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The Career Development Association of New Zealand
The Ezine Winter 2016 Volume 20 issue 2
Occupational
Rehabilitation
Conference report
Worker ‘value’ in
the context of
disability
Supported
Employment and
traumatic brain injury
Voc Rehab: From
good to great
Multi-disciplinary
rehabilitation teams
Better literacy and
numeracy skills
Career
Development in
NZ: A scoping
paper
Career
development
needs policy
Dealing with the
ever changing policy
landscape
Professional
standards
The National
Forum on Lifelong
Career
Development
Careers New Zealand transfer to
Tertiary Education Commission
President’s Piece: Hear our voices
Welcome to the Winter Ezine!
Volume 20, Issue 2, Winter 2016
The theme is Occupational Rehabilitation, following the successful inaugural Occupational
Rehabilitation Conference in April this year. The articles portray the multi-disciplinary and collaborative
work going on in this sector.
Other articles in this Ezine centre on the work to advocate for a national strategy for Career
Development.
President’s Piece: Hear our voices …
Val O’Reilly reports back on what’s being done to meet the challenge of representing the many sector
voices at CDANZ ...
NZ Occupational Rehabilitation Conference 2016
Lauren Hughes reports on the inaugural event that attracted a broad cross section of delegates
Worker ‘value’ in the context of disability
The workplace can be a site of some of the most confronting experiences of disability. Dr Joanna Fadyl
reports ...
Vocational Rehabilitation: From good to great Gabrielle O’Connell writes about this expanding area of career practice ...
Multi-disciplinary rehabilitation teams
Andy Schmidt from Active+ describes the roles of the practitioners working in Rehabilitation ...
Better literacy and numeracy skills mean better lives
David Do from the Tertiary Education Commission describes the TEC’s Literacy and Numeracy Tool ...
Supported Employment and traumatic brain injury
Does a place-then-train approach increase return to work rates for those with TBI? Shane Heasley
report ...
Dealing with the ever changing policy landscape
Tristram Hooley shares his learning from international practice and sends a message to career workers
in New Zealand ...
The National Forum on Lifelong Career Development
Kaye Avery charts the progress of the NFLLCD and the efforts of a group of very determined people ...
Career Development in New Zealand: A scoping paper
Jean Ottley with a summary of the paper commissioned by CDANZ and written by Dr Dale Furbish ...
Careers New Zealand transfers to Tertiary Education Commission
A press release from Careers New Zealand following the May announcement from Ministers Joyce and
Parata ...
Career development across the lifespan needs policy
Sam Young on the misfortune of not having a national policy statement ...
Professional standards and alternative pathways
Sam Pip Jamieson outlines some of the issues under consideration by the CDANZ Executive and the
Professionalism Team ...
Copyright © The Career Development Association of NZ (CDANZ)
All rights reserved.
President's Piece: Hear our voices …
The Occupational Rehabilitation Conference in April, the upcoming
Research Symposium in October, and the National Forum on Lifelong
Career Development are all examples of CDANZ meeting the challenge to
hear and represent the many sector voices. Val O’Reilly reports.
We have much to celebrate simply because we live in New Zealand. We enjoy
comparative political and religious freedoms, and benefit from diverse experiences,
landscapes, and people. Our collective desire to protect what we value, and to be
listened to, is enshrined spiritually in the line "Āta whakarongo" in our national anthem.
Our CDANZ competencies assert the need to understand and recognise the diverse
populations of our client base; yet that very diversity means we are continually
challenged as a professional association to hear, and effectively represent, the many
sector voices.
This year we took a significant step to meet that challenge, specifically in the
occupational rehabilitation sector, with a collaborative career development event
representing vocational consultants, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and
other stakeholders involved in helping clients obtain employment through
rehabilitation. The successful 2016 Occupational Rehabilitation Conference, held in
Auckland on 18 April, was designed to promote cross disciplinary co-operation,
professional development, and aspirational thinking within the sector. I am sure you
will enjoy reading in this issue a number of reflections inspired by the conference
themes.
The comparative individual political freedoms we enjoy in our country may well be
envied by others, yet the voice of career development as we understand it struggles to
be heard within the ever changing New Zealand policy landscape.
Our collective professional voice has critical insights to offer about lifelong career
development, social justice, and meaningful work, but opportunities to be heard have
been limited and it is important that we address this gap. To this end, CDANZ led the
formation in 2015 of the "National Forum on Lifelong Career Development" to broaden the
engagement and scope of discussion around career development. Following forum
discussion and feedback, we have this year commissioned a scoping paper, prepared by
Dr Dale Furbish with assistance from a working group of CDANZ volunteers, to profile
career development in New Zealand. Recent policy decisions have heightened
awareness of the urgency for our voice to be heard in the policy debate about what a
good career development offer actually looks like. We will keep members informed about
the progress of the scoping paper and the forum.
The notion of our voice being heard and being valued forms the overarching theme for
this year's Symposium in Christchurch on 3 and 4 October. "Our Value, Our Voice" is
an opportunity for members and those working across the career development industry
to participate in, learn about, and contribute to the research and leading practice of our
profession.
I encourage you to join us in Christchurch for the excellent professional development
and enjoyable networking. Also, if you are a Professional member considering a
presentation focussing on research or leading practice (or both) we encourage you to
look at how the Research Dissemination Fund can support you. Here’s an extract from
the information on the CDANZ website.
The purpose of this fund is to foster the dissemination of completed research
project findings and/or leading practice findings, which will be of benefit to
CDANZ members generally.
Funding may be granted for attending conferences, symposia and/or
professional -development workshops, provided that the applicant is offering a
paper/workshop/ seminar/keynote that has been accepted and reflects the
applicant’s research findings/leading practice.
And in the meanwhile we have more ways to "hear" your voice so share your thoughts
and inspirations... you can tweet or leave a message on LinkedIn or on our Facebook
page.
Val O’Reilly – CDANZ President, Professional Member, Life-Story Director
Follow at nz.linkedin.com/pub/val-o-reilly/24/533/392/
Notes:
Research Dissemination Fund details at http://www.cdanz.org.nz/resources/research/
New Zealand Occupational Rehabilitation
Conference 2016
It was attended by career development professionals, physiotherapists,
occupational therapists, nurses, psychologists, GPs, social workers, and
more. National Development Manager Lauren Hughes coordinated the
inaugural Occupational Rehabilitation conference and reports that there is
plenty of appetite for another event next year.
In April CDANZ produced the inaugural New Zealand Occupational Rehabilitation
Conference in partnership with the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) School of
Clinical Sciences, and Senior Event Sponsors Active+ and Independent Living Service
Trust (ILS) NZ. Over 120 people attended this one day event including 21 speakers and
panellists.
One of the goals of the event was to create a forum to promote cross disciplinary
networking and collaboration between all stakeholders in the occupational rehabilitation
process. We were delighted to achieve this aim, attracting a broad cross section of the
industry to the event.
50% career development professionals
10% physiotherapists
10% occupational therapists
15% other medical e.g. occupational nurses, psychologists, GPs
10% other non-medical e.g. social workers, sponsors
Icebreaker - Getting to know one another
The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) endorsed the event and sent Category
Managers Nic Johnson and Gillian Anderson to present an overview of Obtain
Employment Services and an update on Work Ready and Job Brokerage Services.
Slides for these presentations are available on the CDANZ website.
