Let’s help NFPs help others

a katz / Shutterstock.com

As soon as we see them in their bright-coloured T-shirts on the street, we pretend to be busy. We look down on our phones, we’re frantically looking for something in our bags, or we become incredibly fascinated by that house to the right. We know what they want and we just don’t have the time to stop and talk. Or rather, we can’t be bothered to.

If we just keep our eyes closed, look at our phones or that beautiful pigeon that just flew past, there is no problem. We live in a problem free world. And occasionally we give some money away, just to feel that we’re contributing, that we’re one of the good people.

But let’s take a moment to actually consider the work charities take on, the missions they embark on to create a better place. Often it starts with the people on the streets, or that person on the phone asking if “you have minute?”. And even though we may not want to, perhaps we should dedicate a minute for them more often. Let’s try and help them help others.

In a society where funding is becoming increasingly harder for not-for-profit organisations to come by, it’s even more important that we take our responsibilities. NFPs are just as important to the society as commercial companies are. The commercial ones make the economic wheel spin around, while NFPs support the weak and vulnerable. One can’t function without the other.

As the Australian election comes closer, there’s an increasing debate regarding the government’s funding strategies, both negative and positive. Thankfully Australians are some of the most giving people in the world, and in total NFPs received over $5 billion in funding and is an industry which employs close to a million people across the country.

The Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership has now initiated the largest ever research effort into philanthropic behaviour to understand how, why and how much Australians give to charity, called Giving Australia 2016. The findings of the study are intended to help implement new policies and ideas to help Australian organisations and communities.

Because NFPs are a vital part of our country. They’re a vital part of our economy and society, and it’s a sector we must protect.

Let’s take a moment next time you get approached by someone in a bright green T-shirt, or receive that phone call from an organisation. Let’s give a little bit of our time to help them help others.

Mimmie grew up in Sweden and first came to Australia as a backpacker after high school. After travelling around the country for two years she returned to Europe and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism in London. But the longing for Australia and the sun became too strong. After having worked for some time in the media industry, Mimmie decided to make a change and swap the news for conferences. She now gets to do what she loves the most, meeting new people and keep learning about cultures and issues while producing conferences on current topics.

Read more

The Need for Creativity in Education (and in life)

“All kids have tremendous talents. And we squander them, pretty ruthlessly.” Ken Robinson states in Ted Talk Do Schools Kill Creativity?

I’ll start by admitting that I personally went to a pretty wacky primary school, where creativity flourished. Instead of formal writing instruction, we were given 30 minutes a day to journal. Instead of following the suggested prompts as “What’s your favourite season?” or “Tell us about your best day ever”, I spent each day adding onto my literature saga titled When Pigs Attacked about a bunch of pigs that went on adventures. Weird? Yes. But totally encouraged by my teachers? You bet.

Later on in my education, I realised that my education was a little different than my peers. Although the creativity that it took to write fictional stories about pigs, it turns out, transfers over pretty well into other areas of life.

Comfort without Rubrics: Students (American ones, at least) love rubrics, which provide step by step instructions on what you’re supposed to do for an assignment, so you know exactly what teachers are looking for. It’s very formulaic: if you hit all of the points on the rubric, you will get a good grade. There are definitely pros to this approach—students learn how to follow instructions and the expectations are clear for both them and teachers. However, rubrics are rarely given out in the real world. Your business division might be given targets, but no step-by-step instructions for how to reach those targets. Creative thinkers know how to fill in those gaps to reach their goals.

Keeping Up With a Changing World: As technology increases, the world changes an increasingly faster pace. “Nobody has a clue what the world will look like in five years’ time,” Robinson says “And yet we’re meant to be educating them for it.” There are plenty of jobs today which couldn’t have been imagined only ten, fifteen years ago. Who would have guessed that a digital game with a bird and some pipes would have generated its creator over $50,000 a day? We can’t predict the future, but we can prepare students for it. Creative thinkers are able to adapt to whatever their world looks like.

Innovative Solutions: More complex, intricate problems come along with this faster changing world. As these problems become more complicated, our solutions need to be that much more creative.

 “I think we’re leaving an interesting legacy in the world, and the kids are going to have to solve huge problems, be it with climate or with the world food crisis” Principal Georgia Constanti from Nicholson Street Public School in Sydney said in an interview with ABC “kids are going to have to solve those problems… that’s where creativity comes in. They need to be able to draw on all their knowledge then mix it, mash it up, and create a solution.”

