Publication:Sea Talk Winter 2006/Local career management centres
Delivering career management advice face-to-face on your workplace doorstep
By LCDR Anne Faulconbridge
One of the key areas that Sea Change addresses is career management and postings, Local Career Management Centres (LCMCs), help provide Navy's sailors with geographic stability, certainty of employment, and professional satisfaction.
They do this by providing:
- Career advice to all sailors in the locality;
- Local area posting management; and
- Posting personnel to promotion and career advancement courses (of greater than 12 weeks duration).
They also:
- Assist with Naval Reserve support to local Permanent Navy positions, and
- Respond to personnel deficiency reports (PDRs) once they have been referred by Fleet Human Resource Management (FHRM).
LCMCs are also performing an important function in providing support to the divisional system. A significant percentage of career managers' time in LCMCs is devoted to guiding local divisional officers with regard to career management policy.
Directorate of Sailors Career Management (DSCM)
The LCMCs are a part of, and responsible to, DSCM.
DSCM retains direction of these centres to ensure consistent application of policy and manage whole-of-Navy issues.
DSCM in Canberra focusses on the longer-term, strategic issues required to manage a mobile and diverse workforce such as ours, as well as some posting functions. They are the central link to Navy Personnel and Training (NPT) and other parts of the Navy responsible for workforce management. Progress with LCMCsThe first LCMC was established in May last year at Fleet Base West (FBW). From May 05 to April 06 DSCM FBW (as the LCMC is called) conducted 2010 interviews.
DSCM Darwin opened in June 05, and had conducted a total of 394 interviews by the end of April.
DSCM Cairns opened in March this year, and had completed 155 interviews by the end of April 06. DSCM Fleet Base East (FBE) is on track to open in July.
As you can see, our career managers have been working very hard!Benefits of the LCMCsMany positives have come out of the creation of the LCMCs. Feedback from our sailors shows that one of the best things about the LCMCs is the increased opportunity for face-to-face interviews.
A career manager can map out a sailor's career in front of them. The career posting screens provide the sailor's history, as well as allowing the sailor to see a projection of their posting future. So sailors have unprecedented visibility of their career progression.
Another major benefit of the LCMCs is the reduction in turnaround time for career management issues. Local career managers have the ability to process 'quick' questions about promotion and career management issues, and are also better able to process urgent issues that arise as a result of injuries or family circumstances. Local career managers also have the a better grasp of local issues and jobs.
Another major advantage of the LCMCs in Darwin and Cairns has been the ability to conduct face-to-face planning of the postings necessary for paying off the Fremantle Class Patrol Boats (FCPBs) and crewing up of Armidale Class Patrol Boats (ACPBs). Individual ship crews in Cairns are being given presentations (HMAS Tarakan and HMAS Bendigo so far) that allow crew members to be kept informed of how career management issues are progressing, as well as providing them with a forum for their questions.
Dual interviews have also proved popular in LCMCs. Members with partners in the same location are able to bring them along to career interviews. This is particularly useful when members are in different categories with different career managers. Members may include their partners in interviews, and children's toys are appearing in at least one of the centres to help keep toddlers amused while their parents are in discussion.
The inclusion of spouses in interviews also helps them understand their partner's career. And career managers can also allay spouses' concerns about postings, by providing more information about different establishments and their localities.
LCMCs have proven to be a big success, and are clear evidence of Sea Change's commitment to delivering better career management and individual choices to our sailors.
Look out for the opening of DSCM FBE, which will signal another important step towards delivering Navy's sailors a better career management service. For more information contact your career manager or visit the DSCM intranet web site.
