Why can’t I get anyone interested in National Homeless Person’s Week? – a PR’s confession

By Georgina Liew, our Marketing and Communications Manager based in Melbourne, Victoria

I’m going to admit up front, the blog post is not the usual public relations piece about what we’re doing well. Rather, it’s somewhat of a confession or admission about something I wish we were communicating better about – the issue of homelessness.

As a communications professional for the last 15 years, I need to tell you one of the hardest gigs I’ve ever had is trying to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness. And sadly, as we come to the of National Homeless Person’s Week, it has been no different.

I have blogged, tweeted, emailed and …oh dear, resorted to face-to-face communication…but to no avail. Even speaking with our General Manager of Employment Services, Sally Matheson, yesterday, we had to concede that our own efforts as an organisation to support this week have been underwhelming – and as she aptly put it “if we can’t raise awareness with our own staff, then why would we be successful with people outside the organisation”.

My only solace this week has been that we don’t seem to be the only one not getting the attention on this issue as we would wish. Writer, comedian and social commentator, Catherine Deveny, and a firm advocate for this issue tweeted:

Homeless women and kid is the biggest most damaging issue I attempt to raise awareness about and the one people care the least about.

I replied, and commented that my recent blog post National Homeless Person’s Week – can Census data help the homless? was my lowest ranking blog post ever, and while I admit it may not be my ‘best’ post of all time, and also not my most compelling title, but I can’t help but think there’s a bigger issue at play here.

I’d love your thoughts…what sort of information are you interested in the issue of homelessness? If you could take a few moments, to complete the poll below, I would greatly appreciate it.

There’s still a couple days left of National Homeless Person’s Week…check out my blog post mentioned above for some easy ways to get involved.

‘Change, the next step is ours’ – why NAIDOC is so important

By Nicole Findlay, our Community Liaison Officer based in Melbourne, Victoria

Between 3-10 July all Australians will come together to celebrate and acknowledge Aboriginal culture during NAIDOC Week – An annual event of much significance. A coming together of people from all walks of life, be it community, service, business, NGOs and Government departments.

This gathering implores audiences to think about and discuss the ongoing contribution that first Australians make to this Nation.  It asks us to be part of a broad range of activities that allow us to engage local Aboriginal communities, their children, their leaders, the services that support them and importantly their elders.

It’s a time for us to acknowledge the achievements of our Aboriginal country men and women, while also understanding that there are significant gaps that still exist between Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal Australians.  Which is why this year’s theme “Change, the next step is ours” is so significant.

Don Mulholland, WISE Aboriginal Project & Liaison Manager says “As with most themes of NAIDOC, it seems to take on changes of the time”.  

In his role with WISE, Don works extensively with Aboriginal people across the inner and outer Western regions of Sydney and his long-term vision for addressing the balance of Aboriginal unemployment includes  “taking steps to help Aboriginal people with disabilities to move into employment, giving young Aboriginal people a dream about owning a car and home, explaining the importance of education and training, assisting the community to make healthier choices, and participating in developing the future”.

As with previous years, WISE staff across the country will participate in a number of significant events such as Council flag raising ceremonies, the Kinaway Victorian Aboriginal Chamber of Commerce Gala dinner and the Penrith Family NAIDOC Day Mix Touch Football game – An event that WISE is proudly sponsoring.

Carolyn Gartside, Aboriginal Liaison Officer, Penrith City Council says the event  is of “major symbolic importance to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations” and is expected to attract hundreds of people from the Outer Western region of Sydney.

Let us know what you’re doing to celebrate NAIDOC!

You can follow Nicole Findlay @FindlayNic  and Don Mulholland @Mobjobz…join the conversation.

5 strategies to building successful relationships

By Mahongo Fumbelo, our Project Coordinator DiversityWISE program in Darwin

So once you’ve built a successful relationship with a job seeker from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds…what then?

In terms of building successful long-term relationships, here are 5 strategies that I have found to work well with CALD communities:

• Understand their cultural backgrounds – they feel appreciated when staff attempt to greet them in their language (but not a big deal).
• A supporting service environment  – welcoming, where they are NOT just another appointment.
• Achievement – getting a job! Refer them to a course or driving lessons or other training opportunities.
• Consistent communication – they want staff to be true to what they say.
• Participating in the community – inviting services to your events or attending events coordinated by other services like interagency meetings or commemorating international or culturally relevant events like World Refugee Day.

All of these can help you build a relationship with your job seekers and their community. Thank you for letting me share these ideas and strategies with you!

