For the most part, the Bureau continued to enjoy the organisational benefits of an effective, well-trained and highly committed workforce despite the continuing pressures of reduced staffing levels. Whilst staff turnover rates have generally been quite low compared with most other Australian Public Service (APS) agencies, a major organisational challenge facing the Bureau over the next 5-10 years is the continual maintenance of the scientific quality and integrity of its operations and services in the face of an ongoing loss of experience and reducing staff numbers. The maintenance of critical mass in many important specialist aspects of the Bureau's operations, as key long-serving specialist staff retire over the next few years, also presents a challenge for the organisation.

As in past years, the Bureau placed a strong emphasis on workforce planning to ensure that its key service operations and corporate objectives were achieved within the constraints of a continually tightening staffing situation. The Bureau's staff age profile, which is characterised by a strong early 50s peak, and which has resulted, primarily, from the high level of staff retention and the limited recruitment possible over the past two decades, continued to be a factor in workforce planning. The Bureau's 2003-04 recruitment program was aimed, therefore, at ensuring there were sufficient qualified staff to replace the loss of expertise that will occur over the next few years, and at the ongoing re-establishment of a balanced age profile across the organisation. The recruitment of specialist staff groups (Meteorologists, Observers and Technicians) was maximised consistently within resource allocations and a balanced recruitment outcome was achieved for the other categories of staff employed in the Bureau.

In recognition of the ongoing need to manage staff performance in a more holistic manner and to train staff for future roles, the Bureau continued to give emphasis to the strategic development of its workforce. In particular, the Bureau commenced a succession planning process to develop staff at all levels for roles that are crucial to achieving the organisation's outcomes. The Bureau also commenced work on a new learning and development strategy using the principles contained in the APS framework for managing learning and development. These strategies should ensure that there are sufficient numbers of suitably skilled staff, at both senior management and other levels, to meet the future needs of the organisation. Other initiatives during the year included leadership and management training, career planning, coaching and mentoring programs, job rotations, job assignments and intensified development of employees who demonstrate leadership potential.