By Sam Gourley
Hey Team,
Here we are at the end of another year. Apologies again for my inconsistency with the staff blog, I really stalled in the second half of the year. Next year im going to go back to bi-monthly or quarterly goals to try to keep on top of it.
Thanks for another amazing year! Its a privelidge to work with all you amazing people. Im lucky to hear all the good feedback you guys are getting from your clients. Your doing a lot of good and we are stoked to see how much kids are progressing.
Work-Life Balance
With all that great work in mind, I know a lot of you are going to be starting to feel the Christmas strain! Dont worry, we are all in the same boat! I recently went to a conference where they discussed burnout and strain amongst people who work in the health industry. They mentioned a few key protective factors that can help protect staff from burnout:
Balance of leasure activity to work (outside of work, family or household responsibilities).
Gaining a sense of 'making a difference' with the work you are doing.
Feeling capable and competent in your work.
If any of these are a bit out of whack, Christmas is a good time to refect and figure out how to correct these. I asked Chat GPT to give me some ideas on how to address these and this is what is came out with:
"Here are five recommendations for each of the protective factors to support allied health staff experiencing burnout or strain:
1. Balance of Leisure Activity to Work:
- Leisure Activity Clubs: Create interest-based clubs within the workplace (e.g., book club, photography group, gardening club) to encourage leisurely pursuits.
- Wellness Workshops: Host workshops on topics like meditation, arts and crafts, or culinary skills to encourage relaxation and creativity.
- Employee Leisure Benefits: Provide benefits such as gym memberships, tickets to cultural events, or vouchers for leisure activities to encourage staff to engage in enjoyable activities outside work.
2. Gaining a Sense of 'Making a Difference':
- Impact Stories Sharing: Regularly share stories of how the staff’s work positively impacts patients, perhaps through a newsletter or a dedicated noticeboard.
- Volunteer Opportunities: Offer opportunities for staff to volunteer in community health programs or health education, expanding their impact beyond the workplace.
- Patient Gratitude Initiatives: Encourage patients to share their gratitude and experiences, either through written notes, video messages, or in-person events.
- Peer Recognition Programs: Implement a peer-to-peer recognition program where staff can acknowledge each other's contributions and successes.
- Involvement in Policy Development: Involve staff in the development and refinement of healthcare policies and practices, reinforcing their role in shaping quality care.
3. Feeling Capable and Competent in Your Work:
- Advanced Training Sessions: Offer advanced and specialized training programs to help staff develop new competencies and refine existing skills.
- Regular Skill Assessments: Conduct regular skill assessments followed by personalized development plans to ensure continuous professional growth.
- Cross-Training Opportunities: Allow staff to experience different roles or departments, broadening their skill set and understanding of the healthcare environment.
- Support for Further Education: Provide support for staff who wish to pursue further education, such as certifications or advanced degrees relevant to their field.
- Feedback and Coaching Sessions: Establish regular one-on-one coaching and feedback sessions to help staff identify strengths and areas for improvement, promoting a culture of continuous learning and development.
Implementing these ideas can help create a more supportive, engaging, and fulfilling work environment for allied health staff, addressing issues of burnout and professional strain."
Thanks Chat GPT! If anyone has any ideas on strategies we could implment company wide to support you guys in your work, we are all ears!
Staff Satisfaction Survey
Actually this is a perfect time to introduce our last staff satisfaction survey for 2023. This one is a little different than others we have done in the past as we have one for each segment of the team (CST, TA, OT). As always, your feedback is anonymous, and is vitally important to understanding how we continue to make things better. Also your feedback will be used to guide any necessary intiatives we want to use to improve how we operate in 2023. Also, for Nicole, Zoe, Karissa and I, its our only opporunity to gain feedback on how we are doing in our efforts to meet your needs. Here are the links (just make sure you click the right one!).
OT survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/L5B6FP2
TA survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VBTMHFG
CST survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XYL69QM
Staff Changes
Just want to give a very sad shout out to some of our work family who have left or are leaving shortly. Firstly a big thanks to Kylie Cann who has moved on from her role as Practice Manager at the end of November. Kylie did a great job but is seeking more flexibility recently so is now working in her own business doing professional cleaning. Nicole McClure, Kate McMillen and Sarah Kelly have done an exceptionally good job at keeping everything running smoothly in the interum and getting everything ready for a new PM. Just this week, we welcomed my good friend Vanessa Portors to the role of Practice Manager. Vanessa joins us from Stella Maris where she led the administration office and we are excited to have her join our work family. Vanessa and I have known eachother for a long time and she is going to be a huge asset to our CST. We also welcome Rachel Katsanevas as our newest receptionist on the Client Support Team. We are stoked to add to our impressive collection of legendary Rach'es! Rach will be taking over duties from Sarah as she goes on an extended placement at the end of January.
We were so sorry to see Grace McDonald finish up with us on the 8th, Grace has done amazing work since she has been with us but is moving her employmnet a little closer to home in North Brisbane. We are also sad to hear that Chloe Greenland and Sharna Ralston are finishing up at the end of the year. Both Chloe and Sharna were amongst the original TAs on the team, we have been so lucky to have them both for a couple of years but both are moving on to new adventures in the new year. We wish them all the happiness and success in the world. Also, sending love and support to Stacey Alsop who is taking some extended leave into next year.
With some TAs moving on, we are excited to welcome Hali Mawson to the team and we have some more new TAs on the horizon joining us in Jan, so stay tuned!
Staff Christmas Party
Last month we had our latest staff Christmas party. We were excited to see everyone and to share some time. Im sorry that some werent able to make it and the timing may have been tricky due to being mid afternoon and also at the same time as some other big graduation events around the coast. For anyone who missed it, our reach this year has been around 860 kids between Collaborative and Kindred Kids (I thought we might make it to 900 by the end of the year but we are looking just shy of that). Amongst the OTs and TAs we average around 400 sessions per week, and have held more than 19,000 sessions over the course of the year! Each one of those sessions represents time taken to plan, prepare and administer therapy programs and during the year, many of these clients have made great progress. So again, thanks for all you are doing.
Payroll Timing Changes over the Break
Just a heads up, with all the public holidays coming up, there is likely to be some jumping around with payroll. Generally this will mean you may be paid a little earlier than usual. For example, next payday falls on Christmas day, so we plan to process payrol on Friday the 22nd. For some banks, that will mean that your pay will land in your bank Friday, for others pay may end up in your bank on Saturday (or even Monday).
Clinic Opening Hours over Christmas
With the Christmas break, the main clinic will completely close down for the week of the 25th (although you will still be able to access TAHQ as normal if you need to). We will be jumping on to check cancellations on the 1st but particularly if you are a TA, just keep an eye on the Cliniko dashboard for text notifications for sessions that may have cancelled over the break. That was an issue last year so hopefully if we all keep an eye out for cancellations we wont miss many/any. There will be people in the main clinic on the week of the 1st, but keep in mind that our CST legends may not be working regular hours during that week.
Well thats a wrap for 2023, hope you all have an amazing Christmas and heres to a great 2024!