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Join us to help strengthen community services The NZFVWO is an active network of social service organisations. We provide a unique opportunity to be involved in strengthening community services and increasing the influence and power of the sector. |
Issue 14 – Mar 2006 New Dialogue is published four times a year. Next issue June 2006 |
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New Dialogue is published four times a year. This full online version of the magazine is electronically distributed via email. A four page hard-copy summary called ‘New Dialogue Mini’ is circulated to 3,500 social service organisations around the country. Both are available free. For quick and easy subscription to the New Dialogue (online) or New Dialogue Mini (hardcopy summary) log on to: |
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Theme: Employment in our sectorHigh level, high quality, well-paid and diverse employment * * Vision of The Employment Strategy – Better Work, Working Better, August 2005 |
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Theme: Employment in our sector Are voluntary organisations different from other types of employers? Campaigning to end low wages in New Zealand Sector employment world rankings: top 5 Keeping anchored in a salary storm Community Internship Programme Preventing employment relationship problems Making the most out of mediation Two-minute employment-issues online survey Workforce development – recognition of NGO contribution From the President’s desk… Challenges and Opportunities in 2006. From the Executive Director’s desk… Speaking up and out from the sector Members’ forum: Why we work in the sector Nathan S. Nirmalanathan, Glen Innes Family Centre Lisa Matthews, Wellington Community Law Centre Kim Workman, Prison Fellowship NZ Made in the community: community driven housing in action Enabling the community and voluntary sector with digital technology People First New Zealand, Nga Tangata Tuatahi ‘I made a new friend’: New migrants in the voluntary sector Working together to achieve social outcomes: NZCOSS report into local body relationships
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Jane Stevens & Conor Twyford, Working Group on pay equity for the Community and Voluntary Sector |
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The Community and Voluntary sector is rather good at burning out its key staff. Too often sector workers are undervalued, underpaid and are at higher risk of being used and abused in the workplace. In addition, pay and conditions fall well behind the public sector, even much of the salaries paid to community and voluntary sector workers are funded via government contracting with the sector. It is difficult for workers to address pay and condition issues given the lack of awareness in the sector around employment rights and responsibilities. Often, the context in which the sector operates can itself contribute to this. For instance, most governing bodies are staffed by volunteers, and this can heighten pressure on paid workers to do their work for little or nothing. So, the burning question is: “Do we really appreciate the value of the work put in by employees in the sector?” The fact that many people in the sector are employed because they have a commitment to their community should not be seen as reward enough in itself. To be able to attract and retain the skilled staff needed to take the sector forward, job valuing has to be taken on board as a serious issue sector wide. Most people employed in the sector are there because of a deep sense of commitment and passion for their work, but they still need to earn a reasonable income and have the work they do valued appropriately. It’s not unusual for workers to be paid little more than the dole, particularly in rural areas where funding is harder to find. Workers in the sector are often in the position of having to find their own wages through fundraising efforts. But with funding being difficult to get, often it can end up being a toss up between being able to fund a service one is passionate about, or getting a wage increase so that you can keep up with inflation. Putting the community before oneself will almost always come first for most. But however deep the sense of commitment by workers in the sector, they often cannot sustain living on the wages they are paid long term. The result is often major burnout, stress and a high turnover of staff. We are losing workers to the public sector in increasing numbers, as their skills can be better recognised financially. The community and voluntary sector is poorly unionised and has a relatively low awareness regarding employee-employer rights and responsibilities. When employment problems do occur this leaves employees and employers vulnerable to workplace problems. This is unfortunately reflected in the fact that community and voluntary organisations have a higher incidence of cases being taken to mediation than any other sector. When things do go wrong in the work place problems can really escalate quickly. Poor support structures coupled with a lack of understanding about the role of unions and advocates, and their usefulness in resolving issues, contribute to the risk of problems escalating. It isn’t uncommon to find that a worker seeking support from unions or advocates can be seen as taking an aggressive and unconstructive stance - it can be the beginning of the end of their working relationship. The reality is that many workers just give up and walk away before they reach the personnel grievance stage. The only really accessible avenue for many sector workers and employers in accessing independent advice is the Department of Labours Mediation service. Yet their work does not include advocating around the development of employment agreements. The approach required to bring about any change will need to be multi-layered, including developing awareness within the sector, management and governance, as well as raising public and government awareness and responsiveness to the issues. Long standing difficulties like complications in defining our sector due to its huge size and variety need to be resolved. We need a range of measures including the development of sector databases, a pay equity framework, unionisation of workplaces, collective agreements and a wide ranging education/awareness raising programme for workers and employers. Challenges faced by the sector are not easy. There are no quick fixes. But there are moves towards progress and lessons to be learnt. For instance, the Nurses Organisation is gaining ground in the area of aged care. This is helped along hugely by the very high rate of unionisation in that sector, the power of collective bargaining and ultimately industrial muscle. The Community and Voluntary sector have the potential to be innovative, responsible, flexible and progressive employers - many already are but as a sector we need to be more pro-active in developing employment practices that reflect the principles of fairness and compassion valued by the sector.