It’s imperative that we foster creativity throughout our education systems to ensure that we set ourselves up for success in the future. And this focus needs to flow throughout—from the youngest learners to the oldest. Universities, along with VET’s and TAFE’s need to ensure that creative problem solving persists as we prepare out students to enter the workforce. Because creativity is an important skill for all of us—not just kids. 

Sydney is from the United States and is spending her American summer /Australian winter working as a Marketing Intern at Akolade. In a few months she’ll start her third year at the University of Michigan and is working towards a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies. After she graduates, she’s hoping to work in consulting or marketing, but still isn't quite sure what she wants to be when she grows up.  

This is Sydney’s first time in Australia, and she’s been surprised that people haven’t laughed at her name more. So far, she’s adjusting to the slight cultural differences (Australian coffee is better, some words are spelled a tad differently, and “carryout” food is called “takeaway” food). She’s excited to be working with the marketing team at Akolade and continuing her business education outside of the classroom.

Read more

51% prefer social media as a source of breaking news

In 1966, NASA published the very first image of the planet Earth as seen from the moon. This made people realise that we’re all living on the same planet and sharing the same resources. Fast forward to 2016, where a social media is changing the way we look at the world. This was introduced first by Facebook, where all the relationships are shown on the social network. For the first time in our human history, anyone can share consistently what we know, what we think and what we feel. Social media has become our preferred source for breaking news.

According to a recent global poll designed by Reuters Institute, 51% use social media such as Facebook, Youtube, and Twitter as a source of news each week. The report also revealed that Facebook is playing an increasingly significant role in the distribution of online news, with 44% of respondents saying they use it as their source, followed by 19% who use YouTube, and 10% using Twitter.

The study said these new trends are “putting further pressure on the business models of traditional publishers and new digital born players as well as changing the way news is packaged and distributed.”

“Across 26 countries, we see a common picture of job losses, cost-cutting, and missed targets as falling print revenues combine with the brutal economics of digital in a perfect storm,” stated the study.

The countries scoring highest for using social media as a news source were Greece at 74%, Turkey at 73%, and Brazil at 72%t. Trust in news was highest in Finland, at 65%t, and lowest in Greece, at 20%. 

In Britain and the US, the use of smartphones to access news has overtaken the use of computers and laptops for the first time. The highest levels of smartphone use to access news were found in Sweden with 69%, Korea at 66% and Switzerland, 61%, the study revealed.

However, it is time we stop looking at traditional news and social media as separate entities but rather two forces that despite their obvious differences, work together for a common goal of spreading the word. In fact, building a global network where we are all connected, where we can all share knowledge, problems and solutions, it’s probably the biggest human endeavour.

We are no longer just spectators watching the news.  This time we’re a part of it, can contribute to it, this time we have a voice, we have a say. We all have a role to play in society.  In a world where real time social media have become a platform for journalism at its best, should we consider these networks to be a news outlet in itself? What are your thoughts?

To read more about the global poll results, click here.

The best part of my job as a Conference Production Manager is to create and manage my own conferences from concept to delivery, identify future conference topics as well as giving me a chance to expand my business card collection. Having a bit of a sweet tooth, you will always find me having lollies on my desk or you will catch me browsing on fashion sites during lunch breaks.

Read more

The impacts of domestic violence on children

Leading up to what would have been her son’s 14th birthday, Australian of the year 2015 and domestic violence campaigner, Rosie Batty, urges the Australian government to revise the family law system to protect children from domestic and family violence.

With many incidents of domestic and family violence occurring in the family household, children are often witnesses of the abuse perpetrated against a member of their family, or they are victims themselves.

In AIFS Survey of Recently Separated Parents (De Maio et al., 2013), parents reported that 1,011 children had witnessed domestic violence before or during separation and 402 had witnessed domestic violence since separation.

Children can be indirectly affected by domestic violence seeing as ‘61% of women affected by domestic violence had children in their care when the violence occurred, including 48% who stated the children had seen and heard the violence’.

On the other hand, thousands of children are direct victims and suffer physically, psychologically and sexually as a result of acts of violence against them in the home.

What impact can domestic violence have on children?

Domestic violence can have a myriad of effects on children and young people, a few being:

• PTSD and other types of trauma
• Fearfulness, anxiety and a constant feeling of insecurity
• Isolation and withdrawal
• Dire need for attention and affection
• Learning that violence can be a powerful tool to use in interpersonal relationships, and thus replicate the abusive behaviour
• On the other hand, in future relationships they may expect that violence is the norm and accept it without demur 
• Self-harm
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Juvenile delinquency and adult criminality

The AIFS Survey of Recently Separated Parents (De Maio et al., 2013) also found that there were higher levels of behavioural problems in children aged between 1 and 3 years who had witnessed physical and/or emotional violence compared to children who had never witnessed violence.

