How Australian organisations are stepping forward

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The past few months have certainly been disruptive. After so much change, we wanted to share some positive news stories about how Australian organisations have been adjusting. Here’s what REDI.E, City of Nedlands and Employment Office are doing to adapt, adjust, look after their team members and invest in their long-term talent strategies.

Promoting employer branding and talent pooling

One of our clients, Regional Enterprise Development Institute (REDI.E), is an Indigenous owned and managed organisation delivering training and community services in the Murdi Paaki region (Western NSW) to Indigenous communities.

In light of the escalating COVID-19 crisis, REDI.E made the difficult decision to cease all program operations in March, for the safety and protection of the most vulnerable people in NSW.

CEO, Tracey Shillingsworth, said, “We had to take a proactive approach to protecting our communities and use better delivery methods to continue our most important services and support.”

Tracey Shillingsworth, CEO, REDI.E

Tracey Shillingsworth, CEO, REDI.E

The team has embraced virtual technology and alternative service delivery methods. Tracey has helped the organisation adapt by bringing the power of community to the forefront in an isolating environment. REDI.E called on age-old traditions and the collaborative endeavours of their esteemed Elders: talking, keeping communities informed and ensuring they receive valuable feedback.

With respect to their recruitment strategy, REDI.E is using this time to proactively build their talent pool and keep potential candidates warm and engaged through email marketing and social media.

“Talent pooling is very important to us because we have such a wide exposure of work opportunities in Western NSW. Talent pooling allows me and the senior executive team to communicate with the right people and not waste months advertising for roles. Our whole recruitment process has been significantly reduced. It’s fantastic for employers to know that there are candidates in your pipeline who are already familiar with and appreciate your brand and are interested to work with the community.”

REDI.E is continuing to promote and share their employer brand and Employee Value Proposition (EVP). They’re sharing honest stories about the challenges their team members and communities have faced with physical distancing restrictions and working from home. (A number of news sources have shared why organisation should promote employee stories now more than ever.)

“We’ve provided our team with a lot of flexibility. Our team is very skilled and we’ve been providing additional leadership, mentoring and support for them during this time.”

Embracing work-from-home and eLearning solutions

Aside from talent pooling, other organisations have used the past few months as an opportunity to invest internally in their team through digital learning solutions.

City of Nedlands was fortunate to implement their eLearning platform prior to lockdown going into place in March. They managed to make the work-from-home switch quite efficiently.

“We managed that change quite well by identifying everyone who could work from home, making the transition in three days!” said Shelley Mettam, Manager – Human Resources and Organisational Development. “We have a great IT department and we’re mostly working from the cloud.”

Shelley Mettam

Shelley Mettam, Manager Human Resources & Organisational Development, City of Nedlands

“Now, we’re phasing back onsite work and we have some outdoor workers, but not everyone will return or work from the office at once. Our team has a good capacity to work from home and we’ve set them up with all the tools they need to work effectively.”

While their team members have been working hard, City of Nedlands has used this opportunity to offer training.

“We’ve started offering training to our management team and we have plans to expand this out. There is certain mandatory training, such as fraud, that everyone has to have. We plan to have a training library where people can self-select the topics they’re interested in learning about. We’re going to obtain feedback from managers about what kind of training they think their team would be interested in.”

Making the switch from in-person conferences, seminars and meetings to eLearning has helped them make cost savings.

“It’s certainly helped our budget; it’s a very cost-effective method of delivering training. Even as restrictions ease, we want to encourage our people to do online learning and webinars instead of meeting in large groups. We did some thought-awareness training and everyone found the system very easy to use.”

The Council is currently making arrangements to facilitate the transition back to the office.

“It’s an ongoing process and we’ll likely offer work-from-home options for our people into the future. We have a rotating roster of people coming in and out, and we’re taking a flexible approach to start times. We’re working with managers to determine who can work from home. It’s an opportunity for us to free up parking, reduce long commute times, and offer our people greater flexibility.”

Increasing engagement through corporate wellness initiatives

At Employment Office, we’ve experienced a number of changes too. While our team members were working from home, we’ve hosted fun virtual events outside of office hours, as well as only daily video conferencing to share good news stories and stay connected.

As we’ve returned to the office, we’ve establishing seating arrangements so everyone is at a safe and comfortable distance, increased cleaning initiatives, free parking, hand sanitising stations, and recommendations to wash hands, limit meeting areas and comply with physical distancing regulations.

