been signed off on.

The reason staff have been able to be moved is because the setup of the “one stop hubs” was outlined and consulted on in Phase 1 of the review (which HAS been formally approved).

The PSA raised a dispute with SWSI over the movement of staff, and were able to delay the movement of staff at Miller College until these issues had been consulted over, due to our members raising their specific issues with us.

The lodging of the dispute by the PSA ensured that consultation occurred on various aspects of the move, and staff at Miller stayed in their traditional location until these issues had been resolved.

The dispute was based on the following points:

• Staff were informed they would be moving prior to a meeting to introduce the vision and outline expectations for those working in the centre;

• Other significant staff concerns and lack of consultation on these concerns including: the introduction of a Concierge, concerns around workstations, lack of space for staff, no staff input to risk assessment process, and privacy of student data.

As a result of the dispute from the PSA, the movement of staff was halted until these concerns had been addressed from management.

The dispute meeting addressed the following:

• Concierge role – SWSI have informed that there is no concierge “position” being implemented. SWSI maintains that it is a concierge “approach”, meaning that instead of staff greeting a customer from behind a counter, they would be offering a side-by-side service. An undertaking was given that there would be no change in job role for any staff moving.

• Workstations – The PSA gained a commitment staff will not be expected to perform processing duties “out the front” for an extended period of time. There will still be a “back office” area for processing and data entry.

• Each college has the flexibility to set up workstations and work areas in a way that works for each college. The College manager may change and fine-tune the set up if issues are expressed once the move has occurred.

• Risk assessments – WHS manager Linda Watts will be doing a second round of risk assessments once staff have moved. The PSA gained a commitment that our delegate will be given the opportunity to raise any specific issues with Ms Watts and for those issues to be addressed.

• Lack of space for existing staff structure – It is vital the number of staff did not change at this time, as the structure outlined in Phase 2 of the Customer Service Management Review had not yet been formally approved. This had resulted in concerns Miller staff would not be able to fit into the new area. SWSI informed us that two small offices which were to be used for the counsellor and disability consultant would instead be used by customer service staff temporarily.

• SWSI acknowledged that staff had indicated the area would be too congested as there are numerous classes run in the library area. SWSI made a commitment to investigate alternate spaces for these classes to ease the number of people in the area.

• Privacy of student data – The PSA gained a commitment that privacy filters will be installed if staff feel that student information is being compromised. Whilst the PSA is still concerned over privacy, there is an opportunity for this issue to be addressed through either the College Manager or WHS manager Linda Watts.

As the matters under dispute had been resolved, SWSI were entitled to move staff from one area of the college to another.

What’s next?

Once the final Change Management Plan has been approved by Pam Christie and distributed to the PSA and staff, implementing the new organisational structure can commence. As part of the “Customer Service Management Review Phase 2, Consideration of Feedback on the proposed reforms (supplementary paper)” SWSI made a commitment to an “Implementation Plan” to “be developed in consultation with staff at each of the sites which will address the transition to the new structure and identify the relevant processes. The Implementation plan will be developed following the approval of the Change Management Plan”.

The commitment to an “Implementation Plan” was re-affirmed at the above dispute meeting. It is vital staff keep us updated on the implementation of the Customer Service Management Review Phase 2. If you believe that the Customer Service Management Review Phase 2 is being implemented without consultation on the “Implementation Plan”, please contact Industrial Advocate Ian Little , or SWSI Organiser Dylan Smith .