Children between the ages of 5 and 17 who have been exposed to violence over an extended period of time were also faring worse in terms of schoolwork, peer relationships and overall wellbeing compared to children who had never witnessed violence.

It is crucial that we address this critical issue of domestic violence in Australia soon to protect our children from further unnecessary harm.

Last year, Prime Minister Turnbull committed $100 million to the cause; this was dwarfed by the Victorian government’s pledge of $572 million in response to the Royal Commission into Family Violence. This funding provides the opportunity for significant change and improvement of DFV services. Akolade’s 2nd Breaking the Cycle of Domestic & Family Violence Conference, which will be held in Melbourne on 27^th – 29^th September, provides a timely opportunity to explore practical strategies and innovations for front-line services.

Being brought up in a typical Chinese family in Australia, Vivian takes pride as an ABC (Australia-born Chinese) where she happily embraces both the Chinese and Australian cultures. 

In high school, Vivian wanted to become a fashion designer, however she has developed a passion for running events after working backstage for multiple live shows. Prior to starting at Akolade, Vivian worked 4 years in the wine industry and she misses the wine tasting sessions and openly drinking on the job. As the Marketing Coordinator, Vivian enjoys using her creativity to design unique and fun campaigns for each event. In her spare time, Vivian loves to spend time with her two adorable pets; a cat and a dog. 

Read more

Gotta love Millennials

“Gotta love Millennials…”

These words have been stuck in my head for days now. It’s the catchy refrain to a viral video by musician Micah Taylor. Set to the tune of The Beatles’ classic “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da”, the song describes members of the Millennial generation as entitled, lazy and just a little bit narcissistic. As Tyler points out, Millennials grew up expecting and receiving awards just for showing up. They spend all their time online and constantly post heavily-filtered Instagram selfies.

Tyler was clearly being tongue-in-cheek, but his words can be a bit disarming for members of the Millennial generation like myself (though I still prefer Generation Y as a label). In particular, the idea of entitlement can sting.

It’s not a new accusation. A Google search of the words “entitled Millennials” turns up over 1 million results. This can be a hard pill to swallow. Anecdotally, I know a lot of people my age (myself included) who have studied for years, racking up huge amounts of debt as we go, only to find it seemingly impossible to secure work in our field of choice. Many of us have spent months working for free in the hopes of advancement, often getting nowhere. In light of this, it can be a bit of a blow to be accused of an attitude of entitlement.

This isn’t just me having a whinge, either. The research backs me up. According to a recent report from the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA), “under a cloud of rising debt, soaring house prices and the struggle to find secure, full-time employment, today’s young Australians are facing a very real possibility that their generation will be the first to be worse off than their parents.”

The report says young Australians are more educated than previous generations, but our education system is not managing to keep up with the changing needs of the workforce. This has resulted in youth unemployment rates staying unchanged since 1985. That means Millennials are working hard to gain an education leading to fruitful employment, but not seeing the payoff.

The FYA puts pressure on political parties, saying “leaders from all parties need to start listening to them and take action to equip young people for the challenges they face. We need to ensure they are ready to take Australia and the world forward.”

The issue of youth unemployment is on the agenda for both major political parties. As SBS reported, at a recent youth forum in Perth, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spoke about the Government’s work experience program. Opposition leader Bill Shorten announced Labor’s $62 million apprenticeship program, designed to encourage and enable more young people to take up a trade to find permanent work.

Clearly this is an issue that really matters. As the FYA report says, “Australia’s current youth population is the engine that will drive future prosperity and they are hungry for the chance to create a better world.” With grim job prospects and mounting debt, this chance seems harder and harder to take.

If you believe this is an issue that urgently needs to be addressed, don’t miss Akolade’s Future of Youth Employment Forum in August 2016. This event will offer up best practice strategies to advance and enable youth employment, participation and engagement in the current and future workforce.

Christian Berechree joined Akolade’s production team in May 2016. He has a Bachelor of Media and Music and a Masters in Journalism.

Christian is a musical theatre geek and a new dad, and he’ll happily spend hours telling you about either or both of those things.

Read more

Let’s talk about fraud, baby.

In the increasingly technological world, cyber fraud affects online businesses and individuals the most. With internet services and online payment systems becoming more convenient for consumers to pay their bills, purchase their shopping online and even making online reservations, people today are slowly dropping their guard for other companies or people to gain access to our personal information.

Our lives have become easier and faster but are we safer?

