Human resources for agricultural research: a personal perspective

Abstract

The number of agricultural researchers (including animal researchers) in Australia has been at least maintained in recent years, and may have increased. However, the operating environment for agricultural research continues to change rapidly, driven by forces that are international in scale. Management of the research workforce in this new environment creates challenges for research and human resources (HR) managers. Some of these are considered under the headings of workforce planning, building and managing teams, and performance management. Advances in information and communication technology are improving organisational efficiency and effectiveness, but are creating new HR challenges that must be managed. Application of social capital theory to organisational development might provide new insights as to why some organisations struggle to adopt beneficial change while others do not.