The early education sector is changing- are you ready?

An already complex sector has been rocked again this week with findings that over the past year the government has caught 52 family day care providers pocketing subsidies for ‘phantom children’.

With the reputation of many early education providers now at stake, it is vital centres establish strong community relationships and partnerships to drive sustained enrolments and preserve their reputation has a quality provider.

The news comes alongside the decision of thousands of childcare workers around Australia to strike this week in demand of higher wages.

Thursday’s strike was the biggest early education walk-off in Australian history and affected as many as ten thousands families. It’s also the sector’s second walk-off this year.

In a sector of more than 80,000 early education workers,

It takes educators 18 months to acquire the qualifications they need and most graduate with a HECS debt of over $25,000.

Many childhood educators are on the lowest wages of any sector at only $21.29 per hour.

Jess Liersh, Melbourne-based early education worker, told news.com.au that she was walking off the job “to show Malcolm Turnbull that I will not be treated like a doormat — not anymore”.

She says that, “it’s time we are paid like the professionals we are. Australia would grind to a halt without us. If that’s what it takes. That’s what we’ll do.”

In an increasingly turbulent sector it is crucial early education centres optimise their business strategies to remain financially viable.

Akolade’s Early Education and Care Business Growth Forum, being held at the Swissotel Sydney this December, brings together 20+ sector leaders to share case studies and strategies to ensure ongoing business sustainability.

Written by: Claire Dowler

Claire Dowler is a Senior 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.

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It starts with education – creating brighter futures for our youth

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities remain disadvantaged in several areas, with one of the main components being education. 

Earlier this year; the ninth Closing the Gap report showed that little progress has been made over the years.

The school attendance rate has dropped marginally from 83.5 per cent in 2014 to 83.4 per cent in 2016, whilst the goal to halve the gap in literacy and numeracy skills remain far off track.

The number of Indigenous 20-24 year-olds having achieved Year 12 or equivalent increased from 45.4 per cent in 2008 to 61.5 per cent in 2014-15. However, the poor educational outcomes see a high unemployment rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as well as a range of social issues such as poverty and poor health.

Indigenous education is a crucial topic that requires and demands more attention, discussion and action. Leaders from across the country will gather in Darwin for the NationalIndigenous Education Forum on the 18^th to the 20^th of October to discuss strategies to enhance the quality and access of education to change the current situation.

Speakers include:

• National leader Noel Pearson
• Canadian First Nations leader Clément Chartier from the Métis National Council
• Horowhenua College’s principal Grant Congdon from New Zealand
• As well as national primary and tertiary education providers and government departments

During the three-day conference, speakers will share their stories and case studies on engaging communities, families and elders in the children’s education and improving student engagement to see higher attendances rates and better academic outcomes.

Speakers will also discuss methods to create culturally safe and stimulating learning environments, prepare students for transitions into higher education, employment and adulthood, and how to build cross-sector partnerships.

Whilst there remain significant gaps in educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths, the forum provides an important opportunity for collaboration as we join forces to solve this crisis.

Written by : Mimmie Wilhelmson

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.

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Australasian Supply Chain Institute and Akolade form exclusive endorsement partnership

Australasian Supply Chain Institute (ASCI) and Akolade have announced an exclusive endorsement partnership for Akolade’s supply chain-relation conferences.

The strategic collaboration between ASCI and Akolade includes the co-development of conference programming, co-promotion of conferences, and most importantly, CPD point allocation via a new ASCI Continuous Development Program that ASCI Members can attain for global certification maintenance.

ASCI is Australasia’s Premier Professional Supply Chain Community, operating as a non-profit, membership community. As an Institute, ASCI is committed to facilitating and enabling the development and professionalisation of the Australasian Supply Chain Community.