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Are voluntary organisations different from other types of employers? Tom Dodd, HR Director, Order of St John |
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In responding to this question, it is important to note that this is my personal view and that I come at it from a perspective that is obviously influenced by my background. Most of my career has been spent in the private sector with my last role as a senior HR Manager with National Bank of New Zealand Ltd, whose sole objective was to maximise profits –not a bad objective - just different from that of NGOs. Although voluntary organisations may share quite a few fundamental similarities with other employing organisations, whether private, public or part of the NGO sector, they generally do differ from other types of organisations as employers. These differences are manifest in degrees of difference in work practice rather than completely different operational concepts. These differences can range right from the culture of the organisation through to the overall strategic mission. For example, in the voluntary sector there is abundant opportunity to gain a stronger sense of ‘doing something meaningful’ since most organisations in the voluntary sector are aligned with making a positive difference to people or the world around them in the broadest sense. While you might gain a sense of ‘self-worth’ by doing a good job achieving targets in a “commercial” business, simply maximising returns for the shareholder isn’t as fulfilling as the sense of impacting positively on the quality of life for people or the world around you. Pay and financial benefits are typically at the lower end of the market in the voluntary sector, although this trend is changing in some parts of the sector, but while the pay cheque may not be as big, the emotional pay-back is greater than other sectors in my view. Many voluntary sector organisations are relatively small and values driven, and seem to me to be more inclusive, accepting of differences and have more flexible working environments with a “family” atmosphere. Given that we spend a lot of time at work, and environment is important, this can be seen as a positive that counter-balances relatively lower rates of pay. The voluntary sector throws up its own unique blend of personnel. The situation where paid-employees work alongside volunteers – in some cases doing the same jobs – hardly occurs outside of our sector. On the one hand, this unique mix of people can be a rich environment to work; unfortunately, on the other it can lead to misunderstanding and tensions for all sorts of reasons. By way of example only, there is the potential for some employees to view the contribution of volunteers as less significant because they are not “full-time” and vice-versa for volunteers to view the contribution of employees as less significant because they don’t do it for free. I think the trick is to emphasise similarities and not differences and focus people externally on delivering services to their “client base”. As an employer, the voluntary sector often does not generally appear to have well-developed or structured HR practices. While there are positive aspects to this (e.g. more flexibility and less bureaucracy) there are disadvantages for attracting and retaining employees. For example, if training and career development is ad hoc or non existent this can be de-motivating to employees – and volunteers. This is mainly a resource and scale issues, as voluntary organisations tend not to have surplus resources to set up or sustain an HR infrastructure. Having said that, majority of sector organisations are small - requiring less complex HR structures – so it needn’t be beyond the pale. There is a perception in the commercial sector that life in the voluntary sector is somewhat less challenging or easier than in a commercial environment. In my experience, this is an unfair perception and many employees in the commercial sector could learn a lot about doing more with less by working in the voluntary sector. This perception is also a barrier in attracting employees from the commercial sector as it is not generally viewed as a good “CV move” if you want to climb the corporate ladder. I certainly have no regrets and am enjoying my time in the sector very much.
