Organisational Culture: the catalyst for change in aged care!
Recent reports and clients have drawn our attention to the haemorrhaging of employees across the Aged Care sector. The sector’s high turnover, depicts one in four personal carers spending less than one year with their current employer. (The Productivity Commission, 2011) as cited by (Aged and Community Services Australia, 2015).
High turnover presents significant disruptions to the quality and continuity of care and is extremely costly to an organisation’s reputation, social capital, organisational knowledge and skill level.
Practice indicates that employees in the Aged Care sector frequently:
- Feel undervalued
- Experience lack of support from managers
- Are exposed to poor working conditions
- Experience misalignment between the espoused versus enacted culture
Research demonstrates that organisations ensuring a supportive and collaborative culture have been linked to higher levels of care, as employees will be more inspired, motivated and equipped to satisfy and appropriately diagnose and treat their clients adhering to best practice and ethical standards (Arasz, 2016).
With healthcare costs rapidly increasing and job burnout at an all-time high, the core culture of an organisation is a key area of concern. Given this, it is recommended that organisations review their organisational culture to address their attraction and retention concerns.
What can organisations do to improve their workplace culture?
- Review their current culture
- Identify their desired culture
- Acknowledge and address gaps between the desired and current culture
- Commit to a new way of working
- Commence the journey on transitioning from the current to the desired culture
- Adhere to the journey and communicate your progress to your workforce
For more information on understanding and building your organisation’s culture please contact a member of the team at Nurture HR Consulting. www.nurturehrconsuting.com.au