With panellists Paula Rewi, David Broomhead, Paul Fennessy, Dr Anthony Burgess
and Sam Hack, ACC’s Brent Habgood facilitated a panel discussion on Initial
Occupational Assessment / Initial Medical Assessment (IOA/IMA) and also Vocational
Independence Occupational Assessment / Vocational Independence Assessment
(VIOA/VIMA).
Our panellists
Real Jobs for Real People
The panel emphasised the importance of the vocational consultant’s role in identifying
the right range of work types for clients. Getting this wrong can compromise the whole
process. For example a self-employed tradesperson may disguise their lack of literacy
or numeracy, with their spouse taking care of that part of the business. If their post
injury work type is identified as “small business or accounts clerk” that is not going to
work. It is important that literacy, numeracy, computing skills, criminal convictions and
type of drivers licence are assessed here. Helping a client identify pre-injury
transferable skills, interests and networks is also critically important in helping them
obtain employment.
The panel were asked about the counselling mandate within IOA, with an observation
made that case managers don’t know where to put counselling even when counselling
is often necessary to achieve a quality outcome for the client. Feedback was offered to
ACC that there is often not time in the process to offer career counselling where
needed.
Complexities within cases that pose particular challenges for all the professionals
involved in the process include a client’s language skills, their attitude and
agreeableness to the process, whether they are affected by drug or alcohol
dependence, serious injury or sensitive claims, pain issues and mental health. If it is
clear that the client is still suffering trauma and not psychologically ready for this
process Paula Rewi advised that she would immediately cease their appointment and
refer to psychology services.
Independent Medical Assessor Dr Anthony Burgess advised that his only concern is
“can the client physically do this job?” It is not helpful to have too many possible work
types to assess. About eight is ideal. Again he pointed out the importance of the right
work types having been identified by the vocational consultant. If he clears an individual
for an identified work type and a non-medical reason prevents them from pursuing that
work type, the system then falls down.
The panel discussed the differences between an urban and a rural environment. A
client who has relocated from the city to countryside to be with family may then be
faced with fewer job opportunities. They may also have fewer resources to enable them
to find or maintain work, for instance no computer or internet access. A client that has
relocated from the country to the city may find it more difficult to transfer their skills into
an urban environment.
A vocational consultant asked how assessors are supported to keep up to date with the
job market. Advice was that ACC provide detail sheet updates but if an assessor
identifies a new job that is not currently listed by ACC please tell them. Courts require
standardisation, so provide ACC with the job information and they will update the
database.
Opportunities for Occupational Rehabilitation Professionals
Two options for professionals to enter this area of practice are the ACC Internship
Programme and the Post Graduate Certificate in Vocational Rehabilitation. Information
about these two options was presented by Joanna Heymel, Active+ and Joanna Fadyl,
AUT. Slides for these presentations are available on the CDANZ website.
Vocational rehabilitation is inherently interdisciplinary and inescapably situated in ‘real
life’.
Joanna Fadyl, who has also written for this Ezine, presented a thought provoking
exploration into inter-disciplinary vocational rehabilitation: challenges and opportunities.
This included a history of vocational rehabilitation in New Zealand and the context
today. Slides are available on the CDANZ website.
Dr Fadyl then led one of the five concurrent workshops on the afternoon of the
conference. In her workshop she continued cross disciplinary conversations.
Next door, Helen Robertshaw of Framework Trust and Sarah Halliday of Geneva
Elevator introduced Supported Employment and facilitated a conversation around
different approaches to vocational rehabilitation, beyond ACC. Workshop participants
included practitioners working for insurance companies, MSD, the disability and mental
health sector, occupational health nursing and the NZ Spinal Trust. Some thoughts
posed by this group included:
What’s the definition of work? When will government agencies start recognising several
part times roles as work?
There are real challenges in finding work trials. Incentives for employers are not the
answer. Employers are as vital as our clients and they are not seeking money but
recognition as a good employer. Many big employers now have a Diversity Policy.
The New Zealand Disability Support Network (NZDSN) have workshops and resources
to help “demystify” employers around employing people with disabilities and create
confident employers.
Does the structure of contracts we deliver drive Best Practice? What needs to change?
Many workshop participants agreed that there was a need to start the conversation
around vocational rehabilitation as early as possible, including hospital intervention.
WorkSafe NZ presented information about new Health and Safety Legislation. Gillian
Anderson and Dr Robin Griffiths led a workshop on Vocational Medical Assessments
and Karen Came from APM Workcare facilitated a discussion around Work Trials.
Available notes and/or resources from all workshops are available on the CDANZ
website.
Closing Key Notes
The afternoon concluded with two excellent Key Notes from Sam Hack, ACCs Legal
Advisor and Dr Duncan Babbage who offered tips, tools and strategies for working with
clients with TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). Post event feedback indicated that these
speakers were highlights for many in attendance. They offered practical, humorous
insight into very important subjects. Slides and links to Dr Babbage’s podcasts are
available on the CDANZ website.
Next Steps
There was overwhelming support for the value of this event. 100 per cent of survey
respondents supported holding the event again and 62 per cent of respondents would
like it to be an annual event. CDANZ will explore this possibility under our National PD
Strategy. We were delighted to establish so many new relationships in the staging of
this inaugural conference including AUT’s School of Clinical Sciences, NZ Association
of Musculoskeletal Medicine (NZAMM), Active+ and ILS NZ. We were also pleased to
work once again with our friends at NZDSN, ACC and MYOB. Special thanks to
CDANZ Member and Director of Accomplish Vocational Services, Paula Rewi, for her
vision for, and extraordinary contribution to this event. Thanks also to all our presenters
and everyone who attended.
Lauren Hughes – CDANZ National Development Manager.
Follow at nz.linkedin.com/pub/lauren-hughes/9/18b/721/en
Notes:
Location of all resources mentioned: http://www.cdanz.org.nz/resources/presentations/
Worker ‘value’ in the context of disability
It is the expectation that people must climb stairs – not the inability to climb
them – that is disabling. Joanna Fadyl writes about working with,
challenging, and transforming notions of worker ‘value’ in the context of
disability.
We often take for granted that having paid work will reduce negative experiences for
disabled people. However, sociological research indicates that the workplace can be a
site of some of the most confronting experiences of disability – especially for those
whose abilities have significantly changed. Is this something that sits within the scope
of vocational rehabilitation and career development? What can we learn from other
fields that can inform our practice to help ameliorate these concerns?
Disability Studies starts from the notion that disability is socially contingent – that the
profound disadvantage and marginalisation that characterises the experience of
disability is something created in society. People are disabled by the mismatch between
the way their body or mind works and the structures in society (e.g. it is the expectation
that people must climb stairs, not the inability to climb them, that is disabling). In the
context of work, the ‘norms’ about what a worker is and what makes them valuable are
key in creating experiences of disability.
It seems this is incredibly hard to address because it is so ingrained – the practices and
assumptions that create disability are the fabric of our everyday lives – the stuff we
don’t question because it seems to be ‘common sense’ – even if we ourselves
experience disability as a result. Because of this, researchers in Disability Studies have
turned to philosophy to help make some of these things, and their alternatives, visible.