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Campaigning to end low wages in New Zealand Ross Wilson, New Zealand Council of Trade Unions |
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New Zealand's low wage crisis has been at the fore of the political debate since last year’s general election and into the new year. At the election, there was widespread agreement that New Zealand has a low wage economy (with some quite different suggestions for remedying it, of course). This low wage debate was reflected in Labour’s governance arrangements with its support parties. In both its confidence and supply agreement with New Zealand First and its co-operation agreement with the Green Party, our new Labour government committed to having the adult minimum wage set at twelve dollars an hour by the end of 2008, “if economic conditions permit”. Since then, unions have been campaigning on low wages issues, including the highly visible SuperSizeMyPay.Com campaign run by the Unite Union, which has captured the imagination of many of young workers in fast food restaurants and the wider public. Central to the debate around our low wage economy is the issue of the bottom floor for wages – the statutory minimum wage, including the discriminatory youth wage for 16 and 17 year olds. Why should a secondary school student earning some extra money to support themselves or their family be paid a meager $7.60 for their work in a fast food restaurant? Why should workers looking after our older population in rest homes be on 10 and 11 dollars an hour for such essential work? Poverty only exists in New Zealand as long as we continue to tolerate it. The low wages that far too many New Zealand workers are paid has a direct impact on thousands of poor families, and contributes to our unacceptable rates of child poverty. Action is needed now on New Zealand’s low wage crisis, and an immediate increase in the minimum wage would make a real difference to many low paid workers. In January, a panel in Auckland organised by Unite Union featured representatives from maori, community organisations, anti poverty campaigners, unions, pacific communities and others, who all called for an end to youth rates, a $12 minimum wage and secure hours. We want these sorts of initiatives to become more common this year, and will be looking for your support in the campaign to end low wages in New Zealand. Unions in New Zealand will be launching a campaign in the coming weeks to tackle our low wages head on. The campaign will continue the work of the SuperSizeMyPay.Com campaign, and the efforts of Child Poverty Action Group and numerous church and social justice organisations in identifying low wages as a core driver of poverty in New Zealand. We will be arguing for justice in wages – whether that's through ending youth rates, increasing the minimum wage, highlighting the disparities facing Maori workers and Pacific workers or arguing for pay and employment equity for women. Please join us as we campaign to end low wages in New Zealand. For more information visit our website: www.nzctu.org.nz or call us on 04 802 3817
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Sector employment world rankings: top 5Civil society sector workforce as a percent of the economically active population*:
* Source: The Johns Hopkins Comparative Nonprofit Sector Project. NOTE: Currently, New Zealand does not feature in the rankings since it has only recently joined the project. For more information on the Johns Hopkins Comparative Project and NZ Study of the Non-Profit Sector visit: www.ocvs.govt.nz/work-programme/non-profit-study.html |
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Keeping anchored in a salary storm David Shannon, Consultant – Mercer Human Resources Consulting |
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Boards of Directors and Managers in Tangata Whenua, community and voluntary organisations are under increasing pressure to keep afloat financially, and the struggle to pay their staff fairly continues. Put baldly, staff in these organisations are underpaid. While love of the work was seen as adequate compensation for an undeniable pay gap in the past, this is no longer the case. As employees become more professionally skilled, they also become more employable by organisations with deeper pockets, and increasingly, are lured away by prospects of higher pay. The fiercely competitive market for the charitable dollar, combined with this pressure on staff pay, has created a ‘perfect salary storm’ that threatens to sink more than one good organisation. The view of work being its own reward is all very well and good, but the truth is that even the most charitable of workers has to make a reasonable living. Even accepting that jobs in this sector pay less, how much less is still fair? What does this particular market pay and how does that pay relate to the broader market? Since 1992, the Mercer Survey of Remuneration in the Not for Profit Sector (formerly the Watson Wyatt Survey) has provided an in-depth view of remuneration practices in these organisations and compares them to practices in the public and private sectors. These comparisons are interesting. While pay is an important part of the reward formula, Tangata Whenua, community and voluntary organisations survive because ‘rewards’ comprise a larger view of why people choose this work. Total rewards include less tangible aspects like family-friendly work environments, casual dress standards, flexible work schedules, challenging work assignments, supplementary leave and comprehensive training programmes and are all valued by employees. Nonetheless, the survey illustrates the increasing pressures on these organisations as employees fall further behind the general market. Over the past ten years, surveys have shown the average pay gap between similarly sized jobs in the Not for Profit Sector and the broader “all organisations” market (comprising public and private sector jobs) to have grown from 20% to 30%. The April 2005 Survey revealed that the gap continues to grow in the Not for Profit Sector. The median same incumbent movement for non-managerial staff in this Sector ranged from 1.5% to 3.5% while the comparable same incumbent figure in All Organisations was 3.8% to 4.7%. Management in both sectors expects this disparity to continue with a projection of 3.0% salary movement in Not for Profits and 3.3% for staff in the broader market, i.e. an expected continuing gap of 10% in the rate of salary growth To continue to build on its work and examine the differences in pay practices between the private and charitable sectors, Mercer is inviting Boards and Managers of Tangata Whenua, community and voluntary organisations to participate in the 2006 Survey of Remuneration in Not for Profit Organisations. The survey report will provide a comprehensive picture of pay in this sector along with advice on the development of effective pay structures. Data collection will be carried out during March and April with the report published in May. The benefit to the Board, the management team and the ordinary employee is that the organisation is able to compare its own salary structure and rewards system with national pay structures of other organisations across New Zealand and ascertain whether a fair day’s pay is being offered for a fair day’s graft.
