Testing new ways of

working:

the NDS High Performing

Work Practices initiative

Melbourne 15 February 2017

What was the inspiration?

• High performance work systems/ practices

• High commitment/involvement management

• Twisted organisations

• Commitment-oriented work systems

What did NDS do?

Following Innovation Workshops in 2015, NDS engaged interested organisations in a collaborative trial of HPWP.

Methodology of Innovation for High Performance Project

• Provide opportunities to share and learn

• Involve other stakeholders, peers and consultants to help deepen practice

• 8 month project, light touch

What united those who took part?

a flatter and less hierarchical structure

where people work in teams with greater autonomy

holistic jobs with dissolved division of labour and minimal back office support

based on higher levels of trust and communication

resulting in customised empowering service delivery

with strong community engagement and relationships.

CEO

Coordinator

Workers

Clients

Coordinator

Workers

Clients

Coordinator

Workers

Clients

Manager Manager

Client (team leader

)

WorkerClient (team leader

)

Client (team leader

)

Client (team leader

)

Worker

Worker

Worker

Worker

Worker

Worker

WorkerWorker

Worker

Technology

Coaching

Leadership

Active Engagement

Informal Support

s

Informal Support

s

Informal Supports

Informal Supports

Informal Support

s

Informal Supports

Other Services

Other Services

Other Services

Other Services

KEY DATA

Location Port Macquarie NSW

Staff 48

Participants

98

Services CommunityParticipation

Timeframe

Ongoing from late 2014

Changes As follows

What has been working well?Inputs/EngagementStrategies

Some outcome descriptors

ACES’ approach to teams and team leadership

Ease of understanding, philosophically robust, customer focus, holistic, defines structure, organic/adaptable, shared and individual responsibility, inclusive

Customer Workbooks and Stewards and Worker Workbooks

Devolved, individual/collective responsibility, team experience, mutual trust and understanding, relationship and confidence building, active engagement

Dedicated change team Sustained focus, outcome focus, less self interest, minimises operational distraction, retains operational focus, accountable

Social media (teams) Customer focus, coalesces all supports, engaged teams, efficient, real time, contemporary/relevant, relationship building, well informed, multi-media

Customer centric IT Customer focus, philosophically robust, operational and administrative efficiency, cost effective, collectively well informed, need to know basis, cash flow friendly, ease of use, dynamic

Incrementalism Engaging, mission focused, explorative, tentative, uniting, flexible/adaptable, responsive to external environment, copes with uncertainty

Essentials?• Leadership - regular restatement of mission and current position

• Incremental/organic

• Tolerance for uncertainty, risk and mistakes

• Time and patience

• Informed courage

• Dedicated resources

• Careful messaging

• Devolved responsibility AND authority - genuine letting go of power

• Active engagement through experimentation, personal/shared responsibilities

• Customer centric technology and social media

• No babies in the bathwater

• Playing all of the above as a symphony

The Way Forward – Aspire v.2 Location(s) involved in your trial

Albury / Wodonga and surrounds (NSW and VIC – cross border)

What changed in your service model?

From old process around intake, planning and allocations to new refined workflow around intake, planning and allocations. More information coming directly from the frontline

# Staff involved in your trial (headcount)

35 What changed in your peoplemanagement?

From team leader controlling workflow processes to team leader overseeing workflow processes

# Teams involved in your trial

Still deciding on formal structure of teams

What changed in your systems / processes?

From old and adhoc process to workflow mapping and improved data collection to inform improved process and structure

# Participants involved in your trial

143 Timeframe of your trial

From Jan 2017 - December 2017

Type of services involved in your trial

Flexible Respite Teen TimeMy Aged CarePeer Support

Other comments Looking to start trial across supported accommodation and day programs mid 2017

The objectives of our change:

• Develop a self managed workforce which is motivated and

flexible to deliver on the needs of our community.

• Develop a point of difference by becoming an employer of choice

with high levels of employee satisfaction.

• Stimulate improved business performance and ensure better

strategy execution through improving individual performance

contribution

• Provide quality support services to individuals and our

community

The Parkside Foundation: Grove# Locations involved in trial1 site /area

What changed in service model?

• High management input to minimal• Minimal decision making to autonomous• Procedures

# Staff involved in your trial (headcount)3 main 3 others

What changed in your peoplemanagement?

• Coordinator overseeing supports instead of manager• Additional training to support staff• Encouragement for staff to self manage

# Teams involved in your trial2

What changed in processes?

• Higher level computer access• Customising procedures to site• Time sheet sign off• Procedural change ie administer medication • Ability to look at external contractors and best fit• Self rostering/on call• Staff intake when required• Higher level client programming

# Participants involved in your trial12

Timeframe February to August

Type of services involvedCommunity Access ServicesIndividual supports

Other comments • Less sick leave taken by one individual in the team• Better client/organisation outcomes evident• Community involvement of clients increased

Hip IdeasLocation(s) involved in trial: MurwillumbahNSW

What changed in your service model?