Along with colleagues at AUT University, I recently conducted a study that uses
philosophy that shows disability as socially constructed in order to analyse, compare
and contrast the experiences of four individuals who experience ongoing disability. The
study looks at how societal discourses of worker ‘value’ can constrain or broaden
vocational opportunities available to individuals who experience disability. You can read
the case discussions and the full study in Disability and Rehabilitation1. I have outlined
the key conclusions below:
Experiences described by our participants overwhelmingly illustrated a perpetuation of
messages in which disability is seen as a deficit. However, they also described a variety
of worker identities that were not focused on impairment, and that enabled positive
trajectories in terms of work acquisition and career development.
This is where we see this study highlighting an opportunity for positive interventions.
There are several key discussion points based on the findings of this study that are
particularly useful in thinking about the contribution to practice and policy:
1. Constructions of ‘human capital’ and available identities and actions
An important notion within understandings of ‘human capital’ is that qualification for and
value within a role goes beyond the skills and work experience that a person
possesses, and includes aspects of self, such as knowledge, life experiences and
personal attributes. However, the ways in which this is interpreted into job roles, job
descriptions and desired employees is variable.
An article by Foster and Wass published in 20122 argued that in the UK one of the main
problems that results in the inaccessibility of employment for disabled people is a job
being conceptualized as a disembodied role – designed around ideas of what workers
should be able to do (based on a gendered, ableist expectation of what humans are
capable of), with the idea that the ideal worker will be the person who happens to best
meet pre-defined criteria, created before a ‘real’ potential worker even has opportunity
to apply for the job.
This doesn’t allow space for potential attributes of a worker that may not be directly job-
related but could enhance the functioning of the role and contribute to a workplace.
Participants in our study clearly described a similar phenomenon, although also
highlighted different and nuanced experiences of these sorts of encounters – e.g.
where while one participant experienced an inaccessibility of the job market because
she did not fit employers’ ‘aesthetic’ expectations for a person in her role despite having
the skills and experience, another challenged employers to consider her value even
though her abilities may not fit the standard job description. Conversely, another
participant described a workplace in which his experiences of disability were valued as
one of the most important qualifications for the job, and the role structured around his
contribution.
In each case, the person’s understanding of how their ‘value’ in the job was constituted
(i.e. what made them a valuable worker to the employer) structured the actions that
were possible for them in their particular worker identities – including seeking work,
behaviour with clients and customers, developing the role, seeking more hours or
higher pay, and so on.
Identities and actions were also described by individuals in terms of prior social
experiences and the underlying understandings this re/created about how “someone
like me” is perceived in the world. Our participants’ experiences of having disability
inscribed in their appearance, and its social meanings always part of every interaction,
greatly affected experiences of seeking and doing work.
This shaped the ways of engaging with actual and potential employers, clients,
colleagues, that were possible for that individual. For example, in one participant’s
description, her ability to limit the rejection she experienced to the individual employer,
and know herself to be capable when others denied her value was grounded in her
identity as a competent and valuable worker, backed up by years of fulfilling this identity
successfully.
These insights have implications for the ways in which rehabilitation and career
development professionals approach vocational goals and aspirations with the
individuals they work with. The various interactions and experiences that have
constructed an individual’s knowledge and presentation of their ‘value’ as a worker
have an impact on the opportunities that are genuinely available to them. Thus, a
background knowledge of both societal discourses and individual interactions with them
may be vital to enabling opportunities that people experience as valid options, as well
as affording information with which to navigate situations that could potentially reinforce
negative identities and experiences.
2. Potential for expanding possibilities for worker identities and actions
The next question concerns the extent to which there is potential to help open
possibilities for individuals who are experiencing disability to take up new worker
subject positions through rehabilitation and career development practices.
One point clearly highlighted by the present study is the importance of seeing the
potential for changing the scope of identities available to people as something that is a
social as opposed to an individual exercise.
Interactions and practices in rehabilitation form an important part of the social
landscape for people who experience disability. An important aspect of this may be in
facilitating practitioners to see ‘barriers’ not in terms of what is preventing a person
being able to get or do a job, but in terms of what is limiting a person’s ability to embody
an enabling identity. This necessarily involves developing a nuanced understanding of
the identities and actions that are available to the individuals accessing their services –
taking social history and current milieu into account. This would then make it possible to
reflect on ways in which it might be conceivable to work with them and their
communities to open up options.
The importance of mentors and employers who can see the experience of disability as
part of an authentic worker identity, employers and communities who see more than
‘disability’ inscribed in a person’s presentation, and the availability of new experiences
that have the possibility of producing a more positive social experience for people who
have consistently experienced discrimination and disadvantage seem to be essential
ingredients.
Joanna Fadyl PhD – Senior Lecturer, School of Clinical Sciences & Deputy Director, Centre for
Person Centred Research – AUT University
Follow at http://nz.linkedin.com/in/joanna-fadyl
Notes:
1. Fadyl, J. K., & Payne, D. (2015). Socially constructed ‘value’ and vocational experiences following neurological injury.
Disability and Rehabilitation, doi:10.3109/09638288.2015.1116620
2. Foster, D. and Wass, V. (2012) Disability in the Labour Market: An Exploration of Concepts of the Ideal Worker and
Organisational Fit that Disadvantage Employees with Impairments. Sociology: 1-17.
http://soc.sagepub.com/content/47/4/705
Supported Employment and traumatic brain injury
Does participation in a supported employment programme increase
return to work rates for those with traumatic brain injury? Shane Heasley
looks at the literature.
Return to work is a key outcome for those undergoing vocational rehabilitation, and can
be particularly challenging for persons who have sustained a traumatic brain injury
(TBI), where rates of return vary significantly from 20% to 90%. Supported Employment
is one approach to this challenge and has seen success in other populations including
severe mental illness, and spinal injury. It is characterised by a place-then-train
approach, and focuses on open competitive employment. This study looks to examine
the effectiveness of Supported Employment through a review of existing literature, and
identify whether it is in fact efficacious.
Search Strategy
Using the PICOT framework, search terms were developed. Searches were completed
using Medline, PsychInfo, and ProQuest. Key search terms where applied using an
AND/OR strategy [(‘supported employment’ OR ‘vocational rehabilitation’) AND
(‘traumatic brain injury’ OR ‘TBI’)]. Results were limited to English, and no limit was
placed on time. The reference lists of the most relevant papers were searched by hand
to identify any papers that may not have appeared in search results.
Eligibility
Papers that looked specifically at traumatic brain injury, and where supported
employment and/or vocational rehabilitation were being considered with regards to their
effect on return to work outcomes, were included. With the exception of one paper, only
those that could be obtained online in full text were selected.
Findings
Three papers, which met the above criteria were selected. Two definitions of return to
work are persistent in the literature; inclusive and restricted. An inclusive definition of
return to work (encompassing paid work and other productive activities) can inflate
return to work outcomes, above those studies where a restricted definition (i.e. paid
competitive employment only) is used. A synthesis of studies found there was a
statistically significant relationship between the intervention of vocational rehabilitation
(including supported employment) on return to work rates, when compared to no
intervention at all. Supported employment has been observed to be more effective at
returning people to competitive employment than standard vocational rehabilitation
alone. Consumers of such services have identified that outcomes must be weighed
against personal values of success, which include work, self worth, and self-fulfilment,
as well as the sustainability of work and non-work life balance.
Discussion
Supported employment appears to be effective at returning people to competitive
employment; however, this alone cannot be the whole measure of achievement.
Factors of success identified by TBI clients may be achieved in other meaningful
pursuits. Alternative forms of vocational rehabilitation are also capable of returning
people to productive activity; though potentially not as successful, their proficiency is
nevertheless significant.