With many people nowadays entering their personal details and credit cards online, it has opened a door for fraudsters into our lives. Apart from the traditional online fraud methods such as malicious software and ingenious phishing scams coming from all over the world, there are new emerging fraud trends that consumers should be aware of.

There are some common places where fraud begins:

• Online shops
• Emails
• Social media networks

As 46% of the world is internet users, we need to be aware of the most common methods of fraud to protect ourselves and people around us from falling into fraudsters’ traps.

Phishing scams

Phishing scams are based on communication via emails or social media websites. Fraudsters will send people a message trying to lure them into a third party website, looking like the authentic website, and asking people to provide their personal details, generally pretending they are from an official source such as a bank, financial institutions or delivery companies.

Money laundering

This scam usually begins with an emotional message from a person pretending to be a member from the government, businessman, a member of a wealthy family or a member of a royal family (usually from overseas), asking  people to help them retrieve some money in return for a larger sum of money when they are out of trouble. This scam usually keeps going on where the cybercriminal continuously ask for a bit more money until the victim is left broke. In some instances people were also kidnapped.

Greeting card scams

This form of scam has been around for a while, where people are sent a greeting card and once they have clicked to view it, malicious software is automatically downloaded to their computer. Sometimes this will be in the form of an annoying pop-up, which constantly shows up with annoying ads as well as sending private data to a fraudulent server.

There are many other ways that fraudsters are invading out lives and a principle I live by is: if you don’t know it, don’t open it. 

Being brought up in a typical Chinese family in Australia, Vivian takes pride as an ABC (Australia-born Chinese) where she happily embraces both the Chinese and Australian cultures. 

In high school, Vivian wanted to become a fashion designer, however she has developed a passion for running events after working backstage for multiple live shows. Prior to starting at Akolade, Vivian worked 4 years in the wine industry and she misses the wine tasting sessions and openly drinking on the job. As the Marketing Coordinator, Vivian enjoys using her creativity to design unique and fun campaigns for each event. In her spare time, Vivian loves to spend time with her two adorable pets; a cat and a dog. 

Read more

How to advance S&OP into integrated business planning

As stakeholder and organisational demands mature, it is imperative for business leaders to deliver best value, exceptional customer service, and continuous growth.

Especially for food and beverage, FMCG, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, retail, utilities companies, these demands accompany with ensuring you have clear and collaborative processes and systems in place.

Integrated business planning (IBP) is industry’s best practice model delivering a truly strategic perspective to better planning, innovation, and sustained growth.

Oliver Wight, the global thought leaders on IBP, provide this definition:

“Integrated Business Planning (IBP) is the business planning process for the post-recession era, extending the principles of S&OP throughout the supply chain, product and customer portfolios, customer demand and strategic planning, to deliver one seamless management process.”

The biggest challenge for implementation of IBP is to overcome the traditional functional silo operation styles within organisations to integrate key areas of business. At the core of this transformation is leadership and people.

Who play the central roles in successful IBP implementation?

There are huge implications for finance to be in the collaboration of the C-Suite in integrated business planning. Financial visibility is critical in determining the needs and constraints for operations across functions and the impact of these on pivotal business strategies and directions.

Though finance needs to have a central role, key areas across the business – sales, marketing, product management, R&D demand, supply, and strategy – all need to be involved to deliver a visible, single business planning and forecasting model that aligns with organisational goals.

“In addition to providing substantial bottom-line benefits, the IBP process ensures early focus on any potential gaps in business performance – it allows organisations to predict and respond positively to changing conditions, in plenty of time.”

Oliver Wight, the global thought leaders on IBP, mention the key to success in implementing IBP:

• People are fundamental
• Education drives behavioural change
• Create internal experts within the company
• Develop multi-disciplined teams
• Consistent processes with clear responsibilities and accountabilities
• Deliver outstanding sustainable results through the integration of business processes and functions, and executive led and managed IBP

http://www.oliverwightasiapacific.com/en-GB/integrated-business-planning/what-is-ibp

In a three day agenda developed in conjunction with Oliver Wight, Akolade’s Integrated Business Planning Summit 2016 provides the opportunity to hear cross sector leaders share their experiences on how to best implement the process, align planning across functions, and effectively allocate the critical resources to deliver efficiency and profitability.

After finishing University with a degree in Business Marketing, I decided to make a big jump across seas for the first time and move from the east coast of America to Sydney, Australia. I landed my first job in a sales position in the event industry and soon thereafter moved into a marketing assistant role – following I had the pleasure of interviewing with Akolade which got me to where I am today.

