CEO Blog

A Customer Centred Organisation

Central to this expansion of offering is a commitment to quality.

I’ve spoken in previous blogs about the Personnel Group’s journey to build a deeper, more customer centric organisational model, able to offer more services, and solve more problems for the people we support.

We talk about our organisation sitting at the intersection of the employment, health, training, and community service sectors, with our customers at the centre of our world, surrounded by a suite of services that meet their needs from all angles.

TPG have added several new business arms in the past 12 months, all aimed at deepening the supports we can provide.

Many people have reached out with interest to understand and learn from the ground breaking work we are doing connecting the health and employment sectors.

This week I received some terrific feedback describing a customer’s experience of being linked to our health service for assessment and supports, before moving over into our employment arm for assistance with pre-employment training.

This movement seems small, but it is indicative of what we are building. I am getting very excited about a future where our customers can move around our services seamlessly, with warm connections within a trusted brand.

Central to this expansion of offering is a commitment to quality. Each new product needs to be built with customer feedback, and evidence-based practice in mind.

The next stage of this journey will be the addition of accredited training services, and some new employment offerings. These services will mean easier access and greater support for learning and skill development for our customers, and an ability to offer more services to the communities we support.

It is an exciting time to be working at the Personnel Group!

CEO Blog

Inequality

Today there is such enormous inequality between the wealthy and the disadvantaged in our community. Not just welfare recipients, but equally the working poor.

This fortnight, on the back of the Federal Budget, I’m thinking a lot about financial equality.

This budget included measures aimed at addressing the rising cost of living, and pleasingly there were significant inclusions that will have tangible impacts on the lives of Australia’s most disadvantaged.

These measures include lifting minimum welfare payment rates – a welcome move, but one that is noted as just sufficient to cover already inflated costs of living.

Already a media debate has ensued, with some calling for further payment rises, while the others unfairly characterising welfare recipients as ‘lazy or undeserving.’

Such assertions make my blood boil – While there absolutely are some welfare recipients who inappropriately rely on welfare, there are many, many more who are genuinely using it as a stepladder out of poverty, or who remain there through circumstances outside of their control.

More importantly though I think such characterisations miss important context about cost-of-living impacts on the broader population, not just those on welfare.

Today there is such enormous inequality between the wealthy and the disadvantaged in our community. Not just welfare recipients, but equally the working poor. Just as many people in our community who are gainfully employed, are struggling to pay rent, put food on their table, petrol in the car, and clothes on their back.

Financial disadvantage and associated stress are significant contributors to depression, mental illness, family violence, drug and alcohol abuse, marriage failure, self-harm and suicide, and a myriad of other societal challenges. In times of financial hardship, these all become more pronounced.

What this raises for me, is that if the working population is struggling to make ends meet – how much harder must this manifest in someone reliant on welfare.

CEO Blog

Team TPG

Our team inspires me to be a better leader, and to find better ways to support and enable them to have an even greater impact.

Today is Employee Appreciation Day and so I wanted to direct my blog this fortnight to our team here at the Personnel Group.

Leadership guru Jim Collins once wrote the words ‘First Who, then What’ – opining that it is most important to first get the right people on your team, and that this will lead to better strategy, and execution.

Similarly, another smart cookie – Peter Drucker wrote the insightful statement ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast.’

These two insights articulate that the quality of people in an organisation is more important than the underlying mechanics of the business. Good people ultimately lead to better business.

We are fortunate to have a terrific group of people working at the Personnel Group, but this isn’t a happy accident.

We recruit on values rather than experience – looking for people who share our passion for equality, have a sense of social justice, and want to improve their communities using the powerful tool of employment.

We have many examples of where a potential new team member has wonderful experience and many runs on the board, but if they don’t fit our culture, we just don’t hire.

I see examples of the quality of our people every day. I see team members who see the potential in their customers, even when they cannot see it themselves. I see people who care deeply about the customers and communities they support. People who don’t just show up and do a job, but who take personal ownership over their work and their impact. People who move mountains to create opportunities and make things happen, even when it is not easy.

I see this most significantly through the feedback I receive from our customers. We hunt feedback tenaciously, always looking to better understand our customer’s experience and I constantly hear that our team has gone above and beyond to support and empower our customers.

Our team inspires me to be a better leader and to find better ways to support and enable them to have an even greater impact.

In March we embark on the first stage of our annual strategic planning process, which involves running workshops with every team in our business to gain their insights and ideas, feeding into our annual plan.

I see this as essential in great organisational planning – why surround yourself with smart, invested, values-aligned people, but not seek their input into the future direction?

So, given this opportunity – A sincere thank you to every person who pulls on a Personnel Group guernsey and joins our team. To those who commit to our purpose of creating equality through employment. Those who contribute to our 37 year legacy and help us plan for an even more successful future – You are appreciated!

CEO Blog

Australia Day

Recently I grappled with the decision of whether The Personnel Group should observe the day as a designated public holiday or give our team the choice to observe a different day.

Like many people these days, I find myself confused about how to think and feel about Australia Day.

As a young person, growing up in the 1980’s I loved Australia Day. I remember it as a day of parades, and parties, bright colours, games, and sport. It was about celebrating things that I love about this country – fun, laughter, freedom, and diversity. It was backyard cricket, barbeques, great music, and mates.

I am still a proud Australian, and fundamentally believe that we have the best culture in the world, but for me, Australia Day has lost its lustre. I no longer feel capable of celebrating when the day causes so much pain to the traditional owners of our country.

These days – I am a change the date guy. Not because the date causes me any personal discomfort, but because of what it represents to others. Because for some Australians it represents a stolen culture, oppression, and exclusion. Because it divides rather than brings us together.

I don’t think I understood why the date was so divisive until reading Stan Grant’s exceptional book ‘Australia Day.’ Stan clearly explains the historic experience of Australia’s indigenous population, and why there is still so much lingering pain.

Equally, Bruce Pascoe’s book Dark Emu gave me a stronger understanding of Australia’s history prior to European population, and a more accurate account of what colonisation looked like, than what was taught when I was at school.

These books gave me a more balanced view of Australia’s history and more than a small amount of shame about our actions in the past.

Recently I grappled with the decision of whether The Personnel Group should observe the day as a designated public holiday or give our team the choice to observe a different day. I ultimately chose to maintain the status quo but have admitted to our team in hindsight that I regret that decision.

I have committed to the team that we will collectively develop our approach to this in the future.

My hope though is that this isn’t required. That we can find a way to bring together the disparate views in a way that celebrates all cultures. That we acknowledge a long, strong and significant indigenous history, a diverse, multicultural future, and a true appreciation of the failures and successes of our past. That we can find a date and a method of celebration that brings everyone to the table.