High levels of heterogeneity amongst clients, providers, and approaches make
significant comparisons amongst rehabilitation designs difficult. Although not
considered as part of this study, the long-term cost of supported employment, as
compared to other vocational rehabilitation interventions may impact on its acceptability
to funding organisations. Reported low durability of employment outcomes across the
spectrum of interventions also demands further inquiry. Further opportunity for research
exists, owing to the limited availability of literature on this topic.
Shane Heasley – CDANZ Professional Member & Vice President, Occupational Assessor &
Vocational Consultant
Follow at http://nz.linkedin.com/in/shaneheasleynz
References:
Gamble D., and Moore C. L. (2003) Supported employment: Disparities in vocational rehabilitation outcomes,
expenditures and service time for persons with traumatic brain injury. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation Vol.19 pp.
47-57
Kendall E., Muenchberger H., and Gee T. (2006) Vocational rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury: A quantitative
synthesis of outcome studies. Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation. Vol. 25 pp. 149-160
Levack W., McPherson K., and McNaughton H. (2004) Success in the workplace following traumatic brain injury: are
we evaluating what is most important? Disability and Rehabilitation Vol.26(5) pp. 290-298
Vocational Rehabilitation: From good to great
The goals of vocational rehabilitation are independence, meaningful activity
and reintegration. Practitioners in this field are knowledgeable and resilient,
with a raft of skills to meet the challenges of returning people to work.
Gabrielle O’Connell writes.
Vocational rehabilitation is an expanding area of career practice. The key motivators for
working in this field are big picture values including the rights of citizenship, the value of
work, health and wellbeing, and promoting a diverse, more inclusive and just society.
The primary goal of vocational rehabilitation is to assist individuals with disabilities gain
or regain their independence through employment or some form of meaningful activity,
and reintegration into society (Parker & Szymanski, 2003; Rubin & Roessler,1995).
There are many job titles describing various aspects of vocational rehabilitation –
employment consultant, occupational assessment, case manager, work broker,
vocational consultant, placement co-ordinator, rehabilitation counsellor, to name a few.
The United States Commission on Rehabilitation Counseling Certification (CRCC)
identifies the centrality of a broad range of rehabilitation disciplines and processes.
Research on the evolution of vocational rehabilitation competencies in Australia
considered job function, knowledge areas in terms of importance and frequency
(Matthews, L.R., et al., undated). Six main factors were identified: vocational
counselling, professional practice, personal counselling, rehabilitation case
management, work place disability case management and work place intervention and
programme management.
For many CDANZ members vocational rehabilitation service activities are weighted
towards pre-employment skills, short term training, securing work trials and
employment. Micro counselling skills, industry knowledge and relationship management
with stakeholders, together with personal attributes of resilience, advocacy and work
that aligns with our personal values help to bring about success in this work.
There are frustrations associated with trying to meet the voc rehab goals of
independence, meaningful activity and reintegration. At a macro level the role of the
state in the welfare of citizens, privatisation, legislative requirements and fiscal
restraints impact on our work. Barriers to the employment, a lack of meaningful work, a
lack of skilled work or work with good career prospects, financial pressure from work
placements ending, and standardised contracts are daily challenges. The skills we
develop to overcome these challenges include counselling, educating, mediating and
negotiation, networking and relationship management, conflict resolution, report writing
and administration. I would urge CDANZ to consider these skills when planning
professional development activities for members.
Gabrielle O’Connell – CDANZ Executive member, ANZASW Registered Social Worker,
Career Practitioner
Follow at http://nz.linkedin.com/in/gabrielle-o-connell
References:
International Encyclopedia of Rehabiliation http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/encyclopedia/en/article/128/
Matthews, L.R., Buys, N., Randall, C, Biggs, H and Pearce, Z, undated. Evolution of vocational rehabilitation
competencies in Australia
http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/handle/10072/33229/63625_1.pdf?sequence=1
Multi-disciplinary rehabilitation teams
In Andy Schmidt’s experience, a multi-disciplinary service under one umbrella
has resulted in fluent communication between clinicians around the return to
work, as well as a greater understanding overall.
Over the past few years, the New Zealand health professional community has really
started to embrace the concept of a true multi-disciplinary rehabilitation team, that
has the aim of returning clients to work, either their current occupation or in a new
capacity. The negative impacts on an individual of not working or participating in
activity are well-known by the readers of this journal. So it was encouraging to see
the work being done in this area, as evidenced by the large turnout of professionals
at the inaugural Occupational Rehabilitation conference in April 2016
Some of the improved collaboration in this area has been driven by changes in
service modelling, particularly by the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC).
Because of these changes, providers were required to take the lead clinician or key
worker role to facilitate service delivery for clients.
The resulting multi-disciplinary service under one umbrella, rather than fragmented
services led by an external key worker, has, in our experience, resulted in greater
communication between clinicians around the return to work plan and ongoing
actions arising from it. Furthermore there is a greater understanding between
professionals involved of the different roles and responsibilities undertaken by each
discipline.
Anecdotally, there are some ongoing difficulties, for instance the work certification
progress is external to the return to work process, and there is sometimes a lack of
sustainability measurement around the return to work. However overall from a
provider point of view the outcomes are encouraging.
Within Active+, the vocational rehabilitation process is a collaborative effort between
occupational therapists, physiotherapist, vocational consultants, rehabilitation nurses
and medical specialists, dependent on the type and level of service required.
Alongside this, with concurrent contracts this process can be supported under our
umbrella of clinicians by psychologists, counsellors, social workers, cultural advisors,
nutritionists and pharmacists. Being able to discuss the best way forward for the
client, and allow the most appropriate clinicians to be involved is truly rewarding from
a clinical development perspective. And it gives us the greatest chance of success
for the client.
Our model of care utilises a lead clinician model. The claim is received from a case
manager and then allocated to a lead clinician, who is either a Vocational Consultant,
an Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist with post-graduate occupational health
training. This allocation will depend on the service level. Clinicians use case
management protocols to ensure service specifications are met and secondary
clinicians are brought in to achieve the outcome sought.
The roles of each clinician group have some overlap to ensure continuity of service
and outcomes, and equally they have their own required responsibilities within the
contracts.
The Occupational Therapist (OT) is often the key worker for clients who have a
current job and place of work to return to following an injury. The OT will liaise with
the client, their employer, and current treating health professionals in order to
develop a safe and sustainable return to work plan that all parties agree on. This
requires sign-off from the specialist or GP who has authorised the current level of
work-ability. The OT often has a great opportunity here to educate the medical
profession on the ability to certify for particular parts of the work role. The OT often
facilitates earlier return to the workplace in some capacity than would have been
possible without the service. Regular communication between the client, employer,
GP and physiotherapist is required in this role. Any requirement for equipment to help
with the return to work is also done by this clinician.
The Physiotherapist’s role is to provide the functional rehabilitation required to return
the client to their previous work tasks, or new work tasks if a new role has been
identified for the client. For a lot of people, the experience of physiotherapy has been
‘hands-on’ therapy, whereas the intervention here has more of an exercise
rehabilitation component, with education, advice and eventually self-management the
key focus. Often the client will have had, or in some cases, still be having concurrent
‘hands-on’ physiotherapy or other interventions, and so it is an important component
of the physiotherapy to also liaise with these current treatment providers to ensure
clear messaging and clinician roles and responsibilities are outlined.
Overall, from a provider perspective, it is encouraging to see the collaborative
approach that many health professionals are taking in this important area, and if the
turn-out and positive interaction at the recent conference is anything to go by, this will
only continue. But we can’t forget that there are challenges too that we need to
continue to work on.
Going forward, it is hoped that a greater emphasis on sustainable return to work is
measured by funding agencies, to enable a safe and responsible return to work,
which is viewed by both the client and the wider health sector as a positive
experience. Equally, an improvement in buy-in from some medical professionals is
necessary to ensure that the health workforce is being properly utilised in their areas
of expertise, to gain improved outcomes in occupational rehabilitation.
Andy Schmidt MHPrac (Distinction) in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy, BPhty.
Franchise Operations Manager, Active+
Follow at http:/nz.linkedin.com/in/physioauckland
Better literacy and numeracy skills mean better lives
Basic literacy and numeracy skills are essential foundations for life, learning
and work. The importance of these skills is often highlighted during
occupational rehabilitation, when an individual may be unable to return to the
type of work they previously did. David Do from the Tertiary Education
Commission describes their Literacy and Numeracy Tool.1
Literacy is the written and oral language people use in everyday life and work.
Numeracy is an adult’s knowledge and understanding of, and application to daily life, of
mathematical concepts. It is valuable to have tools that can effectively assess the
individual’s literacy and numeracy skills so that other appropriate work options can be
proposed and/or additional training in these areas can be facilitated.
We want everyone to fully participate in a modern high-skilled economy and society.
We want more parents to be able to read to their kids. We want more workers to be
confident enough to speak up at work to fix health and safety issues, to be more
productive, and to understand and manage their personal finances. We want more
people to be engaged in their community and our democracy.
However, low literacy and numeracy skills hold many people back from reaching their
full potential and the opportunity to improve New Zealand’s literacy and numeracy skills
remains significant. Adult literacy and numeracy skill levels don’t always grab
headlines, but they affect nearly every aspect of our economy and the wellbeing of
individuals, families and communities.
About 1.3 million New Zealanders do not have the literacy and numeracy skills to fully
engage in modern society.1 This is 43 percent of adults aged 16 to 65. The majority of this
group – 62 percent – were born in New Zealand and Māori and Pasifika adults are over
represented here too.
The industries with the highest proportions of workers with lower literacy and numeracy
skills are agriculture, manufacturing, forestry, transport, retail trade, aged care / home
help, and food services. Changing technology and globalisation trends mean work and
daily life require higher levels of literacy and numeracy and other skills.
The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) is responsible for funding tertiary education,
and assisting people to reach their full potential. Our Adult Literacy and Numeracy
Implementation Strategy sets out how we will work with the tertiary sector, employers
and across government to lift literacy and numeracy skills. We have an Assessment
Tool that helps diagnose literacy and numeracy skills and helps educators improve
adults’ skills.
The Literacy and Numeracy for Adults Assessment Tool (Assessment Tool) is New
Zealand’s key diagnostic tool for assessing adult literacy and numeracy skills. It takes
the guess work out of knowing how well a person reads, understands language, and
uses numbers in daily life. It’s a key part of our literacy and numeracy work which
focuses on improving learner outcomes from courses offered at the New Zealand
Qualifications Framework levels 1 to 3.
The Assessment Tool is:
diagnostic – it’s not a pass or fail test. It helps find out a learner’s particular strengths
and weaknesses in reading, general numeracy, writing, listening, and speaking at the
start and end of a course (tracking progress). It helps educators customise their
teaching and be deliberate about teaching areas which the Assessment Tool
highlights as specific areas of learner need.
consistent – it’s a nationally consistent, robust, well tested, and widely used tool that
research confirms is helping educators achieve results with learners. It is linked to
our national framework for literacy and numeracy skills called the Adult Learning
Progressions. To simplify, we’d like to see more learners at Step 4 in Reading and
Step 5 in numeracy or above, out of a 6 step scale for these skill levels.
online – it’s easy to do if the adult is familiar with a computer (paper-based
assessments are also available). Results are available immediately, so they can be
analysed to adjust teaching strategies to be more effective.
adaptive – the questions change in difficulty depending on the answers – incorrect
answers usually mean ‘easier’ questions will follow, and correct answers usually
mean ‘harder’ questions will follow. This means the Assessment Tool is much more
accurate than a fixed set of questions.
skills-based – it assesses learners’ literacy and numeracy skills, not the content they
know. The questions are based on situations adults are likely to encounter at work
and in everyday New Zealand life.
Using the Assessment Tool is part of good teaching practice in an educational context
and there are also benefits for career development clients. It could help career workers
to:
identify areas for improvement that could help the client get back into work that
suits their real capabilities; and
better guide clients to the next step or intervention to help them back into work
that suits their skills, or improve their skills so they can get into better work. This
may include education or training which is funded by the Tertiary Education
Commission or vocational training funded through an ACC Work Ready
programme.
There are also other Assessment Tool options or ‘flavours’ apart from the main adult
option. These options help educators work with diverse learners and include the
popular Youth Option for learners aged 15 to 25, Maori learner reading assessment
option (in English), and Starting Points options for ESOL learners and those who are
just starting to learn English.
How would you use the Assessment Tool with a client?
To use the Tool effectively, you will need to understand how the results link to the
Learning Progressions and how to interpret the results to the adult. I’m happy to provide
you more information. In the meantime, watch these two videos. One that gives
educators pointers on how to brief the learner before they sit the assessment.2 And one
that has the right messages about what this Assessment Tool is and isn’t. It is aimed at
learners aged below 25 but the messages apply to all learners.3
It takes about 30 minutes to an hour to do a full length assessment. Snapshot
assessments are less ‘taxing’ and take about half as long so they might work better in
your context. Snapshot assessments are shorter versions of the full length
assessments, but are slightly less accurate.
The Assessment Tool has great potential to help guide some of your clients to the next
destination on their rehabilitation journey.
Email me for a trial code so you can see what it looks and feels like.
David Do, Advisor, Literacy and Numeracy, Tertiary Education Commission. [email protected]
Notes:
3. From a presentation by David Do at the CDANZ Research and Leading Practice Symposium 2015.
4. These results are from the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development 2006 Adult Literacy and Lifeskills
Survey. New and updated results are due to be released at the end of June 2016.
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAEGF8MxVQI
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CikpQBpesEM
The National Forum on Lifelong Career Development
Kaye Avery charts the progress of the National Forum on Lifelong Career
Development (NFLLCD) and the efforts of a group of determined people to
advocate for our profession at the highest level.
Last year, 2015, our executive accepted an invitation from Careers New Zealand to join
them in representing New Zealand at the International Centre for Career Development
and Public Policy (ICCDPP) conference in Des Moines, Iowa. Earlier in the year
Professor Tristram Hooley from the UK had presented a number of workshops in
Auckland. He challenged us to step up our advocacy for the sector by promoting career
development as a policy imperative.
So the invitation from Careers New Zealand was timely and a perfect opportunity to
respond to Professor Hooley’s challenge and also to build CDANZ’s capability to
advocate at the highest level.