David is a Senior Associate with Mercer Human Resources Consulting and is acknowledged as one of New Zealand’s leading remuneration consultants. Prior arriving in New Zealand, David served with the US Peace Corps in Iran, Lutheran World Relief in Niger, and Plan International/Childreach in Haiti and Nepal. His experience in the voluntary welfare field led him to develop and promote the Not for Profit Survey in 1992 and he has focused much of his work among clients in that sector since that time.
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Community Internship Programme Department of Internal Affairs |
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The Community Internship Programme is now accepting applications for the second round of 2005-6 which closes on Thursday 23 March 2006. The Community Internship Programmes is an exciting skill-sharing and capacity-building scheme through which the Local Government and Community Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs provides grants for placing experienced and skilled people from the public, private, community and voluntary sectors on short or medium term internships with host community organisations. The main goals of the Community Internship Programme are capacity building and relationship building. These are achieved through: § importing new, and otherwise inaccessible, skills and knowledge to the host community organisation, leaving the organisation stronger and more effective as a result of the internship; § providing the intern with the opportunity to gather new experiences, build new networks and gain a new community perspective; and § enabling the intern’s home organisation to draw on the broadened experience, renewed energy and new ideas of the intern; thereby completing the circle of benefit between the three parties. The home organisation is the regular place of work for the intern before and after the internship. A host organisation is a not-for-profit community organisation that acts as a host and temporary employer of the intern for the duration of the internship. The intern may be a paid employee, or a voluntary worker for that organisation, or be participating in some other significant way in its activities. A home organisation can be a private business, an iwi authority, a government department, a local authority, a corporation, a partnership or a non-governmental organisation. An intern temporarily leaves their position with their employer (home organisation) to work for a host community organisation for a limited time. The intern must have skills and experience that match the needs of the host organisation. At the end of the internship period the intern returns to their home organisation and shares the understandings gained during their internship. Host organisations must be able to act as a good employer by honouring all legal employment requirements and providing an enjoyable working experience for the intern. The host organisation will have a specific hurdle to its development which the intern’s skills will assist them to overcome. The community organisation will be working towards the well-being of their community through, for example, social service provision, economic development, environmental work, cultural development or employment support services. This scheme is not about giving people work experience or providing student placements - rather, the Community Internship Programme is about forming meaningful partnerships that allow for a rich flow of skills, experience, culture and values between organisations and sectors. In 2005/06, each successful host organisation will receive a grant specifically to support the salary of the intern (between $10,250 – $20,500). The host community organisation is responsible for the provision of administration and resources to support the internship. Applications can be made for internships of 6 months or 4.5 months or 3 months full-time-equivalent duration.
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Previous Employers that have released employees to take part in an internship have said the following: “Regular meetings were set up. It changed our perceptions and increased our understanding of how each of us operates. We have more respect for each other’s roles. It was also an opportunity to talk about other issues and sort them out. It created a dialogue between us, we talked.” As one former Intern expressed it: "The good relationship between my host and home organisation enabled me to plan towards the internship without any major difficulties, as there was agreement on how the internship would add value to the goals of both organisations." A former Host Organisation articulated the key factors in the success of their internship experience: “The success of this project was largely due to the personal and professional attributes of the intern and her ability and flexibility to fit in and communicate with the host organisation. I believe that we were very fortunate in this and can see that this could be problematical if it were not so.”
