Staff Matters 110

Staff matters July 7, 2017 - Issue 110 Week 52

Afford Rewarding Wages

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In This Issue 1 Afford Rewarding Wages

2 Staff Profile Cherrywood Supersite in Full Swing Afford Training Quality Staff!

3 Leaping Into Action at

the Leaders of Tomorrow Conference

4 Leaping Into Action at

the Leaders of Tomorrow Conference Cont.

Our frontline staff deliver services that transform peoples’ lives, and as an Employer of Choice it’s important to us that we recognise that. As a result, Afford is proud to say we pay our staff above the Award rate for the sector.

Selfie Of the Week Have a Laugh

The Fair Work Commission has applied a 3.3% increase to modern awards and the minimum wage, effective the first full pay period of July 2017. All staff who are on an Award rate (including supported employees) will receive a 3.3% increase, all other staff on above Award rates will receive a 3% increase. An increase will also be applied to allowances.

Despite already paying above Award rates, Afford is proud to celebrate the fabulous work of our frontline staff members, and to pass on the further increase even though staff are already paid above the Award rate. This commitment to above Award pay is in addition to paying for on-boarding costs to frontline workers (e.g. First Aid, Police Checks, Working With Children Checks), salary packaging options, a free 24/7 Employee Assistance Program, and rewarding actual performance through quarterly PACES Team bonuses.

If you have any questions about the increase, please do not hesitate to contact Stephanie Forsyth or Sarah Vandermeer, Payroll Manager.

Giving you the freedom to soar www.afford.com.au

Reminder Don’t forget to send your/clients’ achievements, good news stories and photos to CELEBRATE@afford.com.au

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July 7, 2017 - Issue 110

Staff Profile

Tamalii Saipele Lifestyle Assistant Guildford

Favourite Song: My favourite song is Illusion.

Favourite Movie: My favourite movie is Beauty and the Beast, the recent movie.

Cherrywood Supersite in Full Swing The renovations to our Cherrywood Supersite continue, with the latest milestone being the setup of the Liberty Swing in the Cherrywood Gardens. The Liberty Swing was grant funded, so that wheelchair clients will be able to enjoy the site’s activities the same way that non-wheelchair clients can. Work around the Swing will continue, with a ramp to be built and the surrounding soil to be modified.

The Animal Fencing has also been erected with the help of our friends at Bushbred, who we look forward to working on joint projects with at the site, including equine therapy.

Favourite Hobbies: My hobbies are, reading, and being a good leader.

Favourite Foods: My favourite food is, Samoan food.

If you could be an animal what would you be: If I could be an animal, it would have to be a chicken because, they protect the babies underneath their wings.

What is your dream holiday destination: I would love to go to Samoa.

If you had the power what would you change about the world: I would love to run the world, in peace.

What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you: Making me smile and laugh.

If you had to teach something what would you teach: Love, and respect Something no one knows about me: I am a loving career.

Giving you the freedom to soar

Afford Training Quality Staff!

While other organisations are tightening their discretionary spends, such as Training and Development, Afford remains certain that this is not the way to deal with the cost pressures that can stem from poor management under the NDIS.

At Afford, we believe that the quality of the support we are able to provide to our clients is dependent on our staff have regular access to training.

The cost of all job-required training is covered by Afford, as part of our commitment to being an Employer of Choice that attracts and retains the best staff that our sector has to offer, and then some.

Despite this week being client free week across Client Services, Afford will still spend nearly $500k in wages to staff who attend training across the week. Some of the training that has been rolled out this week includes epilepsy, asthma/anaphylaxis, stoma and manual handling.

www.afford.com.au

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July 7, 2017 - Issue 110

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Leaping Into Action at the Leaders of Tomorrow Conference Just a short note to say I hope you all enjoyed our conference at the Gold Coast. It is nice when talking with people isn’t a chore and there is a definite camaraderie, similar characters from many different backgrounds, and a common sense of purpose. The great thing is lots of fun stories that will keep the memories fresh until it is time for the next one.

The majority of the people travelling have had their job roles completely transformed by the NDIS, and the last 6 months has been challenging as all adjust to these changes.

Further, those not yet greatly affected by the NDIS will be in the coming year e.g. the DES sector will start to see some major structural changes in the coming year.

I know some have struggled with the extra responsibility of new leadership positions which are driven by the need for leaders to think like business people & carers, as opposed to historically just carers. We will continually try to improve job satisfaction through providing training in the skills needed to lead so that you actually start to find your roles more enjoyable, fulfilling and fun. Further, we have made some large improvements recently in system speed, and will now focus on making sure our systems are being used to their fullest potential to make your job easier. As well we will be considering different incentives to reward getting things done and flexible work arrangements to remain ahead of our competitors. We want you to stay in your roles and enjoy them, but even if you are struggling and step back we hope you stay in the Afford family.

We have learnt a bunch from the conference as we had the chance to discuss the commercial issues across our businesses and I am glad we actually made some tough decisions standing around the bar and had some great ideas in the team sessions. Concurrently, the Staff Survey results came out also helping guide our thought processes and strongly reinforcing the direction we have taken over the last 2 years.

In closing, businesses in 2017 need strong leadership. In the 20th century you could often pull it out of the fire if you had friends in high places, but in a competitive market like the NDIS it is totally up to us. If we look around we see businesses we thought were bullet proof crumbling like Network Ten. Poor leadership does that. We talked about JB Hifi, but we didn’t talk about Sanity who went from hero to zero in 2 short years when the market changed and complacency meant they didn’t. We will need to take some risks, spend some money on leading the business through the change, make good judgement calls, hang tight to our values, protect our culture that guides us & breeds our success, and look after each other & have fun. Most of all, we need to address the new challenges ahead the same way we have addressed the challenges of the last 2 years.

Steve Herald, CEO

Giving you the freedom to soar

www.afford.com.au

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July 7, 2017 - Issue 110

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Leaping Into Action at the Leaders of Tomorrow Conference Cont.

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In the Selfie Above: Jess -HR, Dean & Guy having a blast preparing the Conference goodie bags.

Please send in your selfies

Giving you the freedom to soar www.afford.com.au

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