Akolade is a fun, innovative company that brings together people from different walks of life to implement change. As the Marketing Manager, I have the pleasure of wearing many hats which motivates me to succeed, reach people in an array of avenues, grow our events to their full potential, and raise our story. As for me, I am a kind dedicated woman who loves to work hard, exercise, cook, be social and have some fun.

Read more

Why older workers will improve your company

You, like many other employers around Australia, may value your older worker less. You think they are tired, that they have lost focused and can’t keep up with technology. Perhaps you see them more as a burden to your company than a benefit?

Well think again.

Research by the Australian Human Rights Commission has proved that not including, and letting go of, older workers have several costly implications for your company

• Loss of knowledge and highly experienced and skilled staff
• High costs of recruitment and training
• Loss of productivity in workplaces
• Levels of job satisfaction
• Limiting diversity and its associated benefits in the workplace

If you instead retain your older workers, your company would be benefiting from a larger talent pool, increased productivity, improved job satisfaction and customer engagement, higher rates of retention of talent and avoiding costs associated with complaints of discrimination.

But despite these proven benefits, employers often discriminate older workers in ways of refused employment, giving them less favourable terms or conditions of employment, denied opportunities for promotion, transfer, training or other benefits, dismissed or subjected to any other detriment on the basis of the person’s age.

In today’s society we live longer and healthier lives, and many workers that hit the age of 65 don’t feel ready to retire. They have more to give, more to learn .

It’s time that you, me and everyone in Australia’s modern society stop discriminating older people and start valuing them for the skills, experience and knowledge they have. We need to include them in the workforce, stop stereotyping and realise the values they bring to the company.

Perhaps you are already one step ahead of many other employers? Perhaps you have already realised the importance of your older workers, but implementing strategies and undertaking changes has proved difficult and you are struggling to keep your older workers?

There is much to learn from experts on how to make any workplace an age friendly company to gain successful results and improve productivity. If you you want to learn more on how your company can implement successful strategies to retain older workers, attend Akolade’s National Ageing Workforce Forum on the30th of August to the 1st of September to gain strategic advantage through you older workers. You will hear from industry professionals and be able to attend valued workshops, which will provide you with the tools to benefit from your ageing workforce. 

Mimmie grew up in Sweden and first came to Australia as a backpacker after high school. After travelling around the country for two years she returned to Europe and pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism in London. But the longing for Australia and the sun became too strong. After having worked for some time in the media industry, Mimmie decided to make a change and swap the news for conferences. She now gets to do what she loves the most, meeting new people and keep learning about cultures and issues while producing conferences on current topics.

Read more

67% of patients wait 8 hours or longer to be treated in Australian emergency departments

Overcrowding and bed shortages in hospitals are costing lives. A snapshot of Australia’s emergency departments found more than a third of patients will be waiting to be transferred to a ward, even waiting up to 24 hours to be treated. The biannual survey conducted by researchers from the Australian National University show that no improvements in waiting times, in fact, they’re getting worse.

The build-up of patients waiting in emergency departments to be admitted into a ward is called access block and according to Australian doctors, this is proving fatal for some patients.

Assoc. Prof Drew Richardson from Australian National University “Two third of patients waiting for beds have already been waiting in emergency departments more than 8 hours.”

“We had 44 patients from 17 different hospitals that had been waiting for 24 hours or more,” he said.

Dr Peter Jones from Auckland City Hospital “Patients admitted through emergency departments at times where the hospital has access blocked, 20 to 30% more likely to die within 10 days of that admission” said Dr Jones.

The latest data shows one third of patients waiting in emergency will wait to be transferred to a ward and the problem has worsened since its similar study in May last year. It’s a common and reoccurring problem. In 2008, an estimated 1500 Australians died needlessly because of access block and overcrowding.

Prof Richardson said the goal of patients being seen, treated and discharged within 4 hours is still a long way to go.

The movement of patients through a hospital is critical to enable timely access to safe and efficient patient care for producing optimal patient outcomes. Akolade’s timely Patient Flow in Emergency Departments Forum will assist in developing innovative patient-centred models to improve patient’s outcomes and care delivery. 

The best part of my job as a Conference Production Manager is to create and manage my own conferences from concept to delivery, identify future conference topics as well as giving me a chance to expand my business card collection. Having a bit of a sweet tooth, you will always find me having lollies on my desk or you will catch me browsing on fashion sites during lunch breaks.

