| Strategic Perspective: Workforce and Organisational Development |
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Here you will find a snapshot of a number of achievements to our commitments under the Workforce and Organisational Development strategic perspective for the 2010 – 2011 period.
A High Performing Organisation
"A critical success factor for any not for profit organisation is the ability to recruit and retain a capable workforce."FRS Planning Day
Prior to the Planning Day FRS staff were invited to participate in a SWOT analysis, the results of which were shared at the Planning Day, along with a discussion regarding fees, targets, Key Performance Indicators and professional development (long term). FRS Educators
Counselling StaffCounselling staff participated in professional development activities presented by their peers including:
Counselling staff also participated in group work techniques using practice framework skills. "Significant examples of how we have contributed to building a supportive, engaging workforce so that Centacare is a quality workplace for our staff."Community Care Staff Adopt 8 Courtesy PrinciplesCommunity Care Staff have adopted Courtesy System Principles to assist in eliminating destructive stressors from the work environment; helping to build better and effective relationships and staff to work more efficiently and productively. Dr Paddi Lund, a dentist, implemented The Courtesy System: a collection of eight guidelines to create a happier workplace and friendly environment for staff and clients. The principles are based on the belief that politeness affirms the dignity of the people with whom we communicate. It is not the content of the conversation but the style of communication – tone of voice and choice of language – that most often gives the perception that one’s dignity has been affronted. The 8 Courtesy Principles:
Workplace Health and Safety
The training sessions covered the following:
Staff were able to access these programs and undertook the training at their own discretion. Indigenous Employment Strategy
Centacare’s Indigenous Employment Strategy (IES) was officially launched in November 2010 to harness the skills and knowledge Indigenous Australians possess. A Centacare: Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton initiative, the IES aimed to achieve meaningful and sustainable improvements in Indigenous employment, through understanding and embracing the skills, knowledge and culture of Indigenous Australians. The IES launch, held on Thursday 18 November 2010, was attended by over 40 people including The Most Reverend Bishop Heenan, Members of the Centacare Council, Catholic Education staff, members of the Sisters of Mercy, government and NGO personnel, friends of Centacare and Centacare staff. Objectives of the IES are to ensure a work environment where cultural diversity enriches the activities of Centacare; to build a diverse workforce that is reflective of Australian society; to increase the number of indigenous personnel employed at Centacare; to be recognised as an employer of choice by Indigenous Australians; and to contribute to reconciliation with Indigenous Australians and communities. The IES launch was a result of the culmination of a process Centacare had undertaken over the past 18 months, with the support and assistance from DEEWR and John Pearson Consulting. Photo Above Right: IES Launch Floods
The beginning of 2011 is one that is embedded in the minds of Centacare staff across the Diocese as the regional towns of Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Emerald all experienced extreme flooding. For some, this meant that their normal roadways to and from work and around town were cut, for many it meant reduced availability of stock on shopping shelves and for a few it meant their houses were turned upside by rising waters. For our staff in Emerald it was particularly tough as the flooding was to inundate their workplace and ravage it. Although initially devastated by the destruction, staff in Emerald quickly came together and formed a cleanup team par excellence. Indeed some of our Emerald friends had been faced with this same scenario when they flooded in 2008, so they were all too aware of the horrors that awaited them as they entered the office to begin the cleanup on Monday 3 January 2011. There is nothing much that can be said about the cleanup mission that doesn’t include mud, stink and bugs! Yet the team pushed through and by the end of the week the office was stripped of all its floor covering, 95% of its furnishings and 97% of everything else. Despite the heavy toll it took on people, they were still able to smile and find positive things to say to management staff (who themselves had been trapped by the Rockhampton floods) when they arrived to witness firsthand the damage and team clean up operations. People from all across the Diocese and beyond continuously phoned Rockhampton staff during that week to offer their prayers and encouragement. Staff from the Department of Communities were particularly concerned and helpful, and began calling to see how we were doing from the day after the flood peak. After some deliberation, a decision was made to move staff from the Emerald office site until all the repairs were completed and into temporary accommodation at 10 Garnet Street, Emerald. This simple four bedroom house enabled us to provide almost all the services we had been delivering from Egerton Street to the wide variety of clients that access our services in the Central Highlands area. For more information on the floods click here. New Strategies and ToolsA number of new strategies and tools were introduced to enable Centacare’s workforce to assist in building a supportive, engaging workplace. Some of the highlights included:
Employee Assistance ProgramStaff were able to seek assistance when required from our new Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider - Davidson Trahaire Corpsych. The EAP is a professional, confidential counselling service run by an external company available to all Centacare employees and immediate family members. "A high performing organisation has high performance and planning for sustainability as key performance indicators for all tiers of the organisation, and this is evidenced in Centacare via the Council, the Director, managers of portfolios and administration, and service delivery staff."Audit Success
The ConstitutionThe Constitution of Centacare went under a review process led by the Bishop and the Vicar General and changes were endorsed by The Centacare Advisory Council at the Council meeting on 4 April 2011. The major changes to the constitution were around the purpose of Centacare and an additional objective was included. The purpose of Centacare is: Centacare is an apostolic work of the Church in accord with the mission of Jesus and the values of the Gospel. It is a not for profit organisation whose dominant purpose is, in the spirit of Christian compassion, to provide direct relief of suffering, distress, misfortune, disability or helplessness, sickness and the effects of poverty for the benefit of the community or a section of it. Our purpose was achieved through the provision of professional community services comprised of two main streams:
