Staff Matters January 24, 2020 Issue 241 Week 30
CARING ABOUT OUR STAFF STELLA SMASHES HER GOALS
Afford’s SLES Trainers work in partnership with trainees to help them realise their strengths and work out ways to use their unique talents and abilities to find a job that they love. Stella is one such trainee from Afford’s Ingleburn SLES site who set herself the goal of completing work experience in an office environment.
In This Issue 1
Stella Smashes Her Goals Joke Of The Week Afford Trivia
At Afford, we are passionate about helping people achieve their dreams and personal goals. For Stella, her interest in administrative duties in an office setting was made possible when she was offered the opportunity to complete her goal at our NSW Head Office.
2
A Titan Visit At The QLD Frontline Conference Staff Profile
After talking to her trainer, Livenya, about her work ambitions, a work experience position came up at Afford’s National Head Office in Minchinbury, NSW. Stella jumped at the opportunity to get started! Stella was very fortunate to spend time and train with the already seasoned Afford receptionists, Mikala and Donna. Both ladies were extremely helpful in showing Stella the ropes of working in an office environment. During her work experience, Stella answered phone calls, completed labelling and scanning tasks and was able to meet and greet many of the head office staff of Afford. Stella was an absolute star in her role! She took on every task with enthusiasm and enjoyed the office environment. Her long term goal is to secure paid employment in an office and this experience at our National Head Office will be essential for her to reach that long term goal.
3
Frontline Conference Q&A The Afford Way! Handyman Timetable
4
Bankstown DES Get a Fresh New Look! Reminder Selfies of the Week Upcoming Events Afford Trivia Answer
After work experience at Afford HQ, Stella is now more confident in her abilities and is extending her skills by doing work experience at Afford’s Ingleburn ADE (Australian Disability Enterprise) as an office all-rounder. With the right supports, skills development opportunities anyone can thrive and meet their personal goals! At Afford we always encourage personal growth and development for not only our clients but also our staff. With the New Year now here it’s the perfect time to start thinking about your personal goals and what you want to achieve this year with Afford. There are many ongoing training opportunities and new study incentives, and the opportunities are endless!
AFFORD TRIVIA
What year did our Bankstown DES office open?
www.afford.com.au
Staff Matters
STAFF PROFILE NAME: Nicholas Mataia POSITION: Lifestyle Assistant LOCATION: Southport & Beenleigh, QLD FAVOURITE MUSIC/SONG? Don’t have one FAVOURITE MOVIE? The Last of the Mohicans FAVOURITE HOBBIES? Movies & PS4 FAVOURITE FOODS? Any food IF YOU COULD BE AN ANIMAL, WHAT WOULD YOU BE? Bull (Taurus) WHAT IS YOUR DREAM HOLIDAY DESTINATION? Maldives IF YOU HAD THE POWER, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT THE WORLD? Free airfares worldwide IF YOU HAD TO TEACH SOMETHING, WHAT WOULD YOU TEACH? How to take it easy and not worry SOMETHING NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT ME? I’m older than I look
January 24, 2020 Issue 241
A TITAN VIST AT THE QLD FRONTLINE CONFERENCE!
The first few weeks of January are an excellent opportunity for our frontline staff to come together and refresh their training during client free week! Our QLD frontline staff attended the Client Services Conference on the 16th of January at the Mantra Legends Hotel in Surfers Paradise, Queensland. Coordinated by Maureen Brown, the conference provided attendees with the opportunity to network, share ideas and learn about developments in the disability sector. The perfect opportunity for Affordians to get prepared and motivated for the exciting growth to come in 2020. Queensland staff were delighted and honoured to welcome guest speaker, Gold Coast Titans CEO, Steven Mitchell, who delivered a truly motivating presentation. He spoke about how to effectively work as a team through adversity and come out on top. We are excited by our partnership with the Titans, which will bring new opportunities for us both and for people with disability accessing and enjoying sport in QLD. Other highlights of the conference included an inspiring musical performance by the ‘Voices of Afford’ joined by QLD LSA Laurie-Lee Te Paea who joined the performance with an impromptu song. As with all conferences, it is also important to reinforce Afford’s high standards and procedures, with Allan Sio - QLD State Manager talking about incident reporting and notifiable incidents. Allan was followed by an informative presentation by QLD Psychologist, Alexandra Grainger, who spoke about restrictive practices. Our very own CEO, Steven Herald, delivered his inspirational presentation highlighting our ever continuing success and growth in QLD. He was also excited to share our award-winning Voice Projects 2019 Staff Survey results, for which we were awarded the highly prestigious Best Workplace Award. It was a day full of learning and inspiration and attendees took a great deal away with them to inspire them and their teams’ performances for the year ahead!