“At ASCI, we’re passionate about helping organisations re-position themselves for sustainability in light of the major disruptions that Australian businesses are facing today,” said Dr Pieter Nagel, CEO, Nagel. “In essence, we’re about professionalising supply chain management so that a standard level of qualification is recognised, accepted and tested by industry. Integral to this purpose is our Continuous Professional Development program that ensures ASCI Members have the relevant skills and knowledge to secure their careers in the disruptive business environment and maintain those global certifications that require maintenance.

“This strategic partnership acknowledges the quality and relevance of Akolade’s leading-edge, well researched events,” said Dr Pieter Nagel.  “It allows for ASCI Members to receive special conference rates and CPD points for their global certification maintenance.”

Under the collaboration, CPD points will be allocated by ASCI to Akolade conferences according to their relevance. APICS certification designees must accrue 75 points over three years to maintain their global certification. They can obtain these points through APICS events or through ASCI-related or endored events where CPD points are allocated. The points are also applicable to those designees of the Demand Driven Institute global certifications.

Akolade has a showcase of events that demonstrate its breadth and relevance to the supply chain industry and of which ASCI will be the exclusive endorsement partner;

·         Retail Fulfilment Summit 2018 (26^th – 28^th February 2018)

·         IBP Summit (April 2018)

According to Fred Adel, Managing Director, Akolade, ASCI’s collaboration is an obvious fit.

“We’ve been working with ASCI now for two years and, in that time, have collaborated on point allocation and conference promotion to ASCI Members on an ad hoc basis. This strategic collaboration allows both parties to work strategically to ensure that latest industry developments and best practice global supply chain trends and thought leadership are brought to the Australian supply chain community.”

ASCI and Akolade have established working groups for conference program research, marketing and sponsorships to ensure that the very best supply chain conferences in the Australian business marketplace.

About ASCI

Established in Australia in 1963 as a not for profit organisation, apicsAU, now trading as Australasian Supply Chain Institute (ASCI), facilitates and enables the development and professionalisation of the Australasian Professional Supply Chain Community. 

ASCI provides formal education programs, site visits, research, industry presentations and peer learning to its members with a range of opportunities to enrich and grow professional supply chain performance and competence. ASCI is a Premier Channel Partner of APICS and offers APICS certification programs in Australia, as well as other international supply chain management certifications. 

ASCI membership is available to individuals and provides access to educational programs, a network of industry professionals, real-world learning opportunities, resources and social media networks.

Please visit www.asci.org.au for more information about our memberships and programs.

Guest Blog Written By: Monique Fenech

For more information, or to arrange an interview, please contact Monique Fenech on 0439 320 152.

                                        

                                                                                             

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Is Social Media Analytics the Answer to All Your Questions?

Social media is like looking into the window of a house. You can see what is happening, but it can be difficult to interpret. If a person inside the house is waving their arms in the air, are they excited or angry? Similarly, with social media, the data is there, but the interpretation can be more complex.

The December attack in San Bernardino prompted people to ask whether or not the government should be more active in using social media data to prevent such things from happening again. Certainly, social data can be highly valuable, but it has its limitations, and agencies must be aware of how best to use it.

Determining sentiment – It is very useful to understand how citizens feel about certain issues such as a new a policy. Many programs will try to determine sentiment by categorizing certain words as positive or negative. However, it is important to remember that sentiment isn’t black or white.  Something can be said with sarcasm or irony and mean the opposite of what it seems at face value. True sentiment analysis must take context into consideration. As humans, we understand things that simple algorithms do not. Short of manually assessing sentiment, agencies should look for programs that incorporate natural language processing, network and demographic mapping, and additional content related to conversations.

Predicting outcomes – What can social media tell us about the future? The USGS has found that real-time tweet data was able to predict earthquakes, often faster than even seismic tools could. Social media has also helped to track epidemics and provide early warnings in cases like Ebola. All of this is done through a process of identifying patterns, assessing trends, and understanding networks. However, it’s worth noting that these predictions are often of near-future events. Predicting how many earthquakes will happen or the strain of next year’s flu is much more difficult.  Predicting future outcomes requires strong patterns – the more random or rare the outcome, the less likely we are able to predict it. In addition, agencies shouldn’t expect social media data alone to provide all the answers, but should look to combine it with other data sources as well.