The Constitution clearly defined what Centacare did and just as clearly identified what we did not do in terms of service delivery and programs. A New ObjectiveA new objective “To ensure that all staff receive formation in Gospel values and Catholic social teaching” was added. Sr Moira Truelson was chosen to work with us over the next couple of years to ensure an observable method in proving we meet the above objective. The objective will be identifiable in the workforce development perspective of the 2011 -2013 Strategic Plan. Catholic Earthcare Australia ASSISI
Social EnterpriseCentacare has been investigating the possibility to develop social enterprise to achieve sustainable social goals and potentially provide income for ongoing service delivery. As part of this investigation, Susan Black from Social Ventures Australia (SVA) presented information to the Centacare Council regarding what constitutes social enterprise, why a social services provider would consider social enterprise as a way to do business, and what resources and assistance SVA can provide to support organisations implementing social enterprise. Social enterprise can take on many forms – examples given by Susan included medical centres, laundry services, lawn maintenance, catering and coffee shops. The key point that sets a social enterprise apart from other businesses is that it has a clear goal or goals to achieve positive social outcomes. A current example of social enterprise already taking place at Centacare is the way the ACCESS program is delivered. Through ACCESS Centacare provides a service to organisations on a fee paying basis, with the twin outcomes that quality counselling is provided to workers within the organisations with whom we have contracts, and income from the contracts is directed to supporting counsellors who provide services to the broader community, including those who cannot afford to pay. The social outcomes benefit people purchasing the service and other members of the community. Social enterprise often appears the same as any other business – a coffee shop or a laundry service for example. This is an important concept, as in order for a social enterprise to succeed, it needs to provide a quality product or service.
Different approaches to setting up and implementing social enterprise being investigated include:
SVA has contacts and information to support non-profit organisations in implementing social enterprise. In Queensland, SVA has resources available to commit to assisting with implementing and growing social enterprise, as long as the enterprise has a clear social goal to provide employment for marginalised members of the community (e.g. people recovering or managing mental health issues, long term or intergenerational unemployed, people with disability). “Sheltered workshop” arrangements where all employees are marginalised are not supported – inclusiveness and integration are a requirement. Social enterprise is a phased process – dreaming, exploring, implementing and growing.
SVA have resources to contribute to the implementation and growth phases. Susan’s presentation was informative, with the major take homes being that social enterprise can look like any other business; it takes time, resources and the right mix of skills and people; and assistance and resources are available if we are willing to put in the time and effort to do the prior research and relationship development. Possible FRC Alignment ExploredThe Family Relationship Services (FRS) Counsellors and Educators Planning Day focused on continuing to unify the FRS team across the Diocese with a particular view to developing counselling and education service plans, improving networking and colleague communication, professional development, and establishing an on-going planning process with facilitated staff input. Work also commenced to look at the possible areas of alignment for the two Family Relationship Centres that the Rockhampton Diocese auspices. Identifying a common core service model based on the best interests of the child and best practice was the first part of this process. The broad goal with the FRC Streamline Project, like the FRS Planning Day, was to develop a joint FRC Service Plan that can be fed into the broader FRS Operational Plan. This planning process and development of the FRS Operational Plan will provide the broader or ‘macro’ direction for service delivery, whilst the service plans (FRCs, Counseling, Education, Administration) will provide the ‘nuts and bolts’ or ‘micro’ picture of daily service delivery. With the changes to the Family Support Program by FaHCSIA, Centacare has moved to a single service agreement and one annual service report and financial acquittal. The FRS program Diocese-wide approach fits seamlessly into the newly streamlined reporting processes. |
We brought together all of our Family Relationship Services (FRS) staff to participate in a Planning Day to revise our current planning processes, including an overview of FRS:
FRS Educators undertook professional development on the FOCCUS Program, with Dr Jim Hanley attending as a guest to provide professional development on the Sacraments of Marriage.
In 2010 - 2011, Centacare engaged a workplace health and safety consultant to develop and deliver specific training programs for Centacare’s workforce. Two topics are required by legislation to be covered in training at least annually, and there are two additional topics that the consultant determined would be beneficial to everyone at Centacare.
Staff were encouraged to contribute to the News and Updates section on the website, by writing articles or sending information to go into the monthly staff newsletter.
During audit processes in 2010 - 2011, it was noted that Centacare had, over the previous three years, significantly improved in terms of the quality of governance practice and systems. It is gratifying that our external stakeholders are able to observe these changes. Many Non Government Organisations (NGOs) struggle to meet the challenges of delivering outcomes in the new ways of public management, which involved being Catalytic, Community Owned, Customer Driven, Results Oriented, Enterprising, Anticipatory and providing Competitive Service Delivery within an Intra-Government environment. It is heartening to know that through the work of all staff over the past few years, Centacare is positioned to continue providing services into the next decade, at least.
Our Bishop asked that all of his ministries implement the Catholic Earthcare Australia ASSISI (A Strategic Systems based Integrated Sustainability Initiative) into their planning. Staff undertook training and development with the view of identifying elements of this system that we currently have in place, and identifying what we might do over the next three years to evidence this initiative. The documentation of this work will be identifiable in the workforce development perspective of the 2011 -2013 Strategic Plan.
In addition to the business end, social enterprise has the following attributes:
