Staff Matters January 18, 2019 Issue 188 Week 29
2019 LOOKING FORWARD
AFFORD WINS MELBOURNE TRAM WRAP!
We are so excited to announce that Melbournians will soon be seeing the Afford brand splashed across a Melbourne Tram for three months due to Afford’s win in the Yarra Trams’ Community Partnership Program. 2019 is set to be a strong year for Afford in Melbourne with the team already in full swing with partnerships, projects and initiatives being planned to strengthen our brand presence in this eclectic city.
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Afford Wins Melbourne Tram Wrap! Joke of The Week Course Gets Team Leaders Talking Team and Tribes in 2019
Trams are iconic features of Melbourne, so when our Grants and Marketing team saw the chance to secure free advertising on Melbourne trams, they busily started work to create some amazing submissions that showcase the very best of Afford. The application process was a two part process. The first round of the Yarra Trams’ Community Partnership Program application involved an exciting collaboration between Toni Preston, Grants Coordinator and Afford’s creative Marketing team to develop an engaging and memorable video. See the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv08JcJluho. The second round written submission was an intensive collaboration between Toni and Marketing which highlighted ways in which Afford can work with Yarra Trams to engage the general public with themes of diversity and inclusivity in the community. The submission also covered ways to address accessible public transport options for people with disability.
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Staff Client Services Conference
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PACES Reminder - Posts and Story Submissions Upcoming Events Selfies of The Week
The team were overjoyed when the winners were announced. As a winner, Afford will have free advertising on a Melbourne tram which includes one full tram covered in Afford branding for three months across the tram network. This advertising is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and Afford’s Grants and Marketing team has secured this amazing exposure for free! Melbourne tram advertising is highly sought after and highly visible advertising real estate and is set to launch Afford’s brand in Melbourne to the next level. Huge congratulations to the all those involved, who ensured all the criteria was met to get through each round of judging and onto the win. We look forward to working with Yarra Trams to promote diversity and inclusive communities across Melbourne. Watch this space!
REMINDER
Don’t forget to send your clients’ achievements, good news stories and photos to Marketing@afford.com.au
www.afford.com.au
Staff Matters
STAFF PROFILE NAME: Ruben De Leeuw POSITION: Team Leader LOCATION: Accommodation FAVOURITE SONG? My favorite song of 2018 was probably Childish Gambino’s, Summertime Magic FAVOURITE MOVIE? A great movie I’ve watched recently is Hacksaw Ridge FAVOURITE HOBBIES? Playing video games and reading FAVOURITE FOODS? I like Indian food IF YOU COULD BE AN ANIMAL WHAT WOULD YOU BE? A cat! They aren’t controlled by anyone and they are friendly to you if they like you WHAT IS YOUR DREAM HOLIDAY DESTINATION? Japan or Korea IF YOU HAD THE POWER WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT THE WORLD? Everybody would follow the golden rule. IF YOU HAD TO TEACH SOMETHING WHAT WOULD YOU TEACH? I’d like to teach people how to think critically SOMETHING NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT ME? That’s hard
January 18, 2019 Issue 188
COURSE GETS TEAM LEADERS TALKING We recently held a two day Leadership Course for our Team Leaders at Head Office in Minchinbury to get everyone together to refresh skills and learn from each other. Around 40 Team Leaders from across New South Wales attended the course, which provided a wonderful opportunity for everyone to reconnect after the break. The course was facilitated by Level Consulting and covered a range of topics. The course focussed on developing leadership skills by learning from experience and planning ahead for the future. Throughout the two days, Team Leaders engaged in activities and presentations that discussed the qualities of leaders and the skills required to manage and motivate teams. There were discussions around how best to prioritise activities and everyone took part in a Myers Briggs Assessment which showed them their individual strengths and areas for future learning. Attendees rated the course very highly and went away with some great tools to take back to their day to day roles. Thank you to all Team Leaders who participated in this valuable Leadership Course. We hope that it has provided a great spring board for your site’s growth in 2019.