Improving delivery – Where social data is not exactly a crystal ball with every answer, it absolutely is still an opportunity to improve the citizen experience. As pointed out in DigitalGov’s Federal Social Media Analytics Toolkit, benefits include: More effective distribution of critical information, more responsive public programs, better-informed strategies, and increased use of innovative tools and services. Through analyses of social interactions, organizations can determine what’s working and what’s not, what citizens need, and how best to respond. For example, an agency may find that citizens are repeatedly asking the same question, mention difficulty with a particular service, use a hashtag related to a common issue, or seem to be unaware of a new campaign. Each piece of data provides insight to an agency on how to better serve its constituents. Organizations should look to combine a variety of metrics to get the best picture.

Social data may not have all the answers; alone, it cannot predict every possible outcome, but it is an important piece of the puzzle. Understanding there are limitations to the data as well as a need to weigh a citizen’s right to privacy, there are still many ways social media metrics can help agencies better achieve their missions.  Platforms’ built-in analytics, such as Twitter Analytics, Facebook Insights, or Google analytics, are typically free and a good place to start.

Written by: Nicolas Verbeeck

Nicolas was born in Belgium and became an expert in consuming excellent beers, chocolate and waffles. During the winter period you can find him on a hockey pitch and in summer he loves to go for a swim or a surf. In 2013 Nicolas was wondering what the beers, chocolate and waffles would taste like in Australia and never came back. One reason… the weather. Nicolas obtained a masters in International Politics and tries to use this background to produce excellent conferences at Akolade.

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Deskercise- Improve focus, productivity and wellbeing

We office professionals often spend our days tethered to our desks with little more exercise than an hourly stroll to the kitchen to refill your coffee cup. Couple this with the mindless snacking we tend to do even when not hungry and you have a recipe for weight gain, higher blood pressure and poor circulation. 

Don’t fall into the inactive rut- you can keep your health in check while sitting at your desk. Greatist has a fantastic list of deskercises but here are a few of my favourites which you can do without anyone knowing.

1.       The Seated Leg Raiser

While seated at your desk hold one leg (or both if you’re on the fitter side) straight in front of you and hold for five or more seconds. Lower the leg/s back to the ground and repeat for 15 reps. You should feel the burn in your abdominal muscles.

1.       The Office Genie

Sit with your legs crossed in your chair like you did during assembly in primary school. With one hand on each armrest, push down to raise yourself off the chair. Remain floating for 15-20 seconds, lower and repeat several times. This targets your upper body- flex those guns.

2.       The Pencil Pinch

Roll your shoulders back and pinch your shoulder blades together to engage your traps. Pretend you’re holding a pencil between your scapulas. Hold this position for 5-10 seconds, release and repeat for 15 reps.

3.       The Desk Chair Swivel

Swivel chairs are a lot of fun but they’re a great fitness tool as well. Sitting upright and with your feet hovering just over the floor, hold the edge of your desk and swivel the chair from side to side. This is another ab burner. Swish side to side 15 times and repeat 3 times.

4.       The Silent Seat Squeeze

No deskercise routine would be complete without some butt clenches. To tone your posterior, simply squeeze your glutes under the desk, hold for 5-10 seconds and repeat 15 times. 

Written by: Claire Dowler

Claire Dowler is a Senior 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.

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The NDIS Rollout – where are we now?

The National Disability Insurance Scheme means big change in the way people with a disability are cared for in Australia.

It’s a critical time for disability service providers, who must be ready to adapt their service delivery models to accommodate and overcome new pressures. As the scheme transitions to full roll-out across Australia, strategic business planning is more essential than ever and sustainability must be assessed.

