Investing in our workforce and valuing the contributions of our staff are critical to fostering our workforce culture today, and into the future. To strengthen and support our staff, we strive to recruit and retain the most capable and talented people.
We also provide significant support in leadership and professional development programs so that staff can enhance their skills to provide better services to the public.
In addition, we are proud of our outstanding health and safety record because our focus remains on the wellbeing of staff. Our efforts support work-life balance and a range of health and wellbeing initiatives.
Staff qualifications (full-time and project staff)
| Qualification | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Certificate/Diploma | 15 |
| Degree | 36 |
| Postgraduate | 12 |
| Doctorate/Masters | 8 |
| No formal qualifications | 29 |
| Total | 100 |
Retention strategies
Developing our workforce remains a key focus in our goal to recruit, train and educate so that we are best positioned to meet the challenges of the future.
We offer a range of career development programs with the aim of retaining our outstanding staff, and 2016-17 saw close to 313 internal job opportunities (promotions, transfers and higher duties) offered. Additionally, 113 external recruits also joined our team.
The SRO's turnover rate of ongoing staff (excluding involuntary and end of fixed-term contracts) was 3.3 per cent compared to 7 per cent in the Victorian Public Service.
On average, people stay at the SRO for 11 years. More than 46 per cent of our workforce stays for 10+ years, compared to 36 per cent in the Victorian Public Service (based on latest figures from 2015-16).
* The increase in cost was due to two claims from previous years that have now closed.