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More information and application forms: http://www.govt.nz/record?recordid=597
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Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO) Trust |
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With employers reporting that their key business challenge is attracting and retaining workers, and many parents saying they cannot find work that suits their circumstances and skills, the EEO Trust endeavoured to find out what parents need in order to reach their potential at work while still being the sort of parent they want to be to their children. In August last year, we conducted an on-line survey asking parents about their family and work situation, what would most help them do paid work and their experiences of parental leave. The survey ran for just over three weeks and was completed by 4,475 New Zealand parents. This compares to around 1,200 respondents to previous surveys on different topics, indicating that parenting and work is an extremely pertinent topic. Around a quarter of respondents were fathers. This survey was designed so that people could only answer it once. As with most on-line surveys, it tended to be answered by those in white collar occupations. A wide range of issues impact on parents’ decisions around participating in paid work and their ability to do so effectively. Many of these issues are well beyond the control of workplaces and thus outside the EEO Trust’s sphere of influence. The survey was designed to collect information that could be of use to workplaces without preventing respondents from commenting on other issues of importance to them, for example, paid parental leave and childcare issues. The survey findings confirm some of what we already know by personal experience, anecdotal evidence and previous research - that many parents find it difficult to juggle paid work and parenting, and feel unsupported by their workplaces. The findings indicate that the one thing that workplaces could do to help parents be effective at work and at home is to provide some flexibility around working hours. This could include flexible starting and finishing times, or occasional time off during the day to see to family matters like medical appointments or school activities. Affordable, quality, conveniently located childcare is also important to working parents, with a number of respondents saying how helpful it would be to have childcare facilities located close to work. We also asked people why they worked and, not surprisingly, found that most people work mainly for financial reasons, but there are a host of other reasons for doing paid work. Social, personal fulfilment, career development and being a good role model rank highly. Some of the key survey findings relate to how employers can help parents be their best at work. Parents want flexible working hours, particularly start and finish times, high quality part-time work and a supportive workplace culture to make family friendly policies work. Other key findings were: · Paid parental leave is highly valued by working parents. · More than a quarter of respondents of both genders expect to take parental leave (paid and/or unpaid) in the next five years. · 81% of respondents returned to the same employer after parental leave (paid and unpaid). · The main reason people changed employer or job status when they returned from parental leave was to work flexible or part-time hours. · Like women, men value flexible hours very highly but part-time work options are less important to men than to women (40% of the male respondents rated them as important). · A quarter of men believe it is important to have breastfeeding facilities in the workplace. Nearly 1,000 respondents made general comments on paid work and parenting, covering a range of issues. The most common topics, in order of frequency, were: · The difficulties of breastfeeding once back at work, including the lack of workplace facilities and support. · The lack of part-time options at senior and professional levels. · The stress and guilt involved in juggling both paid work and a family, and the lack of support and understanding in the workplace of the challenges involved. · The financial pressure to return to work when children are very young and the need for more Government support to enable parents of very young children to stay at home. With unemployment currently at 3.5%, employers have a strong motivation to assess their people management policies to ensure they are doing all they can to recruit and retain dedicated workers who happen to be dedicated parents too. As one respondent said, “In learning to juggle work commitments with a family the more understanding an employer is the better. We can do a great job of work and family!” Download the full EEO Parenting and Paid work report: www.eeotrust.org.nz/research/index.cfm
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Preventing employment relationship problems Alison Cotter, Mediator, Department of Labour |
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Preventing employment relationship problems is about such practices as · Selecting employees, Trustees / Board members with care · Having good systems and practices in place and ensuring that Trustees or Board members and staff are familiar with them · Doing all you can to support positive relationships · Dealing promptly with small problems rather than letting them fester. Problems commonly arising In our mediation work we observe patterns of problems which arise in community organisations, Trusts and Incorporated Societies. These include the following: · Lack of clarity around roles, for example, trustees who are unaware that they have obligations as employers, and what these are; · Confusion between governance and management roles, for example, Trustees over-involved in manager’s role, or vice-versa; · Unresolved communication issues leading to misunderstandings and disputes; · Assumptions, speculation and rumours not checked out or managed; · Decisions made in haste, and without proper consultation; · Performance issues avoided, or ‘dumped’ all at once; · Performance issues confused with disciplinary problems;
Many of the above problems can be prevented. The following are some ideas which may help: Recruit carefully · Take time to find the right person for your position. Don’t rush into it. · Prepare a job description and an employment agreement · Interview purposefully · Assist your new employee to “come on board” with a mentor or buddy system, and some orientation steps. Establish good systems and practices · Provide a written employment agreement: This is the basis of any employment relationship. It does not need to be complex, but it must be in writing and include basic information such as duties, hours of work, wages, and a plain language process for dealing with any problems which arise. The Department of Labour (DOL) website (see below) has an employment agreement builder you can use to help put together a draft employment agreement.