However, as with any major large-scale reform like the NDIS, the scheme has had its successes and shortfalls.

Social Services Minister Christian Porter has recently stated that the number of participants receiving support has reached the 100,000 mark.

“One year into the national rollout of the NDIS we have 100,000 people with disability living more independent lives, ­accessing the services and equipment they need, participating in their communities, entering the workforce and contributing to the economy,” he said. 

However, the $22 billion scheme is not without its shortfalls.

Even as the 100,000 person milestone is passed, the NDIS rollout is still behind schedule one year down the line. The scheme has been fraught with issues, including shortage of support workers, faulty web portal, and low pay rates to care service providers.

Though the NDIA say improvements are being made to address cost pressures, individual package costs continue to increase above inflation.

Some of these pressures are an inevitable consequence of large-scale change, but some is avoidable. The scheme is at risk of a cost blow-out because more children than expected are signing up to the scheme.

At the Improving NDIS Service Delivery Outcomes event, we’re bringing industry experts together to discuss the best approaches to tackling these issues. Looking to the future of the NDIS, how can we ensure the success of this scheme? 

Written by: Beth Hampton

Beth came to Australia in late 2016. Having spent some time travelling through Southeast Asia and briefly living in Singapore – she was ready to embrace the lifestyle of a working Sydneysider!

Beth grew up in London, and completed her degree in Psychology at the University of York. She always dreamed of landing a job in the police, but figured it was worth swapping the handcuffs and late shifts for an exciting new city and a job full of fun and opportunity in a fantastic company like Akolade!

Beth loves cooking, playing the piano, terrible British soap operas, an ice-cold G&T and exploring new places.

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Tech Companies Use Workforce Management Rostering – Does Yours?

How do you handle your schedules? If you still use pen and paper, you’re behind the times. Which, in the fast-moving tech industry, is a critical mistake. There are modern solutions available that can handle your scheduling. These solutions are already being used by millions of companies across the globe. But, with the economic growth that we’re seeing, especially in the tech sector, it’s important for businesses to start thinking about their scheduling. Just look at some of the largest tech companies. Microsoft, Google, and Apple all use their own innovative solutions for managing their workforce. The same applies to major businesses in other sectors. The need to find an efficient solution for creating schedules increases as the number of employees grows. Below, you’ll find a few of the main reasons why tech companies and other businesses should think about using workforce management rostering software.

1.       Workforce Management Rostering is Flexible

These systems are highly flexible. They include a variety of features to handle the demands of any industry, including the tech industry. The rostering software available includes several modules designed to make scheduling easier. This includes: Automated roster building, Employee availability, Pre-set rule definitions and Individual employee profiles. At the base of this system is the automated roster building. Using pre-set rule definitions and individual employee profiles, scheduling is a quick and simple process. Supervisors can quickly pull up a menu and assign employees to different shifts or individual projects. It all depends on your specific needs. The individual employee profiles include details related to their skill set. This lets companies assign shifts based on skills. You can assign employees based on their position, skill set, pay rate, and availability. It’s this ability to consider availability that helps make rostering software such an effective solution for modern businesses.

2.       Rostering Software Can Help with Recruitment

With the tech industry expected to continue growing in 2017, you can expect businesses to increase their recruitment practices. The top young talent will flock to the tech businesses in search for successful careers. In the modern world, recruitment can be a competitive process. Multiple businesses can be vying for the same group of potential employees. It’s then up to the prospective employees to decide which business best fits their needs. To the current generation that’s now entering the workforce, flexible scheduling is one of the factors that matter most – along with pay rate and the specific job duties. If a business can’t offer flexible scheduling, a prospect could go to another company. Rostering software makes it easier to meet this need. Workforce management rostering systems include the option to allow employees to enter their own availability. They can submit their scheduling needs. When a supervisor attempts to schedule an employee outside of their set availability, a notification is given. This ensures that availability needs are met.

