Technology Coping with Crisis IN ASSOCIATION WITH
YMCA VICTORIA
DIGITAL REPORT 2020
119
DECEMBER 2020
Technology Coping with Crisis 120
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YMCA VICTORIA
167 year-old YMCA Victoria is surviving the existential threat of the pandemic thanks to tech solutions and leadership
T
oday YMCA Victoria is a not for profit organisation employing over 5,500 people and providing a wide variety of
services including camps, community recreation and sporting facilities, swimming lessons, as well as children’s programs such as before and after 121
school care, and early learning centres from more than 150 locations across the state of Victoria, Australia’s most populous. Naturally the YMAC today has evolved as society has evolved, and welcomes all genders, races and religions, though its core commitment to supporting and empowering young people is as strong as ever. Safe to say its founder Sir George Williams couldn’t have predicted this transformation though he’d surely approve. And he’d be sad to learn that problems like social isolation, youth depression and suicide he set out to address then have only grown, or that a new pandemic would threaten the very continuation of not-for-profit organisations like his.
DECEMBER 2020
1853
Year founded
5,500 Number of employees
122
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YMCA VICTORIA
123 Williams founded the YMCA in response to the industrial revolution: today we are seeing the third industrial revolution, and the YMAC is embracing that challenge. In January 2020 YMCA Victoria brought in Shane Riddle, an experienced ICT professional and CIO, as General Manager of Technology and Strategy to assess its needs and set the organisation up to optimise its services, simplify and strengthen its internal processes and governance, and make sure the YMCA had the technology and expertise to deliver on its mission. DECEMBER 2020
“ I could never have predicted that my first nine months with theYMCA would see us faced with a pandemic that would see the majority of the business closed!” — Shane Riddle, General Manager of Technology and Strategy, YMCA Victoria
E X E C U T I V E P R O FILE :
Shane Riddle Title: General Manager of Technology and Strategy Company: YMCA Victoria Industry: Social enterprise Location: Greater Melbourne On his appointment as the YMCA Victoria’s General Manager of Technology & Strategy, Shane Riddle knew he faced a complex challenge to bring the benefits of digitisation to an organisation that had taken only rudimentary steps on that journey but he didn’t think he’d be a crisis leader. In the event he had only seven weeks of ‘normal’ activity before COVID-19 hit. Everything changed almost overnight. “As a leader I’m not immune to my own doubts and fears on what was happening locally and around the world and where we were going with pandemic. The world was starting to look a very different place. The YMCA’s business model is not-for-profit: with the closure of centres and no revenue, we were facing the very real possibility that this 167 year old organisation was not going to survive.” As a leader and part of the executive team this was a real test of his leadership skills. As the technology leader, his contribution over the next few weeks was critical to the organisation’s survival. At only seven weeks in at the YMCA, he had a very short time to build rapport with the executive team. “One of the best methods I use when I join any team or organisation, is to create trust, but this is not something that happens overnight. Thrown into the pandemic we were able to rally as an executive. Respect, transparency, collaborating and candour allowed us to work quickly and for me to start influencing the direction of actions we needed to undertake.” busi ne ssc hi ef . a s ia
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126 Then came Covid-19. Government
5,500 staff, I am proud of what we’ve
restrictions meant that from March
been able to achieve and how we
most of the business (Y activities and
have utilised technology to innovate
services being mainly face-to-face)
through this tough period.”
from recreation centres to camps,
In early April, Australia’s Federal
pools and offices, had to close. The
Government, introduced the
impact was huge: more than 5,200
JobKeeper initiative to minimise job
staff had to be stood down. Shane
losses. “We knew this would be of
Riddle’s job started to look very differ-
great assistance for thousands of
ent: “I could never have predicted that
our staff,” says Riddle. “However it
my first nine months with theYMCA
took several weeks to pass JobKeeper
would see us faced with a pandemic
through parliament and into legisla-
that would see the majority of the busi-
tion.” The details of the process were
ness closed! But while it has been a
not clear, nor what the government
difficult time for the organisation and our
expected from employers to facilitate busi ne ssc hi ef . a s ia
YMCA VICTORIA
“ We had just over a week from concept to payroll processing to ensure our people could get the back payment before the end-of-April cutoff” — Shane Riddle, General Manager of Technology and Strategy, YMCA Victoria 127
DECEMBER 2020
the self-nomination process so staff could receive the payment. The Australian Tax Office (ATO) finally released a form, to be collected by the employer, outlining the staff member’s nomination. TheYMCA was responsible to hold these forms and advise the ATO of numbers. Thousands of forms had to be processed, explained, collected, collated and processed into payroll. The process needed to be robust to pass rigorous ATO audit, and flexible
PA R T N E R S H I P – N O PA N I C
Driven by Covid, with
two days to comply with the ATO’s
almost no time to do it, YMCA
deadline and get eligible staff onto the
Victoria was able to automate
pay cycle to ensure they get paid for
JobKeeper applications.
