Enable NSW’s Culture Focus
Date published: 03 May 2021
Author: Melissa Saba
For the past five years, the team at EnableNSW has been on a very important journey to spark a positive shift in the overall dynamics of the workplace. This has led to better working relationships, increased staff engagement and overall happiness in the working environment – it’s become a Blue culture workplace.
For Danica Sawtell, a Service Centre Officer, Blue culture means “being helpful and positive, and being able to achieve a positive outcome for our patients and colleagues.”
Anna Rueda, Statewide Clinical Advisor, describes it as, “Openness and kindness, an organisation that forward plans and prepares for unmet needs in the community.”
And while the necessary changes in cultural shifts are every person’s responsibility, it is important for the changes in behaviour to be modeled from the top.
EnableNSW’s manager, Jackie Hiller, sums it up; “It’s not just important what we do, but how we do it. The core of that is treating others how we would like to be treated.”
For EnableNSW, the motivation for culture change was driven by overall staff dissatisfaction in the workplace. The display of green and red behaviours was a real driver for change and management knew very quickly that if a shift didn’t happen the outcome would be a hostile work environment. It was also clear that patient satisfaction would soon be impacted.
In response, management shifted their focus to their people. They developed tools, strategies and resources to overcome the dissatisfaction in the workplace. It took time and there were many challenges, but the impact for staff and customers has been profound.
Alan O’Connor, Customer Service Officer, says working at EnableNSW is now a “10 out of 10. Coming to work for me is like seeing friends every day. We really do make a difference in people’s lives. We come to work every day knowing that this equipment is actually helping someone get out of hospital or become more mobile. It’s a job that makes a difference.”
Tips from the EnableNSW team
Here are some tips from the EnableNSW team on the day-to-day things they do to establish a Blue culture:
- Daily morning huddles to come together as a team
- Making time for casual conversations about what’s happening for people outside of work
- Reminding the team of why they’re here by starting off meetings with a good patient or news story.
Follow us
Follow HealthShare NSW on LinkedIn and Facebook.