Employment needs for National Gallery of Victoria

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary
National Gallery of Victoria
Employment Needs for National Gallery of Victoria
Recommendations
Conclusions
References

Executive Summary

The National Gallery of Victoria is a fascinating gallery located in Melbourne, Australia. The Gallery has an assortment of world-class fine artifacts that has attracted domestic and international travelers in droves.

The Gallery aims to promote its status as the global hub of the richest treasury of fine art in the Southern region of Australia where visitors can explore, value and take pleasure in the visual artifacts in the entire media, right from ancient times to the current era.

This report has used interviews and secondary data to assess employment needs of NGV and give recommendations of how the Gallery can address them. Some of the employment requirements highlighted in this report are: demographics and gender issues at workplace; employee issues; skills and training issues; and occupational health and safety hazards.

The report has also suggested a number of recommendations to address these issues. For example, NGV needs to recruit more staff with language skills to address communication barriers between the staff and visitors at the Gallery; training programs also need to be introduced to help the staff improve their skills at workplace.

The Occupation Health and Safety committee need to convene on regular basis to evaluate the safety and health concerns of employees. Finally, NGV must introduce Anti-discrimination policies to alleviate incidences of discrimination against workers by age, gender or culture.

National Gallery of Victoria

Overview

The National Gallery of Victoria is an artifact gallery and museum located in Melbourne, Australia. The gallery was established in 1861 and it is the oldest and biggest public art and museum center in Australia. The central gallery is situated in St Kilda Road, Southbank Victoria, which is the hub of the Melbourne Arts Precinct of Southbank.

The NGV has also a branch gallery at Federal Square. NGV has a modest, but striking assortment of artifacts that attract tourists from all parts of the world. Given its global appeal, there are a number of challenges that the Gallery face as it dispenses its services to customers.

Therefore, the purpose of this report is to assess employment needs for NGV. The Gallery offers different types of employments. For example, full time contract is offered to administration positions. The part-time contract is the most common type of employment offered to majority of NGV employees.

Casual employment is offered to support staff such as hospitality floor staff, cleaners and security personnel. Volunteering is also a form of employment that NGV use to create awareness of the value of the Gallery to the community. The Gallery also offers work experience opportunities for secondary and college students.

Finally NGV runs a Youth Access program that enables youth to interact as art producers, art audience and art emissaries via a variety of programs developed to improve their skills, confidence and networks (Driml et al, 2010, p.23).

Employment Needs for National Gallery of Victoria

Demographics & Gender in workplace

There are more Generation Y staff (age of 20-32) working at the Gallery than Gen X (age of 40+). Majority of Generation X staff are working on volunteering basis. Currently, the Gallery requires more Gen Y staff since labor costs have reduced compared to previous years.

NGV is an equal opportunity employer who appreciates diversity in the labor force structure. Therefore, male and female staffs are treated equally. Moreover, the Gallery encourages people with disabilities and from diverse cultures to apply for employment positions (Prager 2001, p. 71).

Employee issues

There are a number of programs that NGV has introduced to address employee issues. For example, each department has its own staff uniforms and other possessions.

The Gallery has also offers various employment benefits such as Superannuation and Overtime pay packages for employees who work beyond official working time. Moreover, there is a penalty rates program that is used to reprimand members of staff that do not adhere to the Gallery’s regulations.

NGV has also a wage rate program that set the maximum number of hours an employee can work in a week (38hours). It also offers personal and annual leaves for its staff (Prager 2001, p. 71).

Skills Training and Experience requirements

Staff training is one of the major problems facing National Gallery of Australia. The management staff at NGV has made efforts to address this problem by enrolling its staff in a number of training programs such as computer training, performance management, time management and equal opportunity.

These training have offered its workers with a chance to improve their skills so as to play key roles in the operations of the gallery. The Gallery has set minimum qualifications for prospective job seekers in various positions.