§ Employment Relations Infoline 0800 209020 § Website: www.dol.govt.nz Visit the Department of Labour’s mediation pages: http://www.ers.dol.govt.nz/problem/mediation.html
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Making the most out of mediation Alison Cotter, Mediator, Department of Labour |
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Mediation isn’t always about conflict resolution. It can also be a positive force providing momentum towards a process of appeasement and reconciliation. Mediation at the Mediation Service, Department of Labour (DOL), is a free and confidential service which you can call upon to help resolve employment relationship problems at any stage, either when things are going wrong during the relationship or when it has ended. Present policy is that the former situation (mediations addressing ongoing relationship problems), are “front of the queue”. Mediators also provide educational talks, presentations or workshops in the interest of preventing employment relationship problems. When might you involve a mediator? While mediation can take place at any stage of the employment relationship, it is expected that employer and employee will have made a genuine effort to resolve the situation before deciding to come to mediation. The following is a useful checklist of questions:
Mediation is a voluntary process so both parties must agree to come. Either employer or employee can bring the case to mediation. The first contact is the DOL Infoline 0800 800 863 where you can get information about handling your particular problem. If employers and employees cannot resolve problems themselves, even with advice and information, either can get in touch with the nearest Mediation Service office (seven in NZ). Each prospective party to mediation is then contacted in order to set up the mediation date and time. What happens at mediation? Mediation usually takes place at Mediation Service rooms. The mediator sets the scene by explaining how mediation works and discussing guidelines for working together. Each person or group presents their perspective on the problem, then the mediator works with the parties to clarify the issues further, and to explore their ideas on how the problem might be resolved. The aim is to reach the best possible outcome on which the parties can agree. On average, mediations take three hours, but some are shorter, some longer, and some are reconvened to follow up specific issues. People may attend on their own or bring a support person(s), advocate, or legal representative. What are some of the outcomes of mediation? All manner of resolutions specific to the people involved and the issues which arose between them are developed with the participants. Here are some examples: · Action plans or Working Agreements for improved ways of communicating and working together · Acknowledgements of good work done · Acknowledgements of distress caused · Agreements about written references and verbal referees · Clarifying of roles and responsibilities · Commitments not to speak critically of each other from this time on · Payments to compensate for procedures or decisions now seen as being unfair in part or whole · Withdrawal of statements, or planned actions. What are the benefits of mediation? Mediation is an opportunity to be heard and understood. It can provide practical, emotional and legal closure to issues which have been stressful and de-motivating. Other potential benefits include restoring relationships and picking up skills for dealing with conflict in the future. How binding are mediation agreements? One of the attractions of mediation is that when Agreements relating to alleged breaches of the Employment Relations Act are signed off by both parties and the mediator, they become full and final and binding under the law. Where the relationship is continuing, the parties, with the assistance of the mediator, draw up together the agreements to which they are prepared to commit. Some common themes in such Working Agreements or Action Plans are about ways of improving communication practices between the parties, identifying better ways of dealing with problems which arise in future, and agreeing on who will best support this revised working relationship. Returning to mediation at a later date in order to review progress is also offered as an option. What if the issues are not resolved? While there is a high rate of resolution at mediation, it’s realistic that not all situations can be resolved as both parties must agree to settlement terms. Options will be discussed at mediation, and participants may need to go away and consider these options or seek further advice. Further information Make the most of free information on employment relations from the Department of Labour: · Employment Relations Infoline 0800 800 863 · Website: www.dol.govt.nz · Brochures and information sheets, for example, Using Mediation Services Effectively, are available from any DOL office.
