Staff Matters
May 1, 2015 - Issue 2
AFFORD remembers ANZAC Day
In this Issue Page 1 • ANZAC Day • New Staff Member
Page 2 • Staff Profile • Staff Survey
Page 3 L to R - Jack Lee & Coreena Fantella
L to R - Paul Jonoski Bilal Ghamrawi, Gregory Collins with staff member Katarzyna Ross
Last Friday the 24th April customers from Day Programs at Guildford and Lakemba, joined with customers from Ashfield Day Program to visit the war memorial cenotaph at Ashfield Park to remember our fallen soldiers on the 100th Anniversary of the ANZAC landings at Gallipoli. During the week each site had Arts and Craft sessions to design and make their own floral wreaths to lay in commemoration of ANZAC Day. One of the Ashfield Disability Support Workers, Heidi Suhle, who had previously served in Australian Armed Forces, read out the “Ode to the Fallen” as the wreaths were laid by the customers. Coreena Fantella, the Ashfield Team Leader also gave a talk on the meaning of ANZAC Day. After the wreath laying ceremony, everyone headed back to the Ashfield Day Program site for a BBQ lunch and a joint music program in the afternoon.
Introducing new staff member Tristan Owen who is assisting Chris Pike in IT he can be contacted on 8805 3733 or 0429774139
T 02 8805 3700 E info@afford.com.au 12 Marieanne Place, Minchinbury 2770 afford.com.au
• Staff Survey
Page 4 • Laura loves her job • AFFORD Selfies • Have a laugh
Inside: Results of Staff Survey 2015 New Style Guide coming next week!
Staff Matters
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May 1, 2015 - Issue 2
Staff Profile
Results of Staff Survey 2015 Some of the Key Results from the Staff Survey Response rate 70% which means that only 30% of staff chose not to participate in the survey.
Areas of significant improvement since 2013;
Adrian Smith Favourite Song: Working Class Man, Jimmy Barnes Favourite Movie: Remember the Titans Favourite Hobbies: Playing Cricket Favourite Foods: Seafood If you could be an animal what would you be: Dolphin What is your dream holiday destination: Antigua If you won Lotto what would you spend the money on: Look after my mum, dad and 4 children If you had the power what would you change about the world: Stop all the wars What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you: Grandchildren If you had to teach something what would you teach: Baking Something no one knows about me: Played cricket with Steve & Mark Waugh
Organisation Direction – up 10% The first few questions in the survey related to the Mission, Vision and Values of AFFORD and are items that the Board and Executive Team have spent a significant amount of time developing and implementing in 2014. It is great to see that this area improved 10% from 2013 to 2015. We will continue to focus on these items, and we all need to apply the AFFORD values to our work every day to help this great improvement continue. Learning and Development – up 12% This was one of the areas which you highlighted in the 2013 survey that really needed significant improvement and AFFORD has responded. Les Solman and his fellow staff members in the HR team, have really turned this area around with a 12% increase in your satisfaction with Learning and Development since 2013. You also saw that not only had there been significant improvement in this area, but that AFFORD had made a real commitment to continuing this focus on training and development well into the future. Executive Team- up 7% It is encouraging to see that since the 2013 survey your confidence in the Executive Team has increased 7%. You generally see the Executive Team as good role models who listen to your feedback and keep you informed about what’s going on. This is a great improvement and now with our very stable team, we are sure that this confidence will continue to grow. Processes – up 8% Thanks to the tireless efforts of Adam Gill, Tom Patrick and Paul Francis in our Quality Team, many of you feel there has been a strong improvement in the clarity and efficiency of AFFORD policies and procedures, with an increase of 8% in your overall satisfaction with this area of the organisation. You feel that the policies and procedures are now clearer and easier to follow, that they are well designed and responsibilities are now much clearer. Again this is an area that the organisation will continue to refine and develop positively in the future.
Some of the areas we need to improve; Technology – down 8 % Less than 30% of you feel that AFFORD keeps its technology up-to-date or makes good use of the technology we have. This area was also a concern in 2013. Many of you will be aware that we have recently opened a tender to replace our existing hardware and software and to implement a significant system upgrade prior to the implementation of the NDIS. Many of you probably feel that this process has taken too long, but now that significant progress has been made into defining what the capabilities of the new AFFORD systems should be, it is onward and upward. There is no doubt that satisfaction in this area will improve significantly within the next 12 months.
Staff Matters May 1, 2015 - Issue 2
Results of Staff Survey 2015 Cross-Unit Cooperation – up 3% You might think it strange that a measure that has increased in satisfaction by 3% since 2013 is on this list, but only 40% of you think that we communicate well across all sections of AFFORD and that there is good cooperation between different sections of AFFORD, so we need to focus more effort on breaking down the “silos”. The Staff Matters weekly newsletter is the first step in improving the sharing of information across AFFORD and will help to increase knowledge and understanding of the wide range of services we provide. The Executive Team will continue to focus on this area and develop new initiatives which will significantly improve cooperation and communication across the whole of AFFORD.
Flexibility – down 3% While this area was only slightly below the scores of 2013, all the areas are benchmarked against other disability services organisations and Notfor-Profit organisations and the responses from AFFORD staff were below the averages from other organisations. The Flexibility area deals with work arrangement, working hours and work conditions. We will analyse the specific results in this area more closely and develop a strategy to improve flexibility in the future.
Wellness – down 11% Many of you feel that you are not given enough time to do your job well and you don’t really feel “on top of things” at work. Over the next 12 months we will analyse the results in this area more closely and consult with you about what we can do to make you feel more in control and able to do your job well. The NDIS starting in 2016 will change the way in which we deliver services to our customers and as part of this changing environment we will incorporate your feedback and endeavour to address your concerns.
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Staff Matters
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May 1, 2015 - Issue 2
Laura loves her job with AFFORD Laura Elliott is a Disability Support Worker (DSW) at Jamisontown Day Program and she is passionate about working for AFFORD and providing positive support for people with disability. The photo to the right shows Laura on a ride at the Royal Easter Show with customer Zac O’Keefe from Jamisontown. Laura started with AFFORD as a work placement student in Sept 2013, and she has really thrived in her position at Jamisontown. She is passionate about helping her customers achieve their full potential and will always go the extra mile to help them achieve extraordinary things. This year AFFORD sent over 400 customers, parents, carers and staff to the Royal Easter Show, and despite the poor weather everyone had an amazing time. Pictured - Laura Elliott and Zac O’Keefe
Dont Forget AFFORD Trivia Night - Saturday July 18, contact Lyn Wallace on 0409 903 646
fl ieweek
Sef the o
Pictured in selfie - Nikita Gupta and Tom Patrick
Please send in your selfies to Deb Fucci
Have a laugh