Read more

Diversity: Not Just a Buzzword

When we talk about diversity in organisations, it’s usually in a “warm and fuzzy” context. It’s a buzzword, a positive phrase thrown around in mostly an HR context. Very rarely do people ask, however, why diversity matters. From a social wellbeing perspective, the argument for it is pretty straight forward: we should be hiring a diverse workforce because it’s the right thing to do. However “doing the right thing” isn’t something that shows up on bottom lines. It’s great in theory, but unfortunately easy to overlook for the managers thinking only in terms of inputs, outputs, and profits. To convince these people, we need to talk about diversity in terms of tangible benefits to organisations.

       (When talking about diversity, it’s important to remember that identities extend beyond race and gender.)

Three business school professors recently collaborated on series of studies in which they put people into groups (some with a diverse group of people, and some without) and had them perform various tasks. The researchers found that while the more-diverse groups had more trouble working together (disagreeing on ideas, less confident in their product, etc.), they actually outperformed the less-diverse groups in the tasks.

The similar studies that I found came up with the same results: the more diverse groups had rougher production processes, but produced better results in the end. The typical pro-diversity narrative would explain this by saying something like “diverse people bring diverse perspectives”. However the researchers found that the benefits weren’t that linear. Instead, in the diverse groups everybody voiced more unique ideas, and people were more open to hearing them. Comfort, as it turns out, isn’t always a good thing. Hearing from people different than you means you’re more likely to challenge yourself and the people around you, leading to better work. This increase in quality of production can also lead to increased financial performance, as McKinsey has found in a study. Companies in the top quartile for gender and racial/ethnic diversity are much more likely to finanial returns above the national industry median.

Finally, it’s important to remember that a diverse, inclusive organisation in which innovation flows isn’t achieved from hiring an extra person who may look a little different than the rest of your team. It takes organisational investment. As Josh Bersin wrote in Forbes: “The message is clear to me: in today’s global business environment – filled with challenges in demographics, skills, and culture – companies that build a truly inclusive culture are those that will outperform their peers. Why? People perform best when they feel valued, empowered, and respected by their peers”

Sydney is from the United States and is spending her American summer /Australian winter working as a Marketing Intern at Akolade. In a few months she’ll start her third year at the University of Michigan and is working towards a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies. After she graduates, she’s hoping to work in consulting or marketing, but still isn't quite sure what she wants to be when she grows up.  

This is Sydney’s first time in Australia, and she’s been surprised that people haven’t laughed at her name more. So far, she’s adjusting to the slight cultural differences (Australian coffee is better, some words are spelled a tad differently, and “carryout” food is called “takeaway” food). She’s excited to be working with the marketing team at Akolade and continuing her business education outside of the classroom.

Read more

Get a grip- Take your professional development into your own hands

A massive 8.74 million Australians are disengaged from their job- that’s 76% of employees nationwide. We’ve all had that job. You clock-in on time, get the job done and clock-out not a second later than when you’re able. It turns out a lot of us are still in that job.

You probably feel like you’re in a slump. It’s been years since your last promotion or pay rise (or haven’t ever received on at all). The well-used, stained coffee cup you use every day (the one with a hairline fracture running down from the lip) seems to represent your soul in this place- used and abused because it does the job.

You’re on auto-pilot from the minute you walk in the door, simply going through the routine you know all too well. Your development became sluggish and eventually non-existent. After all, you get the job done so why would your managers spend any more time developing your skills?

It’s time for change- and I’m not just talking about getting a new coffee cup. You need to take your professional development into your own hands. You’ll become a better employee, maybe earn that promotion or raise and ultimately have greater job satisfaction.

Here’s how you do it:

Recognise your employees

Praising your colleagues may seem to be counter-productive to this goal but it will cultivate a more positive office atmosphere. Send an email, let someone know you’ve noticed they got a great deal or wrote a brilliant piece of copy. You won’t ingrain a new office culture with one comment but it will slowly become regular practice. Plus you’ll find yourself being a more positive person who repels negativity- think of a magnet.

Let’s talk about me

Your meetings should include discussion around the most important person in the room- you. Ask for feedback on you current projects. Whilst it’s a wonderful feeling to be praised, compliments aren’t what you want. Ask what you could do better and how to achieve higher goals. If your manager is aware that you’re keen to grow and explore your potential, you may be surprised at the energy they begin to dedicate to you.

Listen and learn

Use your daily commutes to your advantage. Download podcasts on areas you would like to develop. I suggest the Stanford Social Innovation Review which crosses sectors to cover social issues and solutions.

Grow your network

You’ve gotten to know everyone in the office, great job. But if you ever aspire to breach the confines of your prison- pardon, office- you need to branch out and make new contacts. Grow your LinkedIn network and socialise with people that you wouldn’t usually and watch your knowledge and professional knowledge blossom.