Visit the Department of Labour’s mediation pages: |
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Two-minute employment-issues online surveyIn planning this issue, we were keen to have your views on employment issues in social service organisations. People responded with concerns ranging from difficulty formulating employment agreements, renewing contracts, through to conducting performance reviews. The Mediation Services of the Department of Labour have since indicated their interest in developing a closer relationship with our sector to develop tailored initiatives such as workshops they have run with Social Services Waikato over the last couple of years. Please take a few minutes to give us some feedback about issues and possible activities we could undertake with the Department of Labour. Fill out a two-minute online questionnaire by logging onto: www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=928521789711
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Workforce development – recognition of NGO contribution George Salmond, Public Health Consultant |
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There are some very important workforce challenges and opportunities that may lie ahead for NGOs. The sector being enormously variable in size and the work it does give it the potential to be on the cutting edge of workforce development. This will require implementation of innovative solutions to the challenges faced. For example, the consequences of an ageing population already presents an enormous challenge to the health system and to NGOs. Given a rapidly ageing population, a shrinking proportion of working age people, rising health care costs, and the prospect of a struggling economy, the health sector is going to be under increasing social, financial, and political pressure. Established ways of organising and financing health care will have to change. New and innovative ways of providing care must be found, including ways of encouraging and supporting natural systems of caring in families and communities. We know that proportionately more older people are going to be reasonably fit. We know that many of them are going to have valuable work and life skills, good employment records, and knowledge and experience that could be put to useful social purpose if we had the relationship skills, the organisational ability and the infrastructure necessary to encourage older people be active participants in the paid or voluntary workforce. In a well-organised service the evidence shows that older workers are just as reliable as other staff. There is also good evidence now to show that older people who remain actively engaged in their communities in paid work, or as volunteers, are happier, less likely to get sick and more likely to live longer. And, of course, when they or members of their family or local community do become disabled, they have the knowledge, skills and networks necessary to enable them to cope. Surely this has to be a win-win situation all round. I first heard these ideas expounded at a conference in Melbourne by a director of human resources for one of Australia’s largest trading banks. His problem arose out of difficulties the bank was having in marketing banking investments to older clients known to have significant funds to invest. When he looked into this he found that his bright-eyed and bushy- tailed young marketing staff, many of whom work on performance contracts, had a low success rate in dealing with older clients. The problem was that the older investors simply did not trust the young marketeers. After all, would you take advice from your grandchildren about how to invest your hard earned cash? I don’t think so. So, what the bank did was re-engage a number older staff it has previously made redundant - as a result of introducing new on-line banking technology. The outcome of all of this, we were told, was very successful all round. The older clients were happy dealing with staff they could relate to, the ‘retreaded’ employees were happy. The bank sold more investments and made more money, and at the same time got an award for being an innovative and socially responsible employer. Win/win all round. I have taken time over this illustration to illustrate the sort of creative thinking that is going to be needed if we are to cope with our health workforce problems in the future. The example is a commercial one but I think that the same basic principles apply in the health sector, particularly the NGO sector. New approaches to workforce development are key to future success. I believe that the success of NGOs in the future – especially those dependent on substantial government funding – is going to be dependent on: § the workforce § sound leadership § good governance § creativity and innovation § good financial and business systems, and § being quick to recognise and exploit good ‘business’ opportunities. Some NGOs may choose not to engage in this environment, but those that do will need to be ‘business fit’ to do so. For smaller NGOs this may mean banding together or collaborating to obtain the necessary expertise and infrastructure support. From what I can see, the NGO community is steadily moving in the right direction. What is needed is more strategically targeted investment in workforce development.