Location-from a large day centre to a room in community centre.Location-Customers lived in the local areaLocation-Staff lived in local areaTransport-Transport only provided for customers living in accommodationStaff able to communicate directly daily with customer families

# Staff involved (headcount): 6

What changed in people management?

Staff had more autonomy to consider goals/outcomes based on NDIS outcome areasStaff were informed as a whole, no group leaderLearnings for staff-budget, NDIS pricing, discussion of income/expenditureDiscussion of what is not working-working on team rulesLetting go

# Teams involved : 2

What changed in yoursystems / processes?

Teams organised replacements for sick daysPhotos sent to family members of each customer dailyConsidering the PWD in decision makingInformation sharing paper based-staff hardware under maintenance

# Participants involved in trial: 13

Timeframe of trial July to Nov

Type of services involved: Day Program

Information session to discuss learnings and self managed teams with support coordinators and DSWs well supported

Monitoring and evaluation in a

complex system

• Part A: Review, reflect and respond

• Part B: Measure changes across a range of indicators

Commonly identified indicators

Intended shorter term outcomes

• Workers support the change being trialled

• Workers and customers are valued as individuals

• Workers feel a sense of professionalism and accountability for

outcomes

• The service provider cultivates a high trust and values based model of

leadership that focuses on decentralised decision making

• The service provider supports a learning culture—creativity,

innovation, safe to fail experiments, joint problem solving and

feedback loops

• Workers have higher levels of satisfaction and lower levels of job

stress.

Intended longer term outcomes

Customers are empowered to pursue their goals and aspirations

including more choice and control over activities in their daily life

Customers are living fulfilling lives

Service provider is financially sustainable.

Seven factors for realising HPWP

Organisational factorsRelationship with mangers/

peersConfidence in own work

Being valued and supported by

the organisation (factor 1)

A monitoring, evaluation,

learning and adapting culture

(factor 2)

Feeling trusted by management

(factor 3)

Innovation and tolerance for risk

(factor 4)

Confidence in own abilities (factor 5)

Sense of peer support (factor 6)

Satisfaction in autonomy (factor

7)

The survey data revealed seven factors for HPWP. These seven factors explain 67% of all the

variation in all items. This suggests they provide a good summary of all 39 items designed to

measure HPWP.

The HPWP10

The seven factors can be boiled down to just two core factors:

• An organisational commitment to continuous improvement based on staff

engagement.

• Self and manager confidence in ability and decision making.

These can be measured with the following 10 item HPWP scale

1. At our organisation we highlight the learning that comes from successful service delivery

2. At our organisation we review the causes of our failures

3. At our organisation we frequently refine the provision of existing products and services

4. I feel that my opinions and views are listened to in my organisation

5. I feel that my knowledge and skills are recognised in my organisation

6. I feel valued by my organisation

7. My manager believes that I can handle demanding tasks

8. I am confident in my ability to understand the changing support needs of my clients

9. I can talk freely to my peers about difficulties I am having at work

10. I can make my own decisions on how I do my job

HPWP properties and use

• A scale score for the 10 items was calculated for each survey

respondent (using the mean score from the 10 items).

• Reliability analysis showed this scale had very well internal

consistently (alpha=0.87), and a very high correlation with a 20 item

version (.97) further suggesting the simplicity of the 10 item scale

over the 20 item version on the grounds of parsimony.

• The predictive validity of these 10 items is suggested by the fact that

• for every 1 unit increase on the HPWP10 you can see a 0.6 unit decrease in ‘I

often think about quitting this job’ and a 0.5 unit decrease on the Job Stress scale.

• While the HPWP10 can predict the extent to which staff think the change is a

good idea for their organisation and will be feasible to implement, it does not

predict whether they think the change will be good for their clients.

• The only item that predicts whether people think the change is good for their

clients is whether they think the NDIS will be good for their clients

• We suggest using the HPWP10 over time to gauge staff attitudes to

the key factors underpinning a HPWP environment against the

baseline measured in October 2016.

Collective wisdom of the group

distilled by ARTD

Communicate the vision with everyone and ensure you have staff

that actually enjoy working in a team-based, solutions-focused

environment. Be transparent about the magnitude of the challenge

and engage staff, carers and people with disability in finding

solutions. Don’t get stuck on waiting till you have worked it all out.

Create an organisational environment of incremental change in

which there is a continuous process of reviewing, reflecting and

responding. Recognise the additional responsibility your workers

are taking on, encourage them to apply their skills and be their

most enthusiastic supporter. While a grand vision is motivating,

incrementalism is important to getting things going, and staff need

to be confident in their abilities. They must feel supported and

believe in the capacity of their organisation to adapt while believing

any change will ultimately benefit their clients.

What participants said

• “Clarity on the vision coupled with discernment in decision-making can be a more agile, efficient and effective means of generating outcomes than rule-based procedures”

• “Rather than workers asking managers ‘can we do this’ they are now asking the person with disability, ‘how will we do this?”

• “We are making permanent changes to survive”