We’ve also kicked off a new initiative to increase engagement through corporate wellness. Our home-grown charity Healthy Workplaces designed a new, free app, called Step Forward. The Step Forward app that’s keeping people across Australia and around the world active and engaged by encouraging them to reach 10 000 steps per day.

Step Forward app

Get involved in Step Forward!

We’ve had a number of sponsors and participants from all around Australia. Participants can join the sponsored event weeks, and take as many steps as possible for the chance to win prizes.

“The second week of the Step Forward challenge was sponsored by my organisation,” said Susanne Mather, Executive Director for Employment Office. “I thought this is a sporting event that I can actually win! And that was very fun and exciting.”

Susie Mather

Susie Mather, Executive Director, Employment Office

Interestingly, many people don’t reach the recommended minimum 10 000 steps per day.

“I was really surprised when everyone started on the Step Forward App that, not only was I not averaging 10 000 steps per day (which I thought I would have been!) but no one was. That was a big realisation for us all.”

Interestingly, our people have found that health initiatives like these have positive, unexpected flow-on benefits.

“During the week I averaged 32 000 steps per day, what I found was that it had a long-term residual effect on my fitness,” said Susanne. “Ever since then I’ve been stronger and fitter, which has been great!”

Feedback from our team members has been that they’ve loved participating in the weekly walking challenges.

“I really liked being able to see where everyone was at,” said our Shortlisting & Selection Team Leader Christie Pollock. “That gave me more motivation to keep walking (sometimes well into the night!). And although I felt like I needed a week to recover, I’m aiming to make 10 000 steps per day my new normal.”

Andrea Davey, CEO of Scout Talent Group, participating in Step Forward

Andrea Davey, CEO of Scout Talent Group, participating in Step Forward

During this period of re-adjustment, many organisations are using this time to adapt and invest in long-term initiatives for the future. Changes to the workplace will flow from these realignments, and those that prioritise physical and mental safety of their employees will succeed.

If you’re interested in exploring talent pooling, eLearning, or corporate wellness solutions, contact us on 1300 366 573 or email info@employmentoffice.com.au.

Ideas for increasing productivity in healthcare and NFP

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There are a number of ways healthcare and not-for-profit organisations can increase productivity and improve workplace engagement and happiness. But one of the biggest secrets to do this is actually: time outside of the office! Here are five steps to encourage relationship-building outside the workplace and the results you can expect to achieve.  

Organisations that empower their people to deliver their best work continue to attract high-quality talent and boost productivity. Many healthcare and not-for-profit organisations design their workplaces to maximise productivity by offering things such as healthy snacks, the right tools and resources, and attractive employee spaces. While these perks are great and certainly contribute to a strong, productive working culture, but one of the biggest secrets in energising and boosting employee productivity is actually…time outside the workplace.

This might seem counterintuitive, as time spent out of the workplace is time not producing results; but research reveals that giving employees frequent out-of-office breaks doesn’t have to compete. In fact, providing consistent opportunities for people to walk away from their workspace and decompress, for example, in the form of an off-site lunch hour, yields higher rates of engagement and performance.

Furthermore, with employees spending more than 90 000 hours in their workplaces across their lifetime, team members who form strong friendships with their colleagues are more enthusiastic and productive in their jobs.

So, how can you promote interaction outside the workplace to boost productivity?

Designate a budget

Out-of-office activities takes thought, planning and a budget. So, “budget for bonding”, by including offsite activities as part of your financial planning. You will be sure to see return on investment as you grow your culture, foster meaningful workplace connections, and provide a change in scenery for stress relief.

Offer short off-site experiences

Consider designing short and frequent opportunities to interact. For example, pair your new hires with two or three people from different departments and provide them an off-site lunch during their first week. This helps both new and tenured employees get to know each other in a way they may not typically have the chance to.

You may also like to design a “co-worker coffee program”, allowing your people to take short breaks together outside the office (or even via video chats if you have multiple locations).

Offer team building

The end of the year is a great time to offer team building activities after your people have put in hard work all year long. From mini-golf, painting and bowling, to lawn bowls, barbeques or Christmas lunches, the opportunities are endless.

But don’t just stop with one end-of-year activity. Create frequent activities throughout the year. Quarterly events are a great way to build this strategy into your culture and create consistency.

Invite family and friends

Inviting your employees’ significant others, friends, family and children to events gives people the chance to integrate their personal and professional life, allowing them to feel more support and engaged in their work.