TEAM AND TRIBES IN 2019
Last year was our biggest year of growth and expansion. Along with our solid team in New South Wales, we established two strong teams in Queensland and are continuing to grow our Melbourne team. With our expansion, communication is key and developing a rapport with the people that you work with day in and day out is essential. Knowing your colleagues and how they work, means that you are all working to the same goal to benefit our clients, as well as our organisation as a whole. Others in the disability sector look to our staff in awe. They see that we have grown a strong teams and tribes mentality and support each other to achieve our best. As an Employer of Choice you have access to Buzz Nights to enjoy social time together with your team. Use these social gatherings to build the camaraderie and bond with each other. A team that works together will succeed together. That’s what makes our culture and our staff morale envied by many others in the industry. Do your part to keep your tribe inspired in 2019!
www.afford.com.au
January 18, 2019 Issue 188
Staff Matters STAFF CLIENT SERVICES CONFERENCE
As a great start to the year, our staff participated in a Client Services Conference coordinated by Maureen Brown on 10 January at Fairfield RSL. It was a daylong conference that provided attendees with the opportunity to learn about developments in the disability sector and get motivated for the exciting year ahead. It was an early start, with everyone getting settled quickly; ready for a great day of learning. Maureen opened the conference with introductions and an outline of the agenda. During the first presentation on Dysphagia, Nutrition and Swallowing, our Allied Health team members, Linda Redpath, Helena Caunt and Olivia Page, discussed the different components of Dysphagia and how to recognise a client that has the condition. After their presentation, the Allied Health team encouraged all tables to write down the signs they thought might show Dysphagia. They then facilitated an activity where one person from each table was the feeder and the other was the client. They then had to feed each other. Some ‘feeders’ weren’t allowed to look while feeding, or some ‘clients’ were more difficult to feed than others. After this insightful activity, everyone was asked to reflect back on how their role made them feel. It was outlined to all attendees that feeding a client actually increases their risks of choking and staff were asked to encourage independence where possible. After morning tea, attendees were provided with an inspiring presentation by Paralympian and World Champion Rower, Erik Horrie. During his presentation, Erik reflected on his life and his journey to becoming a champion. A man of many talents, Erik began his sporting career in wheelchair basketball, and represented Australia at the 2009 IWBF Asia Oceania Wheelchair Basketball Championships in Dandenong, Victoria. He then discovered Pararowing and won his first international medal in the sport, a bronze, at the 2011 FISA World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia. Since then he has won a multitude of medals and defended his title wins. During training, Erik says that he is inspired by Muhammad Ali, who he says had a unique ability to redefine the boundaries of his sport. Like Muhammad, Erik hopes to create a legacy in Para-rowing for young Australian athletes to aspire to. Inspiring words continued to flow when Afford CEO, Steven Herald, addressed conference attendees. Steven discussed the variety of Employer of Choice benefits available to staff members, including AccessPay and Afford Rewards. He also instilled great enthusiasm in the group about the Afford culture and our drive to provide excellent customer service for our clients. After lunch, Casey Hailes and Jessica Sassine discussed the way forward for Client Services and Stephanie Forsyth and Roseanna Barletta covered opportunities available for staff through our Step Up Program. It was a day full of learning and inspiration and attendees took a great deal away with them to inspire their own - and their teams’ performances in 2019.
www.afford.com.au
Staff Matters
January 18, 2019 Issue 188
PACES REMINDER - POSTS AND STORY SUBMISSIONS Sharing good news stories about how your site and Staff are involved in the community and bringing joy to the lives of people with disability across New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria is an important part of attracting new clients and families to our services. We know that there are many wonderful client stories happening each and every day throughout every one of our sites. So we want to hear about them! As part of PACES, you are required to submit X good news stories each month and post at least three Facebook posts per week. Social media is a powerful story telling tool that you can use to communicate with your families about the value, quality and excellence of Afford services. Every site has an active Facebook page, so please leverage this by talking about clients accessing the community through outings to the park or local events, share the milestones and celebrations happening at your site and promote the friendly and welcoming environment of your site. As we start a new quarter for PACES, we encourage all of you to send through your stories on time to marketing@afford.com.au. the Marketing team needs to receive these stories when they happen, otherwise it’s considered ‘old news’ and you risk your submissions not being counted for PACES for the quarter. Contact Marketing if you would like the ‘Good News Stories’ template emailed to you. Remember, post three times a week on Facebook and send through your good news stories soon after they happen to marketing@afford. com.au. Excelling in PACES is up to you. Make the effort and you will see your results shine.
SELFIES OF THE WEEK
UPCOMING EVENTS DATE:
EVENT:
24 Jan
VIC Staff Conference
19-28 Jan Tamworth Country Music Festival
am tie Nuth from Te Selfie Above: Ka e Afford th me ho ng ivi Melbourne, dr spirit!
Pawsome Se lfie Above: Symone Marjanovic with feathe r baby, Skittles!
28 Jan
Australia Day Public Holiday
1 Feb
National Wear Red Day
6-8 Feb
Managers Conference
www.afford.com.au