Management at Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR)

Whilst I was disappointed with my managers in my first rotation, my managers in my second rotation are outstanding, ranging from my immediate supervisor to everyone else up the chain. They are accessible, transparent, friendly and are very good mentors for learning about the job, APS and performance.

Most of the managers I have dealt with are accessible and flexible. They do not micromanage and understand that you can have a bit of fun at work as long as you are producing decent results.

fairly accessible. On average, good mentors. Very different styles and experience among them.

There is no mechanism to compel managers to be receptive to feedback. Some receive feedback and ideas for continuous improvement very negatively or dismissively. Often your ideas as a grad are dismissed, despite interacting with APS wide issues, getting involved in diversity committees, having access to SES and having a wider understanding of work beyond the team. When it comes to clearances and amendments to products like emails and documents, managers confuse superficial personal preferences with substantive content amendments. Grads just have to accept the changes and end up submitting a piece of work that is so edited that it is unrecognisable from their original work. Yet they have to put their name to it. In uni we learn that this is plagiarism.

Managers are almost always accessable and supportive of staff. Have been known to give recognition to high performing staff and teams who have accomplished a large project. International communication would always be improved but thinks are generally communicated quickly as they arise.

Generally ticked off the boxes but actual personalities have ranged from professional to very crass

They are helpful and invested in our progress

Plenty of room for growth in this space. To keep it brief, what training are the mentors given prior to managing a team of people?

I've found my managers to be very good mentors who are genuinely interested in supporting my development and aspirations. They do make an effort to give feedback, praise and recognition for my contributions.

I've been fortunate to have good managers in my graduate program. They are available and willing to engage. They have good communication and are able to provide relevant feedback and information that has improved they way I work. My understanding is that not all managers have been good as the ones that I've been fortunate to work with. I think it dependent on who you work with and within what division you work in.

There are a few fantastic, well organised managers with strong people skills. However, there are far more who only hold senior positions because they have been around 'long enough'.

2nd placement supervisor working 7 days a fortnight has made work a little more difficult as I'm largely independent and not much knowledge of additional work given team is still in establishment phase.