www.afford.com.au
January 24, 2020 Issue 241
Staff Matters FRONTLINE CONFERENCE Q&A - THE AFFORD WAY! Thank you for all of our frontline staff who attended the NSW Conference in January. Following the conference, staff were given the opportunity for a Q&A session to clarify any questions. Management were delighted to hear from staff and receive your feedback and questions. As is The Afford Way, we wanted to follow through to immediately address all your questions and communicate the answers with all staff. Your Questions & Answers Q: There was a $20.00 deduction in our payslips what was this for? A: The one-off deduction of $20.00 in payslips is for the Afford T-Shirts staff ordered. Please speak to your Team Leader if you need any training in understanding and approving your payslips. Q: Casual staff approving their own timesheets – Staff expressing difficulties doing this within the given time and can we explore the need for further training in this area. A: All staff time sheets are on NAV and entered by the Team Leaders into CIMS Roster and uploaded to NAV. Staff would then need to approve and submit on Monday & Friday of the 2nd pay week. Q: IT Skills Training – Can we organise basic IT training in applications such as Excel, Word and Outlook through a training provider in all 3 states?
A: IT skills training is available to any staff who would like to brush up their skills in all states through Set-To-Learn. Please let your Team Leader know of your interest. HR will be rolling out monthly IT training starting from February 2020. Q: Name Badges – Are we able to have both pin & magnet variations? A: Name Badges are now available in both pin & magnet variations. Staff to let the Team Leader know which they prefer. Afford has listened to your requests and has created a quick reference guide for staff to address all your questions. We appreciate your feedback and we encourage you to ask questions regularly or suggest improvements you may have, to maintain Afford’s award-winning services and supports. Information For Staff Make sure you are aware of all staff communication channels in place to keep you up-to-date. We love to share all of our achievements and celebrate our amazing staff and your feedback and suggestions are important for this to continue. • Afford Intranet - Policies, procedures, leave, payslips etc. • Afford Newsletters - We have multiple newsletters that include valuable information for staff, carers and clients, including Staff Matters, Carer Connections, Afford Works, Afford Living and Afford Buzz (email).
• Afford Emails - You should have access to your own afford email and don’t forget to check your email regularly. • Afford Staff - The Afford Way is built around strong teams and tribes culture, so your managers, team and fellow Affordians are always here for support and help!
Handyman Timetable Our Handy Man, Tahier, will be at the following sites this week: - 27th January: PUBLIC HOLIDAY - 28th January: South Windsor and Bligh Park x2 - 29th January: Lurnea, Green Valley and Prestons ADE - 30th January: Jamisontown and Butterflies Group Home - 31st January: Paperwork/Weekly catchup and attend to urgent requests
Meet Our Handyman Tahier www.afford.com.au
January 24, 2020 Issue 241
Staff Matters BANKSTOWN DES GET A FRESH NEW LOOK!
Afford’s Bankstown DES site is looking super fresh with the new signage now in place in the entrance way, to welcome potential clients, carers and families to find out more about what Afford has to offer. The new signage replaces an older design of colourful cranes which were starting to peel and no longer looked very nice or inviting. The large hallway is now bright and shows clearly what new job seekers can expect when they embark on the DES Journey. From a greeting to the job interview and finally getting the job! The refreshed look couldn’t have come at a better time as the site will be having a Department visit in the next few weeks and they can now proudly walk them through the entrance. “I love our Afford journey’s entrance” – said Layla Naji Team Leader of DES Bankstown. The team at DES Bankstown are always looking into new initiatives, events and more to make sure that the wider community are well aware of our services. We are looking forward to new signage for a number of our DES sites this year with signage planned for new DES sites in Fairfield and Liverpool NSW.
Reminder - Bushfires Appeal As we all know, Australia has been suffering from devastating fires since mid-September, with the crisis worsening over December and January. Sadly we have lost lives, homes and half a billion animals. We are supporting a number of charities to help fundraise for Australia during this crisis. For all staff members that would like to make a monetary donation, from your pre-tax earnings on your salary, please email bushfireappeal@afford.com.au from your Afford email address and for every dollar that employees donate, Afford will match it!
SELFIES OF THE WEEK
ctoria Allied Selfie Above: Vi t! gh Ni Health Buzz
Pawsome Se lfie Above: (Resident) Kenneth, an Blue Accom d Nancy, (LSA) from True modation, with (Bluey blue tongue ) the lizard.
UPCOMING EVENTS DATE:
EVENT:
27 January
Australia Day Public Holiday
3 February
Business Shirt Orders Close
20-21 February
Managers Conference
28 February
QLD Client Gala Ball
Afford Trivia Answer: 2013
www.afford.com.au