True leaders not only understand the value each employee can have on productivity, but also the sacrifices they make in being away from the significant people in their life. Celebrating family and friends gives your team members the chance to demonstrate their achievements with the important people in their life.

Use trial and error

Like all initiatives, encouraging your employees to interact outside the workplace may rely on some trial and error. Your organisation will have its own unique needs, so continue to learn as you go and tailor accordingly.

Creating opportunities for people to step away from work and recharge is a key component of supporting people to give their best and improving retention. So use creativity to design great experiences. Whether you offer co-worker coffees or quarterly team building events, you will see return on investment over the long-term. Offer offsite experiences, and watch engagement, productivity and happiness in your workplace soar.

Preventing burnout in NFP and healthcare 

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The NFP and healthcare sectors are some of the most at-risk occupations of burnout. Here are the main causes and some strategies for preventing burnout to protect your team members, improve workplace happiness, increase productivity and retain great talent. 

According to Safe Work Australia, social, health and welfare support workers are the most at-risk occupations for mental health issues. When hiring and nurturing employees, it is important to prioritise their mental health to retain them over the long-term; not to mention, attract more great talent in the future. 

Burnout is characterised by emotional exhaustion, cynicism and ineffectiveness in the workplace and chronic negative responses to stressful workplace conditions. 

While not considered a mental illness, burnout can be considered a mental health issue. 

Here are some of the top reasons why NFP and Healthcare workers can experience this problem and ways of preventing burnout. 

Burnout is more likely when employees:

  • expect too much of themselves
  • feel as if they work they are doing is not good enough
  • feel inadequate or incompetent
  • feel unappreciated for their efforts in the workplace
  • have unreasonable demands placed upon them
  • are in roles that are not a good fit.

Recognise the signs and symptoms 

Could you recognise the above symptoms in your team members? While prevention is the most powerful solution, it’s important to recognise reduced energy and enthusiasm, lack of motivation and increased errors. Other symptoms can include irritability and increased absenteeism. 

Left unaddressed, burnt out team members can deteriorate into decreased productivity, increase risk of accidents, low workplace morale and increase turnover. 

Offer counselling and support services 

Offer your team members outlets to gain emotional support (i.e. by offering an external counselling service or support groups) or running physical or creative activities specifically designed for stress release. 

Assess workloads and establish reasonable expectations  

For not-for-profit and healthcare organisations, more often than not, there will be competing priorities and limited resources. Can you assess what activities require the highest standards and when is it okay to lower the bar and still meet organisational requirements? 

Use good communication to establish workloads and ensure your team members feel comfortable with their delivery. Use conversations are a chance to check-in and ensure your team members are not expecting unreasonable workloads of themselves. Encourage regular breaks and ensure you are not expecting team members to consistently work overtime. Establish boundaries and enforce reasonable work hours if necessary. 

Encourage social support, respect and physical activity

Fostering a sense of community and inclusivity in your workplace will increase retention over the long term. Support and respect in and between teams will improve happiness and productivity. Promoting physical activity in the workplace has been proven to lower the risk of chronic disease and increase employee engagement and productivity.  Provide training and resources 

Train your leadership team to assess for symptoms of burnout and know how to provide support to your team members. (Also, it may be worth providing training to your leaders to help them understand how harmful behaviour can have negative consequences on co-workers). 

Provide professional development and ongoing training to ensure all your team members feel competent and comfortable in their roles.\

Offer reward and recognition

Do you currently offer your people reward and recognition through things such as awards nights, events or social posts to celebrate small wins? Reward and recognition solves the problem of your people feeling as if their work is unappreciated or unnoticed. 

Communicate with your team members to help them understand how their work plays a valuable role in delivering your overarching purpose. 

While strategies, such as encouraging social support and physical activity, are powerful and effective, they cannot be treated as a bandaid solution to unreasonable workloads and expectations. Train your leadership team to recognise the symptoms of burnout and provide support. Provide training and offer your people reward and recognition so they feel appreciated understand the value of their work. 

Preventing burnout will improve the happiness and satisfaction of your current team members, increase retention and empower you to attract more great talent to your organisation over the long term. 

Schedule a discussion with our Recruitment Specialists here, call us on 1300 366 573 or email info@employmentoffice.com.au.

Here are 5 great questions to ask when hiring for NFP

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Hiring for NFP can be a difficult task. There are so many candidates out there who have the right skills on paper for the job.

The best way to distinguish the best hire would be out of your shortlisted candidates is during a face-to-face interview. However, choosing the best questions to ask during your interview that reveals as much about the candidate as possible without throwing them off their game can be tough.

