Victoria’s operating environment requires a responsive and adaptive public sector workforce. The VPSC has a unique position in working across the sector, driving, gathering and promoting the best thinking, workforce policy and practice. We have a key role in promoting the value of the public sector and the role public servants play.
Our workforce must have the capabilities and capacity to flexibly move to where it is most needed. The right people with the right skillsets in the right place and critically, at the right time.
This kind of workforce mobility requires consideration of a new operating model. One that supports a workforce that can be strategically deployed in line with new and shifting priorities, while also supporting employee’s professional development, connectedness and wellbeing. This is a complex space, underpinned by occupational health and safety considerations, interoperable systems and processes, common standards and industrial relations settings. To work effectively these should operate consistently across departments and agencies.
The Commission is leading whole–of–Victorian government (WoVG) delivery on key aspects of workforce and mobility policy, working closely with the Victorian Secretaries Board and partners such as Digital Victoria, Jobs Victoria, Industrial Relations Victoria, WorkSafe and Emergency Management Victoria.
Access to timely, trusted data and analysis provides the public sector with a valuable evidence base to develop measures to drive its performance. We collect comprehensive data about the Victorian public sector workforce and administer the People Matter Survey to measure employee engagement and wellbeing. These rich datasets offer insights into our workforce, providing evidence to inform continuous improvement in workforce management.
The Commission holds a unique position to conduct research and disseminate best practice to add value to the broader public sector.
Be stewards and champions of the public sector, driving innovation and promoting the value of its role
- Drive improvement and innovation across the sector, by inspiring and challenging senior leaders to think differently.
- Use our central role to convene, gather and share the best thinking and practice from across the sector, academia and other jurisdictions.
- Champion the role of the public service, both internally to inspire existing staff and to promote the value of the sector to the community.
Lead innovative public sector workforce policy, programs and advice to drive better practice and delivery, including during a crisis
- Support the WoVG Occupational Health and Safety response to workforce mental health and injury.
- Provide stewardship of WoVG workforce policy and processes across departments and agencies, including in support of Common Corporate Platforms and other relevant platform deployment.
- Develop and test WoVG emergency response policy settings to support ongoing emergency management priorities.
Provide evidence-based data and insights to support a stronger, safer and more sustainable workforce for better delivery
- Continue to deliver State of Public Sector and People Matter Survey to support visibility and transparency about emerging public sector workforce issues and trends, and accountability for sector performance and wellbeing.
- Collect data, undertake research and analysis and deliver informed advice on (and support improvements with regards to) leadership, culture, wellbeing, integrity, diversity and inclusion and other public sector administration issues.
- Develop partnership with WorkSafe and departments/agencies to identify insights and improvement opportunities across workforce health and wellbeing.
- Design and implement a new data repository to centrally store the rich data sources the Commission holds, which in turn will allow for better reporting, data sharing and analysis.
Identify, develop and share good practice to build capability and support better ways of working across government
- Continue to identify opportunities for new forums and connections across the public sector.
- Improve diversity on Boards through support for aspiring Board members.
- Embed new and consistent approaches to workforce management, employment standards, platforms, data collection, connection to capability development.
- Build the impact and reach of the Innovation Network to support collaboration across government, peer to peer learning and connection for professional development and networks.