The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given came from a former boss. She said, “Take care of yourself because no one else is going to do it for you.”

Oh, and throw away that coffee cup- you deserve a new one.

Claire Dowler is a Conference Producer with Akolade. She recently graduated with a double degree: a Bachelor of Journalism and a Bachelor of Media and Communications Studies majoring in International Communication. Claire minored in sarcasm and puns.

A ballroom-dancer who collects salt and pepper shakers and volunteers for animal rescue, you might say Claire has eclectic interests.

Read more

Injecting innovation into Australia’s hospitals

Facing a $57 billion budget cut and increased demand on resources, Australia’s hospitals are looking for ways to innovate.

Australian hospitals are facing a challenging time. It’s no secret that our population is constantly and rapidly growing. Recent projections from the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggest our population will grow to 40 million by 2060, and over 50 million by 2100. This means demand on our hospital system will inevitably rise.

The population is also ageing, placing new and increasing demands on our healthcare system. For example, the ABC reported spending on palliative care has increased by around 80 per cent over the past five years.

These challenges would be difficult to meet at the best of times, but the issue of funding makes things even more complicated. In the 2014 budget, a $57 billion cut to federal healthcare funding was announced, to commence in 2017. This means in the near future hospitals will be doing a lot more work with a lot less funding.

The situation is not completely dire, however. A number of Australian hospitals are finding new and innovative ways to meet these challenges. Faced with the challenges of being more cost efficient, dealing with increased patient flow and balancing efficiency with quality patient care, these hospitals are rising to the occasion.

Gold Coast University Hospital gets appy

The problem: In any successful relationship, communication is key. The same goes for hospital staff. Particularly when staff work after hours, patient care needs often can’t be communicated quickly, which means less efficiency and potentially worsening of the patient’s condition. This costs hospitals time and money.

The solution: Medical Principal House Officer Dr Justin Wong, Dr Siddharth Sharma and Damian Green, Executive Director, People, Systems and Performance developed the OnCallogist mobile app. The app promotes better and more efficient communication between nurses and doctors and provides real-time patient information to clinicians.

In a media statement, Dr Wong said “Since February 2015, we have attended to more than 10,950 requests and sent out 20,420 push notifications to relevant staff, improving the response times dramatically for our patients.”

Princes Alexandra Hospital leads the revolution 

The problem: In an age when seemingly everything is online, most hospitals still rely on paper files and handwritten notes to record patient information. It’s not hard to see the potential problems here. Files go missing, information is recorded or read incorrectly and patient care needs are misunderstood. Spending precious time trying to find a patient’s file is a major source of frustration and inefficiency in hospitals.

The solution: Princess Alexandra is Australia’s first hospital to transition to entirely digital patient records. Patient data is automatically recorded on a dedicated device, and can be accessed from anywhere in the hospital. This significantly reduces the risk of transcription errors and allows staff to spend more time with patients, rather than chasing files around the hospital.

“This project means the 2000 paper records that circulate in our hospital at any given time will now be replaced by real-time patient information being sent to a secure EMR,” hospital chief executive Dr Richard Ashby said in a media statement.

“Given our proud history of clinical innovation, I’m delighted that the PA Hospital is leading this digital revolution,” he said.

Australia’s hospitals are facing a challenging time, but a little innovation can go a long way. By identifying their key problems and introducing systems to solve them, hospital managers can meet the challenges of increased demand and reduced funding.

Christian Berechree joined Akolade’s production team in May 2016. He has a Bachelor of Media and Music and a Masters in Journalism.

Christian is a musical theatre geek and a new dad, and he’ll happily spend hours telling you about either or both of those things.

Read more

How can TAFE diversify its income and stay afloat in a changing funding environment?

As the TAFE system continues to compete with private vocational education and training colleges, the need to enhance existing financial models, and secure additional funding is bringing innovation and growth to the sector. Despite this class sizes continue to rise as back office resources continue to be reduced.

Changes made in 2010 opened up VET FEE-HELP to the Vocational Education and Training sector. The change was designed to allow students who otherwise were unable to afford the fees of a private college the opportunity to study, gaining work based skills.

In 2012, then NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell, cut $1.7 billion in government funding to NSW TAFE’s resulting in an estimated 800 job losses, increasing class sizes which resulted in a reduction in the number of students graduating.

As TAFE began to compete with the private education sector for students – and therefore the funding they needed to stay in business – profit seemed to become the determining factor, rather than education.

TAFE has continued to supply accredited training, continuing to produce the majority of graduates in trade qualifications, doing so more on the ‘smell of an oily rag’, making do with less despite having to do more.

