Corporate services

PROGRAM OBJECTIVE	KPIs	OUTCOMES	BENEFITS	FUTURE
Provide support services and accurate, timely and meaningful information	Develop a comprehensive human resources strategy Clean audit report Successful ‘go live’ of new enterprise reporting system (SAP)	Components of a human resources strategy developed Achieved a clean audit Successful first phase implementation of SAP	Attract and retain skilled staff in the company Compliance with best practice policies and procedures Greater transparency, financial cost control and efficient administration	Continue process improvement driven by technology and phase II of the enterprise system (SAP) Initiate a company-wide benchmarking process Continue the review and development of human resource strategies

Expenditure incurred in providing corporate services to the company totalled $8.7 million for 2006-07, in line with last year. This figure includes foreign exchange gain of $1.6 million for 2006-07, compared with $1.4 million in 2005-06.

Human resources

As at June 2007, MLA employed 241 staff: 209 in Australia and 32 overseas, with 66% from a rural background.

Delivering world class services and solutions demands excellence in knowledge, skills and application. Talent management has been a key focus throughout 2006-07 with many of our staff attending short courses and receiving tertiary study support to help improve their skills, knowledge and enhance job performance and satisfaction.

Enhancements to our Partners in Achievement Review system (PAR) allow managers and staff to agree each year on a formal performance plan, designed to deliver the business plans of MLA and to provide for the career development of our staff.

Several components of a comprehensive human resources strategy have been formed following focus groups with staff to identify key issues affecting them. In response, we have put in place succession planning and talent management.

Voluntary employee turnover was 19–20% this year, attributed to a highly competitive job market and employees seeking further career advancement opportunities, many within agribusiness. A salary benchmarking survey was also conducted to compare MLA with the current employment market and we are looking to address any issues in this area in the coming year.

The health and wellbeing of our staff is of paramount concern, and we are pleased to report that there were no work-caused lost-time injuries.

Risk management

A risk assessment profile for MLA was completed by accountancy firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, and a recommendation was made that we develop and implement an internal audit program over the next two years.

The internal handling of levies and voting entitlements was reviewed this year by Ernst & Young, and no exceptions from the agreed procedures were identified. We rolled out a Trade Practices program including training to create awareness of employee obligations.

SAP – New enterprise system

In 2006-07, we successfully launched SAP, our new information technology system. SAP provides a more efficient financial management platform, with the potential to become a powerful integrated business intelligence warehouse in the future. The system offers a greater capacity to assist in controlling our programs and ensure we are an administratively efficient company.

Evaluating our work

An important part of our work is to ensure that our programs are meeting their stated objectives and adding value to the industry. A new program of work commenced this year to independently evaluate how our programs are performing against stated measures. The Centre for International Economics developed an evaluation framework to measure the success of our work and also where we fell short. This year, three of our programs were assessed – market access, eating quality and food safety.

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