Professional Development: Whose responsibility is it anyway?

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Professional Development Whose responsibility
is it anyway?

• Associate Professor Gillian Hallam
• Queensland University of Technology
• Brisbane, Australia
• ALA IRRT Panel Discussion
• Anaheim, 30 June 2008

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Overview

• Introduction
• Background to the LIS sector in Australia
• A focus on some critical workforce issues
• A snapshot of a recent research project
• How Professional Development is encouraged and
  supported in Australia
• And whose responsibility is it anyway?

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Australia 7.7m sq km 21m population USA
9.6m sq km 304m population Similar standards
of living, birth rates, life expectancy
etc
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So, what is the LIS sector in Australia?

• A complex domain
• National Library and 8 State and Territory
  Libraries
• 1,800 public libraries
• 38 university libraries and 70 TAFE libraries
• 1,100 special libraries
• 9,500 school libraries
• Total workforce of 29,100 (ABS 2008)
• 12,300 librarians
• 8,800 library technicians
• 8,000 library assistants

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Socio-economic issues on the horizon in Australia

• Unemployment dropping below 4
• Ageing of the population
• the baby boomers are all retiring
• Lower levels of fertility
• fewer children fewer workers in the future
• Demographic change will develop into the
  challenge of replacing skilled older workers from
  a much smaller pool of younger workers
• Professions Australia, 2005

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Other issues impacting on the workforce in
Australia

• The strength of the resources sector
• In Western Australia, companies are offering
  incentives normally reserved for executive
  placements, such as housing, bonuses and high
  salaries, to attract cleaners
• A movement away from tertiary education, with
  government funded student places unfilled
• Some professions have a higher proportion of
  mature workers, eg education, nursing, community
  services and libraries
• Reports of ageist and unsupportive workplaces
  but new strategies in place to counterbalance
  this

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Issues within the LIS sector (or sectors?) in
Australia

• Increasing need for diverse specialisation across
  the different fields of LIS
• Growing anecdotal evidence about the difficulties
  recruiting staff with the right specialist
  skills
• Opportunities for employment of people with a
  broader skills base
• Debate about whether we actually have a
  distinctive skill set
• Challenges within the higher education system
• Can formal education offerings support the full
  range of employment opportunities?
• And what about the attributes and qualities we
  need to be able to drive the profession forward?

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Libraries of the 21st Century Symposium

• For those of us left in the profession,
  collaborative research and development is key to
  our future. Workforce analysis, especially around
  public library and academic library personnel is
  needed. We also need to undertake a current
  workforce skills audit and plan recruitment and
  education strategies for the library workforce of
  the 21st century.
• Dr Vicki Williamson
• State Library of Victoria
• February 2006

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The neXus research project

• Two different, but interrelated, studies
• Stage One Online survey of individuals
• 2346 responses
• Stage Two Workforce policies and practices in
  institutions
• 101 responses
• Key stakeholders
• Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
• Australian Library and Information Association
  (ALIA)
• CAVAL Collaborative Solutions
• National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA)

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Scope of the neXus project

• To respond to the need for a major study to
  capture data on
• Demographics
• Education
• Employment
• Employment policies and practices
• Training and development policies and practices
• To endeavour to develop a comprehensive overview
  of the LIS professional resource issues,
  challenges and opportunities (Professions
  Australia, 2005)
• To understand the issues that represent the nexus
  between education, curriculum, recruitment,
  retention, training and development to
  potentially sustain - and develop - the LIS
  workforce in Australia

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Impact on training and development through
interplay between

• 1. New entrants who may wish to gain variety of
  experience and diverse employment opportunities
• 53 in current job for less than 5 years
• 29 in current job for less than 2 years
• Means more frequent hiring, induction and initial
  training
• 2. Stable workforce in mid to late career stages
• 20 in same job for more than 10 years
• Means little change in personnel but significant
  changes to tasks/functions, with associated
  training and development

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Retirement of current workforce
By 2010 By 2015
All respondents 16 32
Senior career / Senior manager 25 64
Senior career / Middle manager 29 53
Total retiring 2006-2015 32 cf 56 years and
over 18 A significant number of people
will take early retirement 12 of those planning
to retire in next 3 years are under 45 However,
22 aged over 56 plan to work for more than 6
more years Changes to work processes by
2015? The ability to adapt and learn new skills
is critical!
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Key areas for attention

• ICT skills
• Management skills
• Leadership skills
• Academic research and higher degrees
• The development of management and leadership
  skills is challenged by
• Confusion existing between the concepts
• Ongoing flattening of organisations and
  downgrading of professional positions to restrict
  the opportunity for individual experience and
  growth
• Professional frustration with lack of career path
• Lack of ambition, incentive and/or motivation to
  progress own career
• Non-conducive organisational culture to encourage
  and foster career-long learning
• The brain drain

