Research legislation that relates to the planning and awarding of development needs to individuals, in accordance with organisational requirements. Collect information and data to determine the needs to be addressed by a professional development program. Ensure that learning plans meet training and development needs, and that they are collaboratively developed, agreed upon and implemented. Procedure Complete the following steps. 1. Legislation Use the web resources listed in Section 1 of your Student workbook under 'Legislation' and enter the site of the Commonwealth Government body that administers the national anti-discrimination legislation. Then complete the following questions. a. What is the name of this body? b. List the titles of the different legislation, including the year that governs anti-discrimination for the Commonwealth or Federal Government. c. From July 1 2009, most Australian workplaces are governed by a new system created by the Fair Work Act 2009. Who will administer this act and what will they do in relation to enforcing Commonwealth workplace law? d. Look up the website of the body governing anti-discrimination legislation in your state and list the name of the administering body and title of the legislation (as required in a. and b. above). e. In your own words, describe what unlawful discrimination is and how it can occur in regards to training. f. Consider the following scenario. Helen had been working as a registrar in a school for many years and applied to undertake internal training in new information services being developed by the department. Her application was denied because management thought she was too old to learn about new information technology, like the internet. Has Helen's employer acted ethically? Justify your response. g. What do the federal and state authorities advise Helen to do in order to resolve the situation? 2. Evaluate performance and learning needs Read the case study. Your task is to help Mary self-evaluate her current skills and performance while taking into consideration the growing demand of organisational requirements. The position she was originally hired for is still important. Both you and Mary believe that, with some professional development, she can handle the expanded role because as she explained, that is what she's been doing since the business first started. Next, you will collect feedback on her performance from other relevant sources, and sit down with Mary to identify which areas to focus on for her skills development. a. Construct a self-evaluation form To guide Mary's self-assessment against her professional development needs, you are going to construct a self-assessment form. This form will present Mary with a summary of her day-to-day duties, including the new responsibilities she will be undertaking. This is the prelude to a face-to-face interview for Mary, and will assist both of you to establish her learning needs with those of the team. Develop a self-evaluation form for the areas of performance required by Mary. Collect information from sources used 'systematically' in the workplace and the scenario. You should ensure that the layout of this survey reflects a scale of performance against required areas. On the form complete the following. i. Identify what the form is for (title, name of respondent, purpose). ii. Construct a question format on the form that summarises Mary's daily duties and provides space for her to rate the level of her skills. Include any relevant areas from the information offered in the scenario. iii. Create a section for Mary to record any other areas where she feels a professional development program would be advantageous. b. Collect feedback from relevant sources Another important source of information/feedback is from the clients that Mary takes calls from and works with regularly on behalf of the team. Your task is to create a 'client feedback form' to collect information regarding the service Mary delivers to customers of the company. Develop a form to obtain feedback from clients. Focus on the service that Mary would deliver. Note that knowledge of customer service is not being assessed in this instance. Competency is based upon the ability to collect relevant feedback from a client in regards to Mary's performance, in the areas outlined in the scenario. On the form complete the following. i. Include a title, purpose of the form, and space for name, date and the person's title/job/position. ii. In consideration of your client's busy schedule, restrict subject areas to the key skills related to the placement of orders by phone, providing good service and follow-up. As you deem appropriate, use a rating system or other feedback format relevant to the subject matter. 3. Compare feedback on performance with established team learning needs The feedback from Mary and the clients revealed the following issues. Clients felt that when they had a complaint or issue to be addressed, they were unsure whether Mary would fix it. From personal experience, you have had difficulties with the filing and organisation of Mary's records. Mary said she felt 'lost' at times when handling complaints and issues where order mistakes had occurred. Mary also indicated a desire to improve her knowledge and ability to use spreadsheet and database programs in regards to the Microsoft Office suite of products. a. Based upon the information revealed by this process, identify the competencies and/or skill areas that will provide the skill improvements Mary needs. b. In addition to a self-evaluation of needs when selecting courses and training modes, make further suggestions as to how the training program's goals, objectives and delivery modes can be collaboratively developed and agreed upon. c. What type of training available to workplaces could provide a more valuable outcome for Mary? Consider potential promotions, the ability to gain alternative employment and also which training will match the specific skill requirements of competency standards relevant to Mary's industry. Justify your response. Specifications You must provide: 1. a short research report which covers questions on anti-discrimination legislation 2a. a written employee self-evaluation form 2b. a written client feedback form 3. an evaluation report which identifies areas for employee improvement and outlines possibilities for the collaborative development of employee training objectives. Your assessor will be looking for: • evidence that you have examined the relevant anti-discrimination legislation • evidence that you have reflected on and analysed the information contained in the case study to develop appropriate self-evaluation and client feedback surveys • analysis and identification of employee development needs based upon the requirements of the team. These needs are outlined in the information provided in the case study • consideration and identification of effective and collaborative methods for motivating staff to undertake development. Case study You are the supervisor of a relatively new and still small import business of leather goods. Your team ships orders received mainly by phone, on a business-to-business basis to a regular client network. Mary was a foundation employee, starting as the Administrative Officer, and looks after the front office. Originally it was planned that this would be the limit of Mary's duties but, as the business has developed it has been found that, as other members of the team are usually busy with other duties, she has become the unofficial Customer Service Officer for all clients. The team needs Mary to look after the customers, ensure that their needs are communicated accurately to other team members, and alert you to any unresolved issues that you need to follow-up. Mary has become a critical part of the team and you want to make sure she feels that she has your support as much as possible. To this end, you decide to identify and implement a training/professional development program for Mary that will help her to handle current demands more efficiently and ensure she has the skills to meet organisational requirements now and into the future. It is important that Mary feels motivated enough to finish any program commenced. ANNEX A MARY'S POSITION DESCRIPTION Position title: Administrative Officer This position is responsible for the delivery of timely, efficient and effective high level administrative and/or secretarial services. Major accountabilities • Provide a full range of secretarial and administrative support to staff in a timely and effective manner. This includes processing and monitoring accounts for payment. • Maintain positive relationships with fellow staff members and behave courteously to clients and visitors. • Provide timely and effective organisation of meetings, including preparing agendas, collation/distribution of discussion papers and taking minutes as directed. • Produce reports, correspondence, presentations and spreadsheets in a timely and accurate manner. • Other administrative duties as directed. Selection criteria Generic criteria (competencies, skills and attitudes): SERVICE • Provide first contact reception to visitors. • Direct phone calls as required. Job specific essential criteria • An understanding of administrative functions and office practices. • Relevant experience in providing high level secretarial and administrative support. • Experience using the Microsoft Office suite of products. • Relevant experience in organising and maintaining relevant documentation for meetings. • Ability to manage varied and conflicting demands to agreed standards and timelines. Competency profile • Process accounts payable. • Maintain effective relationships in the workplace. • Achieve work priorities and team goals. • Organise meetings. • Design and produce text documents and spreadsheets. • Manage records and workplace information.