3.       Rostering Software Can Handle a Large Workforce

Another reason to consider using this software is the scalability that it provides. It’s suitable for small organisations, along with businesses with thousands of employees. Again, you can look at the major tech businesses with offices in Ireland. Some of these companies’ employ thousands of workers in a single building. Even though they might have multiple departments, the scheduling challenges remain. The use of advanced rostering solutions helps ensure that every department adheres to the company scheduling policy. There’s consistency that cannot be provided with manual schedule planning.

4.       Workforce Management is Suitable for Start-ups

Along with offering a suitable solution for major organisations, these same systems can be used by tech start-ups and small businesses. There are major advantages to implementing a superior system while your business is still young. It’s easier to deploy a new system when you’ve got a smaller workforce. While you may not think that you need help scheduling a dozen employees, it’s never too early to start planning. You’ll even find that these systems can help reduce the amount of time spent managing your small workforce. But, as your business grows, you’ll be ready to handle the increased challenges. You’ll be prepared to schedule your growing workforce.

5.       Rostering Software Helps Reduce Administrative Costs

The time saved by using rostering software helps reduce administrative costs. The bottom dollar is important to businesses of any size. Any option that can cut costs without reducing the quality of your products or services should be considered – this includes the use of the rostering software. Businesses spend less time on admin tasks when they use software. Manual options always have the potential for errors, which can be costly when these errors are related to schedules and pay.

The decision to invest in workforce management rostering software is a wise one. Even small to medium businesses (SMBs) are increasingly turning to workforce management software to gain better control over their business operations, communications, scheduling, and more. But with so many workforce management software solutions on the market, how do you know what solutions are best suited for your business? There are many things to consider before making a decision, such as scalability, whether you’re spending too much for too little functionality, whether you’re buying more software than you need, and how your new workforce management software solution will be implemented, among many others.

Akolade’s Australian Rostering andScheduling Summit, being held in Sydney from 28 – 30 November 2017 will bring together some of the most exciting and innovative case studies with keynote presentations and panel discussions from leading workforce planning, rostering, scheduling and fatigue management stakeholders. They will address the most significant challenges they are facing today and what is needed in terms of knowledges, strategies, innovation and technology to maximise workforce performance and wellbeing.

Written by: Nicolas Verbeeck

Nicolas was born in Belgium and became an expert in consuming excellent beers, chocolate and waffles. During the winter period you can find him on a hockey pitch and in summer he loves to go for a swim or a surf. In 2013 Nicolas was wondering what the beers, chocolate and waffles would taste like in Australia and never came back. One reason… the weather. Nicolas obtained a masters in International Politics and tries to use this background to produce excellent conferences at Akolade.

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D-Day for GovDC- are we there yet?

It’s August 2017- the deadline NSW Government set for its data consolidation project, which began in 2013.

Metronode, the data centre operator for the GovDC data centres at Silverwater and Unanderra, detailed its plans to expand the facilities earlier this year.

“The aim of the program is to reduce the environmental footprint of government ICT, deliver savings in a number of areas, boost technical and operational standards and deliver greater resilience,” as summarised on Computerworld.

Worth more than $130 million, the key benefits of the data centres according to GovDC will be:

•   known and transparent costs into the future
•   improved technical and operational standards
•   modern, certified facilities improving ICT reliability
•   reduced data centre electricity usage, reducing environmental impact and costs

However the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation have not confirmed whether all agencies have completed their migration to the facilities or if they have been unable to meet the August deadline.

Metronode’s expansion announcement suggests it may be increasing capacity to allow the remaining departments to complete migration.

CEO David Yuile has proudly said the company “is currently the fastest data centre provider in Australia in terms of the construction time for new sites.” The Unanderra expansion project was projected to take just 10 months, with completion scheduled for this November.

Written by: Claire Dowler

Claire Dowler is a Senior 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.

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