For example, applicant for Front House Staff must possess several skills such as a Degree in Arts design, language proficiency, two years experience of customer service and communication skills. Applicants for the position of Security Guard must have a certificate in First-aid, security certificate, experience in customer service and proficiency in communication skills (Prager 2001, p. 27).

Australia is among the most attractive tourism destination in the world. Vacationers from all walks of life visit the country to explore its diverse cultures, physical features and numerous tourism sites.

The National Gallery of Victoria is a famous world-class tourist site that has attracted tourists in droves who come to explore the vast collections of renowned fine arts at the center. According to a number of studies, the tourism sector is expected to record substantial growth as the global recession comes to an end.

The current economic environment has seen a steady rise in employment levels and the same pattern is expected to continue. For example, the IBIS World prepared a report in 2010 which forecasted a steady decline in jobless claims. When jobless claims fall, unemployment rates also reduce.

This translates to more job prospects for Gen Y. According IBIS World, in 2010, unemployment claims dropped from 9.7% in November to 9.3% the following month. In January, the rate declined further to 9.1%. In addition, over one million jobs were generated in the previous year (Beek, 2011, p.1).

The IBIS World projects a stable drop in unemployment claims, averaging about 8.8% throughout the year. This trend is expected to be sustained in successive periods as business hiring gets better. Thus, the project unemployment rate of 8.8% this year will decline to 8.0% in 2012, 6.8% the following year and in five years from now, the rate will have dropped to 4.9% (Beek 2011, p.2).

The implications of a robust global economy are obvious. As economic conditions improve, more job opportunities arise. Moreover, the number of tourist visitors also increases.

For example, over 558, 000 young tourists visited Australia in 2008, a figure that represented about 9.8% of foreign travellers and over 24.9% of tourist nights spent in the country. In the same year, these young tourists spent about 72 nights in Australia compared to an average of 29 nights for other guests.

According to a number studies, these tourists travel to new destination in search of adventure, leisure and temporary employment to enable them extend their stay in the host country (Thomas 2002, p.4).

Thus, the term working holiday is used to describe youthful tourists who visit tourist destinations in search of temporary employment to sustain their stay in the host country. Australia is one of the countries that attract a sizeable number of working tourists who wish to work while on holiday in the country.

Thus, Cooper (2004, p.181) states that the employment factor has become a vital element with respect to working tourists in Australia. More so, given that the number of tourist visiting the NGV is expected to rise.

The gallery will be compelled to address human resources issues such as recruiting and retaining the right staff and training its human resource on regular basis to meet the diverse needs of the NGV’s visitors.

Occupational health and safety

The health and safety of workers is a major issue that affects the operations of the Gallery. The Workers Compensation Act 1958 obliges NGV to offer its staff with first aid, fair workers compensation and options to resume working as part of the rehabilitation process (Prager 2001, p. 71).

Recommendations

Training and development program

In order to tackle its employment needs NGV must address the following issues: first, NGV must recruit more people with language skills; second, increase the number of security-guard staff; third, introduce staff assistance program; fourth, initiate training and development program for its staff; fifth, reduce discrimination against gender and culture; sixth, provide health and safety services to employees (Prager 2001, p. 71).

On staff training and development, the NGV must offer opportunities to all workers to improve and enhance their skills.

A number of policies must be designed to accomplish this goal, namely: the execution of the Frontline Management Initiative Program meant for personnel in managerial positions; formal study-leave programs; and basic training and development program that encompass training on every facet of equity and merit.

The training and development needs of NGV must be facilitated by the training and development committee (Trotereau, 2008, p.6). With respect to selection and recruitment, NGV must ensure that equity and merit are the guiding principles in the recruitment process.

The NGV’s grievance structure needs to be structured in a way that employees of the Gallery are at liberty to submit individual complaints against any incidents that affect them directly while at work (Prager 2001, p. 71).

The NGV should consider efficient management of staff as a vital element in management of equity and merit in addition to personal and organizational performance. NGV must be committed to these tenets in addition to carrying out a policy that integrates training activities with performance management strategy.