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Professional membership

• neXus1 respondents members of ALIA 42
• Degree of professional involvement
• Very often 12
• Often 16
• Sometimes 25
• Rarely 18
• Never 18

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Professional engagement and professional
development
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ALIA Professional Development Scheme

• Professional Development (PD) is your strategy
  for success ... lifelong learning that is unique
  to you
• Professional Development
• Improves your ability to undertake your job
• Helps you keep pace with changing technology and
  knowledgein the dynamic environment of the
  library and information sector
• Ensures you maintain a competitive edge
• Builds self esteem and enhances your career
  opportunities
• Provides assurance to your employer and the
  communitythat you are keeping yourself
  up-to-date

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Features of the ALIA PD Scheme

• Offered as a member benefit
• Open to all Associate and Library Technician
  members
• Founded on the belief that the ultimate
  motivation for professional knowledge and skills
  lies with the individual
• Voluntary participation, but mandatory compliance
• Utilises an easy-to-apply points system
• Extends over a three year period (triennium)
• Min 30 points per annum
• Min 120 points per triennium
• Has a range of supporting resources
• Career Development Kit
• User Guide

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PD activities

• Details of how points are accrued and for what
  kinds of activities
• Informal learning activities
• Professional reading
• Publications
• ALIA career development kit
• Personal study project
• Presentations and papers
• Work-based research projects
• Secondments
• Assessed short courses
• Aurora Leadership Institute
• Tertiary courses
• Contribution to ALIA
• A link to the online PD tracking database is
  available from each activity

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Primary and shared responsibilities

• The individual
• Educators and training providers
• Employers
• The professional association

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The individual

• You have an obligation to yourself to
• Keep up-to-date
• Develop new skills, knowledge and confidence to
  ensure you have a successful and rewarding career
• Demonstrate your commitment to being the best you
  can be
• Provide professional service to your clients and
  employer
• Enhance the profession's image

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Educators and Training Providers

• Are encouraged to provide courses in library and
  information management
• to prepare graduates to enter the profession
• with the core knowledge, skills and generic
  attributes
• in order to deliver the highest-quality library
  and information services
• Are encouraged to provide and promote educational
  courses
• at entry-level for those 'starting out'
• for ongoing professional development for those
  already working in the profession

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Employers

• Have a responsibility to provide opportunities
  for ongoing learning through effective staff
  development programs
• Are encouraged to invest in PD
• to help you and the organisation operate at full
  capacity
• to fill knowledge gaps, to grow and to adapt to
  change
• May provide help with fees or time off if there
  is a mutual benefit
• Can link PD to your Performance Evaluation ...
  ALIA's Career Development Kit can support this

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The Professional Association

• Helps you keep up-to-date and develop new
  knowledge and skills
• Supports you by developing tools and resources
  such as the ALIA PD scheme and ALIA Career
  Development Kit
• Organises partnerships with professional training
  providers and other professional associations to
  provide learning opportunities in library and
  information management
• Formally recognises members who participate in
  ALIA's professional development scheme
• Recognises and rewards high levels of achievement

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Australian Library Information Sector Our roles
responsibilities
The professional association The professional
association has a responsibility to encourage,
enable and reward the learning and professional
development necessary for acquiring and
maintaining professional excellence
Employers Employers have a responsibility to
meet the ongoing learning and professional
development needs necessary for maintaining
professional excellence
EducatorsEducators have a responsibility to
provide and promote the formal education courses
and qualifications necessary for developing
professional excellence
Individuals Individuals have a responsibility
to ensure that they acquire and maintain the
knowledge and skills necessary for professional
excellence
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Review of and reflection on PD

• National Advisory Congress 2008 meetings key
  topics for discussion
• What do we need to do to ensure that we have the
  skills for a future workforce?
• What is the role of employers and employees in
  professional development?
• How can the Association?s PD Scheme be utilised
  to support this goal?
• Can a compulsory PD Scheme benefit the
  profession?
• What do you see is ALIA?s role in these areas?
  How can we engage employers and employees? And
  other professional bodies and training
  organisations?

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To conclude

• The development of effective managers and
  visionary and perceptive leaders is an integral
  part of the career development process
• Progressive retirement from the profession, with
  its associated loss of skills and experience,
  must be matched by incremental staff development
  strategies within it
• There is a close link between staff development
  and staff retention
• The ability to retain high quality staff
  requires
• A sharp focus on the qualities of the job itself
• Alignment of staff with the jobs to be performed
• A structured approach to timely and relevant
  training opportunities

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• The faster the pace of change, the greater the
  imperative for staff development
• If the LIS sector is to maximise the
  opportunitiesoffered by the dynamic environment
  it operates in,then career-long learning becomes
  an imperative
• We need a culture of professional
  development,through formal and informal channels
  and through a vibrant professional life, if LIS
  is to be truly recognised as a learning
  profession

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• Questions and comments?
• To contact me g.hallam_at_qut.edu.au