Julie Thomas from Careers New Zealand and Val O’Reilly, representing CDANZ,
attended the conference which was entitled Building the Talent Pipeline and Providing
Youth with Hope for the Future. The conference focused on the challenges facing
governments, employers, and communities to ensure young people have economically
viable futures.1
Val and Julie returned to New Zealand filled with inspiration, knowledge and
confidence, having experienced what other countries are doing and, with this
perspective, able to see how New Zealand compared. As the incumbent CDANZ
President, I felt that our commitment to advocating for our industry had to be solid. The
return on CDANZ’s investment in having Val attend the conference was the boosting of
our capability to articulate the career development imperative for all New Zealanders
and to initiate some positive action for CDANZ.
With a vibrant career development community in Auckland and wide ranging networks,
Val and I decided to invite a number of people to an initial meeting to discuss career
development in New Zealand. We wanted to test out its wider perspectives and to
gather support. Professor Tim Bentley of the Work Research Institute was keen to host
us – and interested in what we were doing.
First meeting: 3 July 2015
We invited people from industry, the Ministry of Education, Employers and
Manufacturers Association (EMA), Careers and Transition Education Association
(CATE), COMET Auckland (Education Trust), Human Resources Institute of New
Zealand (HRINZ), Equal Employment Opportunity Trust (EEO) and local CDANZ
members to an initial meeting on 3 July 2015. We recommended the following actions
to the group:
establish a National Forum for Lifelong Career Development
bring together stakeholders in the field of lifelong career development to
exchange information and experience at national/regional/local levels
explore possibilities for co-operation and co-ordination
explore potential research on the topic of career development in New Zealand
develop a framework for a National Strategy for Lifelong Career Development in
NZ.
At the meeting we noted key policy challenges:
active labour markets
youth transitions
economic development
efficient investment in education and training
employee engagement
labour market efficiency
labour market flexibility/flexicurity
lifelong learning
active ageing
social Mobility
participation in vocational and higher
education
reducing early school-leaving
skills utilisation
social equity
social inclusion
unemployment /under-employment
We also agreed on three key objectives.
1. To map out the territory. Identify the potential players/champions who could
participate in the forum. Recognise the influencers across the sectors. Initiate a
scoping document.
2. To engage research. Identify relevant existing research and gaps in evidence.
3. To create an action plan for raising the profile of what career development
means.
Second meeting: 17 August 2015
At our second meeting, on 17 August 2015 we agreed that NFLLCD’s purpose is: To
work as an advisory group to policy makers. To advocate and influence policy for
lifelong quality career development. To bring a career development and future
workforce-ready lens to improve the social and economic benefits for all New
Zealanders.
At the time Val O’Reilly wrote this in the Ezine about the Forum.
Lifelong career development is missing in workforce development policy.
The establishment of a national forum is the 1st step in addressing this
shortfall. A central belief of this group is that the lifelong career
development policy perspective will bring economic efficiency, social equity
and a system that is more human centred in design. The National Forum is
now developing a strategy that is working towards this end. Watch this
space! 2
Third meeting: November 2015
The NFLLCD group held a third meeting in November at which a decision was made to
commission a paper scoping the state of career development in New Zealand. Robyn
Bailey and I later met with Professor Gail Pacheco of the Work Research Institute to
discuss their involvement in such a piece of work. We recognised that research through
the University system was going to cost a significant amount of money. Robyn then
suggested that we talk with Dr Dale Furbish to see if he would be interested in writing
up a scoping paper for us. We are very grateful to Dale for his willingness to write the
paper.
As it unfolded, we engaged a group to support Dale including Robyn Bailey, Pat Cody
from Careers New Zealand, and Pip Jamieson from the CDANZ Executive. Their brief
was to articulate the state of career development in New Zealand and provide a basis
from which to make submissions and help us as a professional community to have a
better understanding of what we need to do to promote lifelong career development
across all sectors. We agreed that the intended audience was to be government,
industry and the public.
Fourth meeting: July 2016
Dale Furbish has now completed the writing of Career Development in New Zealand
– a Scoping Paper, which he presented to the CDANZ executive meeting in May.
The full document will be made public after the next NFLLCD meeting mid July at
which time it will be made available on the CDANZ website. Meanwhile a précis of
the document is included in this Ezine.
The National Forum for Lifelong Career Development has served as a medium for
the conversation. It has been an organic process that, in its unfolding, has developed
our capability to enter into unknown territory. The continuation of the Forum in its
current form is likely to be decided at the next meeting at which time we may
formalise something that can take our work further. Again, as Val O’Reilly said last
Spring, “watch this space!”
It has been a real pleasure – and a challenge – to be involved in this process. I look
forward to the ongoing development of our ability to articulate the importance of
having lifelong career development as the central consideration to the development
of social and economic well-being.
Kaye Avery – CDANZ Executive Member and immediate Past President. Career Coach, Master
NLP Practitioner & Trainer/Facilitator
Follow at http://nz.linkedin.com/in/kayeavery
References:
1. Thomas, J. & O’Reilly, V. (June 2015), New Zealand country paper. Presented at the International Centre for Career
Development and Career Policy 2015 Symposium, Des Moines Iowa, USA. http://www.is2015.org/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/New-Zealand.pdf
2. O’Reilly, V. The National Forum for Lifelong Career Development: A Big Conversation. The Ezine, Spring 2015, Volume 19
issue 3. Career Development Association of New Zealand.
http://www.cdanz.org.nz/files/Ezine%20No%2019%203%20Spring%202015/CDANZ%20Ezine%2019%203%20Article%20
National%20Forum%20OReilly%20Aug%202015.pdf
Career development in New Zealand: A scoping paper
The National Forum for Lifelong Career Development meets again in mid
July 2016. On their agenda is to review and release a scoping paper on
career development in New Zealand. Jean Ottley has read the draft paper
and summarises it here.
Dr Dale Furbish is lead writer of the CDANZ commissioned Career Development in New Zealand: A Scoping Paper, which was presented to the Executive Committee in May 2016. The paper’s purpose is “to provide a starting point for a discussion among New Zealand stakeholders on career development”.
Intended for “career development stakeholders from government, business, education and non-profit sectors” the paper examines the literature on concepts of career and career development. The authors conclude that “[r]ecognition of career as a holistic concept and career development as a lifelong process results in the understanding that each person has only one career, which is composed of multiple transitions of jobs, occupations and life roles.”
Achievements and inadequacies of career development provision and organisation in New Zealand are described, which include an examination of: professional associations that are concerned with career development; the role of the key government organisation; and the state of career development research, qualifications, and resources.
The paper contrasts a lack of career development policy in New Zealand with those countries – including Australia and the United States – who have policies. Career development policies are designed “to assist individuals to identify personal qualities, gather, consider and interpret information, and develop the skills to manage their careers throughout life, which are essential to socio-political wellbeing.” The idea put forward in the paper is that in not formulating a national policy for lifelong career development, New Zealand has got out of step and is falling behind.
A number of recommendations are made for measures which the authors believe would invigorate, coordinate and align the education, training and employment sectors and also support New Zealanders’ career development throughout their lives. A national document would identify career transition points and the explicit supports needed at those points. A national body would assist in the coordination of career development strategies across public and private sectors. Current service provision across the industry would be revised and consideration given to the levels of funding required to support holistic and lifelong career development.
The paper points to a positive way forward; while outlining the consequences of continuing in what the authors regard as the current fractured system. It powerfully concludes that the next step is “for dialogue among the stakeholders to energise the development of policies and strategies that flow from national approaches to career development”.