This is an abridged version of an address made by George Salmond on Workforce issue. The full text of the article is available from: www.nzfvwo.org.nz/files/georgesalmondaddress2005sep.pdf
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Federation focus |
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From the President’s desk… Challenges and Opportunities in 2006 Judith Hoban, President NZFVWO |
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This year we seem to have very quickly thrown ourselves into the challenges and opportunities which this new year has already brought. For many of us, the round of annual planning and budgeting has already begun. Agreeing organizational priorities is always a demanding process but a very necessary one if we are to secure the health, growth and well being of our organizations. At the Federation we are well through an exciting and stimulating process to agree a set of governance policies for the organization. This project has long been on our wish list, and with the assistance of an external facilitator we have made excellent progress with final sign off not too many weeks away. The process has worked well for a number of reasons – we responded to a proven need, the collective desire of the group to fulfill this need was unwavering, experience and honesty around the table was harnessed in a meaningful and positive way and we knew that by agreeing such a set of policies the future of the Federation would be well supported and guided. As with all such documents however these policies will need to be living documents, used well and regularly, reviewed and updated as circumstances change. We will be happy to make copies of our work available to member organizations once finalized. At the same time I am preparing to meet one of my commitments to St John and about to gain some first hand experience as a volunteer in a different area of activity to that in which I usually operate, in fact I am being led out of my comfort zone! Many of you may recognize St John as an ambulance service, a presence around thousands of sports fields and public gatherings, a youth organization, by one of the many caring activities which we deliver in your community or by the familiar white cross worn by our people and identifying our materials and vehicles. What you may not know is that we were founded over 900 years ago and are a large international organization. One of the key elements which the St John family shares worldwide is a hospital in Jerusalem - an eye hospital which treats all who seek its help regardless of race, creed or religion. One of my roles in St John NZ is to generate support from our own members to assist the hospital in continuing to carry out its work. Many people from around the world work at the hospital both in paid and volunteer capacities. So that I may do a better job of advocating and fundraising for the Hospital, my husband and I are to spend most of April as volunteers there. We are looking forward to this opportunity to experience first hand the work carried out by our committed teams in one of the world’s leading eye care and surgical facilities. To be part of an international organization working in this unique part of the world is a privilege and one we are both happy to share in. I look forward to meeting many of you in the year ahead. Thank you all for the generous spirit and hard work which you share for the benefit of your clients and colleagues in the voluntary welfare sector.
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From the Executive Director’s desk… Speaking up and out from the sector Tina Reid, Executive Director NZFVWO |
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So what did we learn over the last six months of COmVOiceS? For me at the Federation it has been a really enjoyable, stimulating and learning project, and I have learnt: · A new sense of confidence and willingness to engage with the media on issues close to our heart · Despite our differences, there are core common messages across a wide range of Tangata Whenua, community and voluntary organisations · These provide us a platform and a stronger basis for our own individual messages rather than diluting them · There is strength in numbers – and a lot of fun · We can’t expect others (such as the media) to recognise our work if we are not doing this ourselves These, and other, messages were strongly endorsed by the evaluation we carried out in December, and we are now focussing on continuing this collaborative communications project for all of 2006. We have decided that this is a national project, for national organisations, as we are focussed on overview issues and national channels of communication. We are also keen to share our work and ideas with interested local and regional groups, and so part of our work this year will be to establish active relationships and find ways to share our ideas and work with others to develop locally focused collaborative communication projects. The project depends on a core of organisations committing both time and money to this project, and seven organisations collaborated to make this project happen over the last six months, and we had sent out a call for others to join us for this year. Several other organisations have attended the first two meetings of this year, and we are getting organised to define a new communications plan and priorities, and set up protocols and communications to keep us all in touch. At the same time it is essential to keep in communication with the sector, so we have an update list of other interested organisations that receive material from us, and are invited to provide input and comment as they are able. We are having a fresh look at three common themes we developed last year: · Independence of the sector · The value and magnitude of the sector · Funding and sustainability Under each of these we are developing key messages which are current topical issues for the sector in relation to each theme. These then provide the basis of material to develop a plan to develop plans for our work within the sector, with media and in the public arena. The themes and messages of this project are core to our sector, and we hope many organisations and people will find then interesting, challenging and useful. All our material is available on the Federation’s website for you to peruse and use as you are interested: www.nzfvwo.org.nz/comvoices We would appreciate any feedback, ideas and interest from other organisations to join our networks. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
