Ex bankers, high profile politicians and the business elite are eyeing off Australia’s social care sector as a soft landing place for their last pre-retirement job. I’ve had a chat to a few new entrants and they all say one thing “I want to give back”. I don’t buy it. “Giving back” could be a sizeable donation or volunteering. Securing a senor paid job in a not for profit is more than giving back. It is a strategic move where Boards are saying the skills this sector needs mor

In a context where strategy, market position and customer acquisition dominate Board Room and Staff Kitchen Room discussions, the human impact of what people really value at their point of need is going unnoticed. Many human service organisations (whether they be government, not for profit, hybrid or for profit) are missing the point. They are becoming obsessed with strategizing and building corporate alliances, merging or reinventing systems and processes to build their

I was leading a session with senior staff and Board members recently about the need for workplace culture reform. The newly appointed CEO was passionate about this. She had been in the job for 3 months now and “…things had to change around here if we are going to be competitive in the new funding arrangements…” The session was fixated on some of the supposed “perks” that had evolved in the workplace for front line staff. Things like monthly meditation sessions, availability

Every now and again I am reminded that the business of “social care” really is women’s work. It shouldn’t be, as women do not have a monopoly on “caring” but the lack of investment in the sector, low pay, and unreliable working hours means that women tend to be the front line of social care. What doesn’t always make sense to me is that whilst most of the work (paid and voluntary) is done by women, senior positions and decision making roles are mostly held by men. Been to an N

For many years, our funders required us to have strategic plans; not so we could follow them not measure the effectiveness of what we did, but because we needed them! Times have changed and the next time you hear a customer ask for your strategic plan before they decide to use your service, will be first time. Strategy is about understanding the environment within which you operate and making choices about what you will do. Planning is about making choices about how to use th

Learning Number One – A new Brand and Marketing Plan isn’t the answer When the going gets tough, it seems social care organisations get a new brand and a new marketing plan. Although brand and marketing are important in the evolving social care market place, it should not become your central strategy. Your brand is more about your people and their behaviour that the artwork, font logo and colour scheme you choose. If you want to invest in your brand – invest in your people

With so much talk about change, NDIS, person-centred planning, strategy, planning and the like, one of the core concepts that has been overlooked is that of risk. By risk, we are not talking about operational risk, but strategic risk and very specifically, risk appetite. It is not a concept frequently discussed or dealt with by Boards yet will soon become a very significant issue as organisations grapple with the impending changes and opportunities. At its simplest, risk appe