Here are suggestions of five great questions you can ask to find the best hire possible for your NFP vacancy:

Tell me about a time when you were really happy at work

This question will help you to detail the kinds of things that motivates the individual. You’ll also be able to distinguish whether your organisation is able to offer these things. For example, if the candidate was really happy when they’d received great feedback from a family that they’d helped; you’ll be able to tell that they were motivated by praise and acceptance.

Can you detail a situation where you worked well in a team and explain the role you had?

This one is fairly common across a number of industries, but it remains incredibly important for most NFP roles. Here you’ll be able to tell whether the candidate thinks themselves most suited to leadership and whether they are more of a follower. Dependant on the role you are hiring for, you should be able to tell whether or not they’ll be suited to team and work style required for the role.

Can you describe a time when you had to work within a limited budget?

It’s no secret that the non-profit sector is financially challenged. The candidate should understand this and be aware of the limited funds and resources that are made available to them. The ability to describe the creative ways in which they managed a limitation will be an enlightening reveal of their work style and thinking process.

Tell me about a difficult day you’ve had at work and why it was difficult

This question will also reveal a lot about what motivates a candidate, what they can find challenging and whether they are more logically or emotionally driven. Some candidates may struggle with the emotional elements of a role and therefore may not be suited to a role that can be emotionally challenging or draining. Where others may take this more literally and discuss a difficult problem that they had to solve and their thought processes.

How have your previous experiences prepared you for the non-profit sector?

This is quite an important question and is able to be answered by everyone. The candidates answer will detail why they’ve chosen to work in NFP and explain how their experiences (work related or otherwise) have prepared them for the sector. This is also a great way of discovering what motivates the person. Perhaps they are motivated by the want to help others or have a personal association with this particular NFP.

There are many more questions which can be asked…

If you’d like some general advice on the best screening questions to use in an interview, you can read and download our handy guide here. If you need help with your shortlisting process, get in touch with Employment Office on 1300 366573 or email info@employmentoffice.com.au.

Candidate Shortlisting for NFP and Healthcare: Hiring for Attitude

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While for some industries their main recruitment issue is attracting talent in the first place, for industries like healthcare and the not-for-profit sector, there is a huge pool of potential candidates. The problem with this, is the need to reduce the candidate pool significantly. So how can we do this?

It is a misconception that in the NFP and healthcare industry, it is easy to find the perfect candidate. Yes, there are plenty of people within the talent pool that have the right hard skills to do the job; but many are similar as the required qualifications are so niche to their industry.

This is where softer skills come into play; however, these are difficult to determine from a resume alone and when you could easily have fifty-plus applicants attracted to one job advert, you could spend hours with candidates determining their softer skills.

How can you filter your candidates down before face-to-face interviews?

We’ve come up with some shortlisting techniques that might help you narrow down your candidates and identify those who have the best attitudes ready for final interviews.

1. Phone Interviews

Conducting phone interviews are a much quicker way of directly speaking to an individual and getting a gut feeling of their attitude to the work they will be doing if they were successful. While this is certainly an option that will take some time, it will be significantly less time consuming to speak with each individual over the phone briefly than to organise individual interviews that could last the good part of an hour.

2. Group Interview Days

Split your candidates into a few groups and organise group interview days. By setting tasks and discussion points, you should be able to quickly determine which candidates have the softer skills you are looking for and those who would suit your organisation. The added benefit is seeing how they interact with other people when performing tasks, their potential for growth and their ability to think on their feet.

Shortlisting tip: When figuring out how many candidates you should invite to group interviews, multiply the amount of people you want to hire by 3 and invite that number. This gives you a nice range of candidates and a better idea of how many resumes you need to screen before finding those candidates.

3. Behavioural Testing

This is where behavioural testing could be an excellent option. Using a Candidate Management System (CMS) you can immediately filter through the candidates that will not fit your preferable behavioural style upon initial application. So those who qualify for their hard skills but whose behavioural style doesn’t fit your desired ethos would immediately be apparent.

“This all sounds great, but I don’t have the time to do this!”

We know hiring for healthcare and the NFP industry can be demanding and time consuming. That’s where we come in. Employment Office can comprehensively screen all of your applicants and determine the best talent from the pool for your vacancy so you can save time and expenses.

If you’d like to hear more about how we can screen your potential hires, contact us today on 1300 366573 or email info@employmentoffice.com.au.