the month. “We had to ensure that we could get those forms out, get the peo-
Y Victoria had to apply for the JobKeeper support package announced by the Australian Tax Office (ATO) when it had to close more than 150 locations, including swimming pools, gyms, youth programs and camping sites, which had resulted in the standing down of some 5,200 staff. Introduced by Microsoft, specialist in Power Platform implementation, Melbourne-based Barhead Solutions
ple to review and populate the form, and then send a signed form back,” he said. “Because within the regulations that the ATO had laid out, no one would be paid unless they had a signed form.” The solution also needed to meet good governance requirements in case any of the applications were queried by the ATO later. As well as being easy enough to be used by non-tech savvy users.
developed a solution by which the
Said Barhead founder John Orrock:
application form is pre-populated with
“Our expertise and experience with
an individual’s information required to
Microsoft’s Power Platform allowed us
apply for the support package.
to complete the solution and support
The timeline was more than aggressive: the Y’s GM of Technology and Strategy Shane Riddle reached out at 6pm on a Wednesday asking for a completed solution on Friday the same week! The development of the PowerApp had a turnaround time of
the Y’s team through end-user processing of 5,000+ records. It was a true rapid solution delivery with the appropriate controls.” He also paid tribute to the Y’s approach to teamwork – this was technology partnership at its most effective, agile and result-oriented.
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128
enough to accommodate individual
we built a replica of the ATO form,
changing circumstances. And all this
we emailed our staff their unique
had to be done in short order. “We
encrypted URL to access their form
had just over a week from concept
as well as details outlining their indi-
to payroll processing to ensure our
vidual circumstances in relation to
people could get the back payment
JobKeeper: the link presented the
before the end-of-April cutoff. Using
ATO form pre-populated with their
a manual approach to this was just
information, allowing the staff to simply
not an option for the size of the task
validate and complete or update any
and organisation.”
incorrect or missing information and
Riddle explains his use of technol-
submit it.”
ogy tools. “Together with our software
On submission, a digital signature
partner Barhead, we used Microsoft
was created, and copies sent to the
PowerApps and 365 Dynamics to
staff member and stored in Dynamics.
achieve this: through PowerApps,
“By using this solution, we were able
DECEMBER 2019
“ Together with our software partner Barhead, we used Microsoft PowerApps and 365 Dynamics to achieve this: through PowerApps, we built a replica of the ATO form” — Shane Riddle, General Manager of Technology and Strategy, YMCA Victoria
staff to review and complete the form. Microsoft Tech for Social Impact were great support to theYMCA during this rapid development and allowed us to
to automate our processes, reducing
deliver a great platform for our internal
human error, admin hours and associ-
support team.” The rapid turnaround
ated costs” he explains. “Dynamics
had real human impact across the
gave us a platform that our support
organisation by securing JobKeeper
teams could use and refer to as
payments forYMCA staff at a very
they addressed queries from staff:
stressful time, and their feedback bore
across the weekend we asked our
out their appreciation.
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130
YMCA VICTORIA
The technology Shane Riddle put in place has wider benefits for the business, beyond navigating a crisis and ensure staff were able to receive the full government benefit package. It set the organisation on the route to automate its processes reducing human error, make its data more secure, traceable and auditable, and save costs. Within the business as a whole, the success of the exercise raised the profile of the technology team, and gained them a newfound appreciation. 131
“It highlighted the value technology can bring to all of us at the Y, and was a great example of moving towards a more digitally-savvy and agile culture, something many organisations are having to adapt to amidst the new reality of Covid-19.”
“ We were proud theYMCA introduced online bookings to once again be as facilities were gradually reopened, able to support our with the safety of staff and customers community with inas a priority. Online bookings, perhaps surprisingly, had not previously been person operations” In May as the lockdown was eased
attempted: it was clear, however, that a system would have to be put in place to help restrict numbers and manage compliance with government DECEMBER 2020
— Shane Riddle, General Manager of Technology and Strategy, YMCA Victoria
access to the facility in a fair and equitable way.” This simple strategy resulted in a real boost for the organisation. Since May, more than 200,000 online bookings have been made at the Y’s aquatic and health and wellness centres. “We were proud to once again be able to support our community with in-person operations, and be able to provide opportunities for many of our staff to return to work. It also took some financial pressure off the organisation, with increased income,” says Shane Riddle as he prepares to meet the further challenges the pandemic will undoubtedly throw up. Meanwhile, the experience has provided a great example of how technology can sustain a vital social enterprise like theYMCA and stimulate guidelines. “As centres reopened,
better service, using digital tools.
customers were able to book via their centre’s website, we created a very simple process for the customers to follow the prompts to book the date and time and make payment. The booking system allowed us to control the headcount at our sites as part of the government restrictions while also ensuring that everybody had the same busi ne ssc hi ef . a s ia
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YMCA VICTORIA 502/990 WHITEHORSE ROAD BOX HILL VIC 3128 T (03) 9403 5000
victoria.ymca.org.au
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