The current performance management scheme used by NGV must offer an all-inclusive procedure of work plan, proficient development and response based on these tenets. This scheme must be relevant for all workers and provide procedures for checking effectiveness, assessing progress and reacting to the varying needs of staff.

Moreover, the staff at NGV should be trained on the values of effective appraisal interviews and performance management on a regular basis. The staff-assistance program should enable employees gain help for individual or work related problems that affect their capability to perform their duties and achieve the goals of the Gallery (Prager 2001, p. 72).

Occupational Health and Safety program

The NGV must address the occupational health and safety issues of its staff effectively. The current performance management program should be modified to respond swiftly to health and safety concerns of the staff.

The program needs to be relevant for all workers and provide a procedure for checking effectiveness, assessing progress and reacting to the varying needs of the staff. The staff-assistance program must be introduced to enable employees gain assistance for work related problems that can affect their capability to perform their duties and achieve the objective and goals of the Gallery.

The Occupation Health and Safety committee need to convene on regular basis to evaluate the safety and health concerns of employees (Prager 2001, p.74).

Equal employment opportunity and discrimination

The NGV management must ensure that all principles of equity and merit are applied in all facets of human resource (HR) development. NGV has outlined four corporate objectives, developed by the Office of the Public Service Commission (OPSC) as the platform for assessing the success of the current equity and merit plans (Prager 2001, p. 71).

NGV must introduce Anti-discrimination policies to alleviate incidences of discrimination against workers by age, gender or culture. The management also needs to set up an equal employment opportunity committee to make sure that all prospective job seekers are offered equal employment opportunities at NGV.

In addition, NGV staff must be given access to an efficient and impartial complaint review process that deals with violations of equity and merit (Johanson, 2010, p.3).

The strategies for accomplishing these objectives must be integrated into several programs: the selection and recruitment procedures; the performance-management program; the grievance and resolution procedures; and the staff training program (McCrindle, 2006, p.7).

Conclusions

The National Gallery of Victoria is a world class tourist Gallery that offers a variety of fine arts for its domestic and international visitors to explore. The Gallery is an equal opportunity employer. As a result, employment positions are open to people from different background, gender and age to work.

However, NGV faces a number of employment needs such as demographic and gender issues at workplace, employee issues, skills, training and work experience needs and occupational health and safety needs that it must address.

The occupational health and safety program must be introduced to enable employees gain assistance for work related problems that affect their work at the Gallery. The NGV management must ensure that all principles of equity and merit are applied in all facets of human resource development.

As noted above, language barrier is a major problem since it forestalls effective communication between visitors from different parts of the world and the Gallery’s Front House staff. The Gallery thus needs to recruit more staff with high qualification in language skills to facilitate efficient communication between staff and customers.

References

Beek, T. (2011) Jobless Claims, Unemployment and the Highest-employing Industries in 2011. LA, IBISWorld Inc.

Cooper, M. (2004) Backpackers: Nomads Join the Mainstream? An Analysis of Backpacker Employment on the ‘Harvest Trail Circuit’ in Australia. Clevedon, Channel View Publications.

Driml, S. et al. (2010) Tourism Investment in Australia: A scoping study. Queensland, National Library of Australia.

Johanson, M. et al. (2010) Revealing Key Competencies of Hospitality Graduates Demanded by Industry: A 25-year review. Massachusetts, University of Massachusetts.

McCrindle, M. (2006) New Generation at Work: Attracting, Recruiting, Retraining & Training Generation Y. Baulkham, Baulkham Hills Business Centre.

Prager, L. (2001) National Gallery of Victoria: annual Report 2000-01. Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria.

Thomas, C. (2002) Bureau of Tourism Research Niche Market Report. Canberra, Bureau of Tourism Research.

Trotereau, A. (2008) The Generation Y Challenge. Business Digest, 184, 1-8.

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