Rural, remote and regional CLCs

ASU Workforce Survey 2007

• 1242 respondents in NSW/ACT

• 153 from rural, remote and regional areas

• Age and gender demographics reflected the industry in general

• Majority of respondents were managers - 64%

Who participated?

• 64% managers and 19.6% direct service workers

• 4% from CLCs

Expectations

• 52.9% said they would be working in the community sector in 5 years time

• 17.3% said they wouldn’t

• 35% said they were unsure

For those who stay…..

• 71.8% - I believe in the work of the non govt community sector

• 14.6% - I enjoy the client contact I have• 7.8% - I get good money and conditions

for the work I do• 4.4% - I have good career development

prospects

For those who don’t….• 58.6% - I can get paid more for similar work

elsewhere• 17.2% - I do not have enough career

opportunities in this sector• 10.3% - I can get better conditions at work

elsewhere• 8.6% - the nature of the work is difficult or risky• 1.7% - I do not have enough opportunities for

training; Want permanent FT work and can only get casual or PT; Hard to move jobs from one part of the sector to another

Work conditions most valued

• 32.4% - Higher rates of pay• 18.1% - Guaranteed minimum training

provided by employer• 15.4% - Less stressful work environment• 14.1% - More opportunities to be

promoted

Qualifications

• 84.3% had a relevant qualification

• 62.8% of this groups had a university qualification; 37.2% from TAFE

Barriers to gaining qualifications

• Highest ranking barriers were:

– Lack of time due to full time workload -33.3%

– Cost of course – 28.6%

– Lack of time due to family responsibilities – 24%

Barriers to recruiting/retaining staff

• Low wages – 75.2%• Lack of skilled staff in my geographic area

– 66.2%• Lack of career development opportunities

– 42.8%• Nature of work risky or difficult – 36.6%• Inadequate conditions – 24.1%• Training options limited – 22.1%

Problems retaining quality staff?

• 75.8% - sometimes

• 15% - never

• 9.2% - all the time

Expected turnover – 2 years

• Less than 20% - 51.7%

• 20-49% - 33.8%

• 50-74% - 10.6%

• More than 75% - 4%

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander workers

• Can’t attract workers to apply for jobs – 62%

• Can’t find workers with the right skills for the job – 60.9%

• Can’t provide training to skill workers for the job – 14.1%

• Can’t provide culturally appropriate support to keep workers – 22.8%

Practical strategies – Funded incentives

• salary loading to reflect degree of remoteness;• paying people at the top of salary scales • reimburse relocation costs; • annual airfares to visit family or friends; • salary sacrifice; • accommodation allowance; • greater recognition of experience in rural setting or

qualifications;• study allowances; • assistance to attend professional conferences.

Practical strategies- peer support

• A transfer system or exchange system between urban and rural CLCs

• Help someone maintain professional links/contacts – funding for conferences and training, links with local lawyers in town, skype discussions, professional development phone discussions

• Run specific rural campaigns that all other CLCs help out with

Practical strategies –information to attract staff

• Up-to-date info about the town and region such as tourism resources

• Provide info about resources available to support the position

• Send sufficient info to enable decision-making about staying for the medium to long term not the short term

• Make sure the offer of employment and appointment is clear – have all details in writing

• Tap into the ‘sea change’ workforce?• Make sure workers get info about how to manage

isolation

Practical strategies -orientation• Comprehensive orientation program and

information kit for new employees• Strategies for feeling welcome in a new

community – it takes time for personal and professional relationships to build

• Don’t make someone “earn the right” to be in the community – overtly welcome them, eg ‘welcome to the community’ function. More likely to reach their full productivity more quickly

• Meet on arrival and welcome. A starter pack of essential food! Flowers! Help with accommodation

• Opportunities for partners employment in the community;

• Child care/education of children; • Make sure OHS and risk management

issues fully covered especially for sole workers;

• Exit interviews;• Identify if new workers will need specific

skills eg. cross cultural training skills.

Practical strategies

TELCO (Wills, 2003):• Privatisation of local health services• Declining union membership and activism• Loss of delegates rights• Contracted staff - lower wages/no rights

• New, more powerful community-based mechanism to communicate directly with employer

• “Recast” union issues as community issues• Strengthened negotiations for pay parity

• Systematic program for skill development for union and community delegates/activists

• New hope for change amongst union delegates/members

• Community reciprocity - campaigning for other local priorities

• Support from National officers of UNISON critical