Managing human resources

One of the responsibilities of the committee of management is to make sure that your employees and volunteers or human resources are managed properly. This responsibility involves meeting your obligations to all of your staff and to the organisation. It also means that you will need to meet any legal requirements. 

There are a number of different state and federal laws that provide details about conditions of employment including wages, holidays, taxation, superannuation, insurance and dismissal, as well as workplace safety and anti-discrimination legislation. Some, but not all of these laws will apply to employees and volunteers.

Management committee members do not need to be experts, but you will need to have an understanding of your responsibilities and ask for advice if necessary.

Recruiting staff

It is essential that your employees and volunteers are a good match for the work that your organisation does and their particular job. This is important for your organisation because your staff provide a service to your clients and/or the community. It is also important for staff because they may leave quickly if the job is not what they expected.

To ensure that the applicant understands your expectations, you will need to develop a position description that describes the role clearly and accurately. It is also a good idea to provide applicants with information about your organisation such as past and current activities. When you advertise the position, you will need to ensure that it meets the requirements of any anti-discrimination legislation.

You will then need to select some of the applicants for an interview by deciding which applications best meet your position description. During the interview, your decision should be based on how well the applicant meets the position description and whether they will work well with other staff. Under privacy legislation, any personal information that the applicant provides must be kept confidential.

You will need to talk to the applicant’s referees, before making your final decision. If the applicant you have selected does not accept the position, you might either decide to offer it to the person who was your second choice or re-advertise. If the successful applicant accepts the job, you will then need to let the other applicants know in writing that they were unsuccessful this time but thank them for applying.

When a new staff member begins in their role, you should ensure that they feel welcome and help them to develop an understanding of the whole organisation.  This process is known as orientation and involves introducing them to the other staff, letting them know who they will be working with, showing them through the office, and providing more information about the organisation and their role. You will also need to make sure that the new staff member is given detailed information about their position and asked to sign a contract of employment.

Copies of the employment contract, position description and any other personal information need to be kept for all staff members, including volunteers. Any personal information is confidential and should be collected and kept in a secure place that meets the requirements of privacy legislation.

Managing and supporting your staff

Good management and supervision helps staff to do their job within the organisation. Managers should meet regularly with staff to discuss how well they are performing in their job against their position description and any agreed goals.

During these meetings, managers and staff can decide what goals the staff member will work towards by the next meeting and if any support such as training is required in a particular area. These procedures are also known as performance management.

Although your organisation may not have a formal process of performance management for volunteers, it is still important for unpaid staff to be clear about their role and be offered supervision and support so they can do their job well.

If a staff member is not performing their job even after support is provided, your organisation will need to manage the problem in a way that is fair and consistent. While you may not have the same legal obligations to your volunteers, you can still use similar procedures to manage any problems with performance.

You should only consider sacking staff after following these procedures and ensuring that there are good reasons for making this decision that follow the requirements of any relevant employment award, legislation and the contract of employment.

Further information:

Note: You can access the following Department of Communities information by registering at the Management Support Online website.

Last updated 2008-02-21