Social Enterprise ....................................................................................18

Prisha participating in the Skills for Work Course at Designs for Hair

Human Resources

The last year has proved to be a massive challenge for the organisation in recruiting and managing staff, with lockdowns hugely affecting frontline direct care staff. During 2020 some staff were redeployed to other organisations, while others have had to be furloughed for a period. With lockdowns continuing into 2021, the Management Team has had to make some tough decisions around who will continue to work and who will have to be furloughed.

Up until the end of March 2021, the Federal Government’s Job Keeper initiative greatly assisted our operations. It enabled all staff to continue to receive a wage, during a time where many staff were furloughed for months on end.

The pandemic’s consequences have immensely impacted staff. Those staff who were able to continue to work with clients were issued with work permits, there have been daily temperature checks, and more recently, QR code check ins, declarations to be made within the staff AYLO app, not to mention the use of Personal Protective Equipment, hand sanitising and adhering to social distancing recommendations.

During this time, MiLife-Victoria saw 38 staff members resign, and welcomed 39 new staff members. Recruitment has been difficult over the last 12 months with challenges finding staff who had experience working with clients with behaviours of concern. That said, we’ve managed to recruit some wonderful, dedicated new staff.

Employees by Gender

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Since the introduction of the social enterprise side of the business, the organisation has had to seek employees for the hairdressing salon and the café at Langwarrin Community Aged Care. Shortages of qualified and experienced hairdressers, and challenges in getting a café manager when the café first opened caused some delays in becoming operational. In addition, as of 1 February 2021, the NDIS required all disability staff to be NDIS safety screened before commencing work. This impacted recruitment immensely, causing delays of up to 12 weeks to start new staff.

The lockdowns have been beneficial in some respects, providing opportunities to hold online staff training sessions. During this time staff have been able to use their working hours to become familiar with policies and procedures, they