Analysis by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research has shown the public TAFE system remains overwhelmingly the dominant provider of trade based qualifications. The figures remain unchanged from 2010, with TAFE accounting for 80 per cent of graduates in the plumbing trade, while private colleges account for only 6 per cent.

An article in the Australian in April 2o16, also stated the research showed TAFEs also produced the majority of course completions across all qualifications.

Despite these statistics 75 per cent of the $3.1 billion in VET FEE-HELP funding made between 2010 and 2014 went directly to private providers.

While there are many honourable and honest private colleges, the private education system has been rocked by almost daily announcements of investigations into dodgy colleges.

During the 2016 election campaign, Opposition Treasury spokesman Chris Bowen announced a proposed $8,000 annual cap on VET FEE-HELP loans. Higher Education Spokesperson Kim Carr said the proposal would provide “… protection for students and reduce the call on the budget…”.

Currently the scheme allows students to access $100,000 in study loans, with no annual cap and no call to repay the loans until the student is earning $54,000 per year. It is this opportunity that has seen course fees in the private education sector sky rocket.

“The average cost to providers is less than $4000,” Mr Carr said in an interview with The Australian on the 10^th of June 2016. “There would still be room for companies to continue making a profit but nothing like the $20,000 course fees we’re seeing now.”

Recent research provided by the Labor party shows students attending a private college course in Salon Management are being charged more than $32,000 while the same qualification provided by NSW TAFE, is at a cost of $6,990.

In today’s world everything is about perception and the current perception of the Vocational Education and Training sector is one that brings up images of the Wild, Wild, West. 

Mavericks, card sharks and cowboy operators have taken the opportunities available and turned the industry into O.K Corral, muddying the reputations of not only the legitimate operators but the industry as a whole.

From sky rocketing course fees to phantom students rogue operators appear to have infiltrated the VET sector.

In attempt to overhaul the VET FEE-HELP Scheme, the Turnbull Government froze the loans available to private colleges to the same amount as claimed in 2015. What this meant was if a college had billed the government for $50 million in 2015, it would be unable to claim more than $50 million in 2016.

As the crackdown on private colleges claiming billions from the Federal Government has been praised by the TAFE industry, the reality is there are now tens of thousands of students, mortgaged to the back-teeth who will never graduate from their courses.

Sales tricks such as; study now and pay later, or free iPad’s on signing up to the course are rife, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission taking court action against Sydney based college Unique International. After an audit by the ACCC found Unique International had only a 2.4 per cent graduation rate (despite billing the VET FEE-HELP for more than $57 million in loans paid as upfront fees to the college), the ACCC took the college to the Federal Court claiming the college engaged in unconscionable conduct.

The case, currently before the Federal Court has heard allegations that Unique International relied heavily on students in very remote areas, undertaking a deliberately targeted approach to secure them with various incentives.

In its Statement of Claim, the ACCC alleges Unique International deliberately targeted illiterate and disabled people living in remote Aboriginal communities, with staff alleged to have traveled the country with boxes of laptops and iPads to give to anyone who signed up to an online course costing between $22,000 and $25,000.

While this is the first time the ACCC has taken a private college to court, it’s not the first private college to come under fire including Careers Australia Education Institute which in an agreement with the ACCC has seen the training provider forgo tens of millions of dollars in funding.

As both sides of the political divide attempt to come up with a resolution, the reality for TAFE is a loss of revenue and resources that need to be made up from somewhere. TAFE, no longer ensured a secure and steady stream of government funding, are being forced to innovate to deliver.

Entering new markets and developing strategic partnerships – both nationally and internationally – is one opportunity that TAFE needs to explore if they are to remain open for business in the coming years. Both TAFE and Private VET providers are embracing emerging markets and capitalising on their abilities to apply entrepreneurial know-how in order to align existing organisational strengths to focus on my specialised skill sets.

By entering into strategic partnerships, education providers in the VET landscape are able to diversify their revenue streams, protecting themselves against further government funding cuts and enhancing their abilities to deliver top notch education to their students without being the victims of the winds of change. 

Mike Cullen has recently returned to Akolade after a period as the conference producer for one of Australia's leading economic think tanks. Mike began working in the conference industry in 2007 after looking for a career change from the high pressured world of inbound customer service. Mike has worked for some of the most well-known conference and media companies in the B2B space and in his spare time is working on his first novel in a planned Epic Fantasy trilogy.

Mike’s most recently published story, Seeds of Eden, is featured in the Sproutlings Anthology released in March 2016.

Read more