Job redesign: building staff capabilities for libraries of the future [slides]

Asia-Pacific Library and Information Conference 2018, 30 July - 2 August 2018 Gold Coast: Roar Leap Dare
 
This conference presentation (PowerPoint slides) supports the paper which shares the experience of ongoing job redesign efforts by the Public Libraries of the National Library Board Singapore (NLB).
 
The impetus for job redesign arises from the need to build a responsive future ready workforce, competent in both functional and professional skills to deliver the Smart Libraries of the Future. NLB’s aim is to develop a future ready work force through:
 
• Upskilling and redesigning jobs that aligns to the delivery of new services that enhance the customers’ experience
• Building staff competencies through a robust staff development process
 
The job redesign efforts look at uplifting of the job scope of library staff. It starts with a shift in the library officers’ jobs (library officers or LOs are also known as para-professionals) to take on higher value added work. This was made possible through automation of tasks at the circulation desks, for example, the introduction of self-service reservations pick-up of library items and changes in how services are delivered, for example, the removal of the circulation counter. The changes provided the LOs with the bandwidth to assume some of the higher value work which used to be done by librarians. Once this was done, we looked into redesigning the job of librarians so that their competency in information management and content knowledge would be further tapped to help users to better navigate resources in this internet age and keep pace with the advancements in the information landscape.
 
From 2016 and over the next 2 to 3 years, four segments of jobs in the Public Libraries will be redesigned and these include: Managers, Librarians, Library Officers and Administrative Officers. The presentation will focus on the job re-design for the Library Officers and Librarians. This would likely be the largest scale job redesign and upskilling done in NLB, involving over 300 staff.