This is a ‘must read’ and – the authors assert – a ‘must act’ for the career industry, business leaders, politicians, and policy makers.
Jean Ottley – CDANZ Professional Member and member of the Executive Committee
Follow at http://nz.linkedin.com/pub/jean-ottley/22/aa4/72b/en
Notes:
This paper will be available on the CDANZ website in July 2016.
Dealing with the ever changing policy
landscape: Learning from international practice
Professor Tristram Hooley has a message for CDANZ and all workers in
career development to keep on building an effective career guidance
system in New Zealand.
In his seminal history of careers services in Britain, David Peck (2004) argues that one
of the key things that has defined the services in my country has been the
inconsistency of policy and politicians. Every time we have had a new government (and
sometimes when we haven’t), politicians have looked at careers services and tinkered,
meddled and reinvented. Sometimes this has improved and professionalised services,
but more usually it hasn’t. However, the process of constant reorganisation has
undoubtedly caused many who work in the field to throw up their hands in desperation.
‘Why do they have to keep changing everything?’ they ask.
This resistance to change is ironic as one of the key messages of career guidance is
that ‘change is inevitable’ and that we have to encourage clients to be resilient and
adaptable. We support clients to develop their skills, to embrace change and to ‘always
look on the bright side of life’. This is good advice; there is no escaping from change
and whether you like it or not you always have to respond to what has happened and
not to what you would have liked to have happened.
A willingness to work with change shouldn’t mean that we conclude that all change is
good. Nor should we assume that there is nothing that we can do about change. As
Harold Wilson said ‘a week’s a long time in politics’ and so this week’s political reality
can quickly become next week’s U-turn!
In my research I have looked at career guidance policy in countries from Norway to
Saudi Arabia, from Australia to Scotland and in each context policy is dynamic and ever
changing. Some countries are better than others at building stable systems and
developing things slowly, but all are prone to assuming that the latest idea is better than
the last one.
The organisation of careers services in New Zealand is about to change again. Some
people around the world will be surprised, as there was certainly a period when your
country was seen as having one of the strongest models of career guidance in the world
(Watts, 2010). However, nothing can stay the same and the decision to move Careers
New Zealand into the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) undoubtedly offers
opportunities as well as potential dangers.
In the European Lifelong Guidance Policy Network we have developed 10 indicators of
evidence-based lifelong guidance policy (Hooley, 2014). I thought that it might be useful
to present them here to provide you with an international framework against which you
could judge current developments in New Zealand. Of course, you should be careful
about generalising international policies into your local context, there may be good
reasons why you want to do things differently, but it is hopefully still useful to know how
we are thinking about these things in Europe.
The evidence suggests that effective career guidance systems have the following 10
features.
1. A lifelong and progressive system. As career is built across the life-course,
guidance services need to support this process rather than simply focusing on a
single life-stage.
2. Career guidance should connect to the wider experience and life of individuals. For
example, career guidance in schools should connect to the curriculum. It should
also be aware of a host of other contextual factors (community, family, hobbies and
interests).
3. Career guidance should recognise the diversity of individuals. We need to recognise
that individuals bring a range of resources, interests, barriers and concerns to
guidance processes.
4. Career guidance should involve employers and working people, and provide
experiences of workplaces. Understanding the world of work is central to the
purpose of lifelong guidance. The involvement of employers and working people
helps to inform programmes and inspire clients. Work experience and work-related
learning are also critical.
5. Career guidance is not one intervention, but many, and works best when a range of
interventions are combined. A diverse range of strategies can be used to support
individuals to develop their careers e.g. face-to-face, online, groupwork, experiential
learning. There are also benefits where these interventions are combined and
sequenced programmatically.
6. Career guidance programmes should help individuals to acquire career
management skills. Individuals who take part in guidance should enhance their
capability to manage their own careers.
7. Career guidance needs to be holistic and well-integrated into other support
services. A wide range of life issues have the potential to impact on individuals’
capacity to build effective careers. Services need to be able, where appropriate, to
refer clients to services where their other needs can be met.
8. Careers professionals matter! The success of guidance processes is strongly
influenced by the initial training, continuing professional development, competencies
and personal capacities of the professionals that deliver it.
9. Career information needs to be available and of good quality. Individuals need a
reliable information base to make decisions about participation in learning and the
labour market.
10. Career guidance should be quality-assured and evaluated. Effective services can
learn from customer feedback, the observation of outcomes and the wider evidence
base.
Taken together these 10 evidence-based principles may provide some ideas about
what best-practice in our field might look like. I wish you luck as you continue to
develop your services in New Zealand.
Tristram Hooley, Professor of Career Education, University of Derby, UK.
References:
Hooley, T. (2014). The Evidence Base on Lifelong Guidance. Jyväskylä, Finland: European Lifelong Guidance
Policy Network (ELGPN).
Peck, D. (2004). Careers services: History, policy and practice in the United Kingdom. London:
RoutedgeFalmer.
Watts, A. G. (2010). National all-age career guidance services: evidence and issues. British Journal of
Guidance & Counselling, 38(1), 31-44.
Careers New Zealand transfers to Tertiary Education
Commission
Careers New Zealand will become part of the Tertiary Education
Commission in a reform which will result in better and more consistent
careers information for school students.
On 18 May 2016, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce
and Education Minister Hekia Parata announced that Careers New Zealand will
become part of the Tertiary Education Commission.
This change recognises that the recent strong performance of Careers New Zealand
leaves it well positioned to become a highly effective part of a more integrated careers
service within the Tertiary Education Commission.
A date for the transition of our careers role will be announced once legislation is
passed. This is likely to be sometime after March 2017. Tertiary Education
Commission will act as Government’s prime careers information provider offering
seamless high quality careers and training information for students at school, tertiary
education and through to employment.
Careers New Zealand’s products and services will transfer to the Commission. Our
website, careers.govt.nz and other tools providing high quality careers information will
still be available. Over time resources that support career education in schools, like
professional development, may shift from Tertiary Education Commission.
In the meantime, it’s business as usual for us as we prepare for the transition. We
continue to deliver our suite of services and digital tools to help young people, and
those supporting them, make informed learning and work choices about their future.
Our mobile friendly website is on track to receive 4.2 million New Zealand visits by 30
June. Our Industry Big Day Out initiative continues to improve pathways between
education and employment, with 87% of students who attended the programme
improving their knowledge of the industry.
This month we launched Māia, a new video series featuring five Māori businesses,
who are sharing their stories to give rangatahi an inside look at the skills they’ll need to
work in New Zealand’s booming $40 billion Māori economy.
As we prepare for our transition we continue to promote the importance of career
development for New Zealanders and the prosperity of the country’s economy.
Jane Ratcliffe – Acting Chief Executive, Careers New Zealand.
Notes:
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/careers-new-zealand-become-part-tec
Māia – watch Careers New Zealand’s video series at https://www.careers.govt.nz/maia
Careers system review factsheet
https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Careers%20system%20review%20factsheet.pdf
Careers system review Q&A https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Careers%20system%20review%20Q&A.pdf
Career development across the lifespan needs policy
Sam Young bewails what she sees as ignorant and uninformed government
policy and foolish decision-making imposed on Careers New Zealand.
Lifelong careerist, Tony Watts, is a great proponent of career development as a system
within society. He was a great proponent of career guidance as a public good.
Watts feels that one of the measures of a 'successful' society is one which takes a
national stance of "career development services as a system". An optimal system takes
a long-term view of career, develops strategies for society and individuals that benefit
all (2014, p. 2).
From the individual's perspective, this would be "as seamless as possible", so, although
there would be sub-systems to serve specific needs – like career guidance in schools,
or in retirement villages – all aspects of the system would be unified with a common
purpose (Watts, 2014, p. 2).
In many countries, New Zealand included, career guidance has been largely provided
as a government service. Because of this, having a supportive, strategic and long-term
public stance on career development is critical to the appropriate delivery career
development services (Watts, Sultana & McCarthy, 2010).
Australia has a national career policy. The Australian Government defines career
development as "the ongoing process of a person managing their life, learning and
work over their lifespan. It involves developing the skills and knowledge that enable
individuals to plan and make informed decisions about education, training and career
choices" (2013, p. 3).
Further, this policy is underpinned by belief that career development is not something
that happens once. It explicitly states that career development begins "at school and
continue[s] throughout life, including: transitioning from school to further education,
training or work; entering, re-entering or changing employment; and transitioning to
retirement" (Australian Government, 2013, p. 4).
In New Zealand, we didn't ever get to a national policy statement, which has proved to
be unfortunate. It has left us unable to hold our government unaccountable for the
delivery of career services, and the erosion of those services it once supplied.
The New Zealand government's – unquantifiable – career strategy has been largely
delivered through Careers New Zealand (CNZ). CNZ was considered internationally to
be an ideal for countries to aim for. Kiwis had a dedicated government department
which focused on, and resourced, transition and development.
From an outsider's uninformed perspective of CNZ, I feel that over the past decade,
where CNZ once focused on the lifespan, their service has been hollowed out to a point
where they only just have the capacity to support career development in secondary
schools.
Our once proud ship became a stripped and beached shell.
Then, last week our government, instead of appropriately resourcing CNZ and
refloating her, have towed her into a backwater to die. She has now been rafted up
alongside the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC).
I feel that the message this mooring sends is that career development only happens at a
single point in time: CNZ is a one-stop shop for when you leave uni with your freshly
minted degree. The likely impression will be that no one other than uni graduates needs
career development.
How has New Zealand's thinking become so narrow when others, 'like us', have
become so aware? The EU is working towards a continent-wide harmonisation
strategy. Australia and the UK take the view that career development increases social
inclusion, while Canada focuses on career development to reduce labour market
polarisation (Hooley & Barham, 2015). We too need career development as a social
driver in New Zealand. We need to harness our human desire to help and be a
functional part of society.
We need career development services across the life-span so that New Zealanders are
happy societal contributors. We need career development that covers primary,
secondary, tertiary, working life, retirement and third age careers.
Further, we need career development as an economic driver: to keep us engaged and
fulfilled in our working lives, which must last past retirement age. As a society we
cannot afford to pay the 15 year average pension that we will be in retirement (instead
of the 3 we once lived past retirement when we first set the age 65 bar).
How effective will TEC be at reaching that growing segment of third agers (tipped to be
20% of the population by 2030; Statistics NZ, 2013)?
The OECD states that nations must “build policy frameworks for lifelong guidance which
are capable of integrating a range of interventions associated with different life stages
and sectors into a coherent lifelong system” (McCarthy & Hooley, 2015, p. 1). They
explain that development of national strategies with policy responsibility shared by the
multiple stakeholders is effective for economic growth and societal sustainability.
All I can see is our New Zealand government apparently luffing blindly with no life
jackets and the sun in their eyes, oblivious to the fact that our friend and neighbour
nations have formed a magnificent armada beating to windward, with eyes wide open
and sextants at the ready.
I am deeply saddened by the lack of understanding our government has shown of what
career development is, and how it serves society. I am also unhappy that we CDANZ
members were unable to influence this outcome.
And the worst thing is that I don't know where we go from here.
Sam Young – CDANZ Professional Member, Career Practitioner, Lecturer, Director & Business
Consultant
Follow at http://nz.linkedin.com/in/samyoungnz
References:
Australian Government (2013). National Career Development Strategy. Retrieved 2 June 2016 from
https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/national_career_development_strategy.pdf
Hooley, Tristram & Barham Lyn (2015). Career Development Policy & Practice: The Tony Watts Reader. UK: Highflyers Resources Ltd.
McCarthy, John & Hooley, Tristram (2015). Integrated Policies: Creating Systems that Work. Retrieved 2 June 2016
from http://www.is2015.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Integrated-Policies-Creating-Systems-that-Work.pdf
Statistics NZ (2013). How will New Zealand’s ageing population affect the property market? Retrieved 2 June 2016
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Professional standards and alternative pathways
How ‘professional’ is a professional careers practitioner? Can standards
be demonstrated through Alternative Pathways? Pip Jamieson outlines
some of the issues under consideration by the CDANZ Executive and
the Professionalism Team.
Currently CDANZ Executive and the Professionalism Team are looking at Professional
Standards and an Alternative Pathway. It has been recommended by some that the
qualification criteria and standard should be set at Levels 7 to 10. This would take the current
requirement of Level 6 (Diploma level) to a Degree or Post Degree level.
Others recommend the level should remain at Level 6, or even be lowered so that CDANZ can
increase the potential membership base and be more inclusive.
And whatever standards are agreed upon some members are questioning the criteria required
to demonstrate that standard. Does a formal qualification have to be the test?
Professional membership of CDANZ currently requires an applicant to hold a career specific
qualification at Level 6 or above. This standard has been seen by some potential (and current)
members as too high. However others believe that the reputation and credibility of CDANZ's
Professional status can only be upheld by its representatives, i.e. members reflecting that high
standard. And others may consider that the relevant standard can be met regardless of holding
a formal qualification.
Regarding standards, take Immigration Advisers in New Zealand as an example. To practice as
an Immigration Adviser requires holding a licence or hold an exemption.1 Licences are awarded
by the Immigration Adviser's Authority and awarding of the full licence now requires completion
of the Post Graduate Diploma in New Zealand Immigration Advice. New Zealand currently has
over 1,100 licensed advisers and the only qualification provider (Bay of Plenty Polytechnic) has
continuously had a waiting list of students wanting to complete the qualification.
Immigration Advisers use their knowledge of or personal experience in immigration matters to
advise, assist, direct or represent a person. This could include, for example; using publicly
available information to advise a person on an immigration matter; advising a person what visa
they qualify for; advising a person how best to answer a question in the application form, or
what additional information might best be included with the application; writing a covering letter
to accompany the application; acting as their representative.
Many of these tasks are in parallel with those of a Career Practitioner with a similar outcome in
mind – i.e. to assist the client or clients make well informed future career and life decisions.2
We challenge you as a CDANZ member to test this out on your colleagues, clients, employers,
CDANZ Branch members and invite you to tell us yours and their views.
Email me at [email protected] or head over to the CDANZ LinkedIn page to have your say.
Pip Jamieson – CDANZ Professional Member, Relationship Manager & Business Consultant
Follow at https://nz.linkedin.com/in/pip-jamieson-b456835
Notes:
1. Exempt advisers include lawyers, and Citizen's Advice Bureaux.
2. For more Ezine articles on how other professions are tackling professional standards, see Gabrielle O’Connell
on alternative pathways to Social Worker registration (19 2 Winter 2015) and Grant Verhoeven about career
coaching qualifications (19 2 Winter 2015).