I would love to hear from anyone who has any more ideas – the more we share about what works, the more we can support our community.

3 things we can get wrong working with CALD clients

By Mahongo Fumbelo, our Project Coordinator DiversityWISE program in Darwin

Even with the best of intentions, issues can arise when working with clients from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds. These are the 3 of the issues that I have found to come up the most:

• Greeting clients – greeting a person in an appropriate manner is very important! Maintain positive eye contact. Ask the other person how they are. Show you care. This is the first step to a good relationship.
• Making appointments – many job seekers from refugee background aren’t used to making appointments. Advise clients that they must call in advance if they plan to visit the WISE office. Try to encourage appointment planning/scheduling. CALD clients will wait in the office all day if they have to. Politely remind them that it’s important to make appointments in the Australian culture and let them know that this will help them get better attention and service as appropriate time will be allocated to them.
• Pre & Post-placement support – always discuss the communication you will have with the client and their employer before and after the placement. Keep communication between all parties as transparent as possible at all times. 

Being aware of these issues, doesn’t still man an issue or dispute may arise, but there are actions you can take to resolve them. Each organisation will have their own complaint resolution procedure but most importantly job seekers should be invited to discuss the issue further so they can feel part of the solution.

5 Top Reasons CALD clients appreciate about your service

By Mahongo Fumbelo, our Project Coordinator DiversityWISE program in Darwin

There are a lot of things that clients who are from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds appreciate about employment services, but here’s my top 5:

1. Booking necessary appointments for clients – concentrated appointments which are about giving quality time with clients are important. They need to know that they are NOT just another appointment. 
2. Discussing barriers and interventions – make appropriate referrals to other services if necessary, like driving lessons! 
3. Conducting regular training sessions for clients – refer on to other courses if need be. 
4. Following up on their progress – follow up on job interviews and constantly set goals and review progress . 
5. Celebrating success – hold ceremonies and reward clients with certificates. Remember to offer some refreshments, as this is appreciated in most cultures. Breaking bread together helps build trust and rapport.

You’ll notice that many of these points can be equally true for other clients – not just CALD clients.

What are your experiences? Does anyone have any more tips to add?

5 issues you need to be aware of when working with CALD clients

By Mahongo Fumbelo, our Project Coordinator DiversityWISE program in Darwin

Through my experience of working with migrant communities, I have most refugees or job seekers from a Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) background understand that employment service providers are there to get them a job. 

But here are 5 issues that can stop us from reaching that mutual goal of finding employment:

1. Eligibility – it’s important to make it clear that some services are only available to eligible job seekers. They don’t understand ‘stream level
2. How we can help beyond getting that job – helping job seekers get their drivers licenses is very important to most clients of refugee background.
3. Fear of authority – job seekers from refugee communities don’t easily open up. Building trusting relationships is very important.
4. Good relationships with other community service providers – gaining referral group’s confidence is important too.
5. Disappointment in service providers – many migrant job seekers have received no training and no most importantly…no job. Emphasise the difference in your service, and that it’s not just about ‘ticking boxes’. 

By working through some of these issues, we can develop and nurture trust with the client…tune in tomorrow for more tips on working with refugees and job seekers from CALD background. 

Many thanks to all who have viewed the ‘New Job, New Life’ video on WISE Employment TV – we’ve now hit 100 views!

5 top tips for engaging with CALD clients

To carry on with the extraordinary momentum of Refugee Week, join Mahongo Fumbelo, our Project Coordinator DiversityWISE program in Darwin, as she take us through her top tips for working with clients from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds…

Making and maintaining a connection with an individual who has recently migrated to Australia or to a Referral service that supports these people can be a challenge. Working with job seekers from a CALD background or who may be recent refugees, I have developed some insights and tips which I’d like to share with you.

Today I’d like to share with you my 5 top tips for the initial engagement process: 

• Resist generalising -  communities consist of a diverse range of individuals. For example; The African community is made up of people from 54 countries. They each come from different tribes and have different cultures.

• Find out if specific communities have community leaders. Job seekers may be part of a community that seeks guidance from a community leader.

• Be aware of religious considerations – for exampale cultural dressing.

• Be aware of cultural considerations – sometimes a verbal hello is fine. Some cultures don’t allow women to shake hands with men and vice versa. It is best to ask if they are okay with you shaking their hand. And some meeting settings are women or men only.

• Don’t be afraid to ask questions – some job seekers are sensitive to working with another tribe, gender, cultural or religious group.

These are just a few tips…during this week I’ll also take you through my thoughts on how migrant communities perceive employment services’ and other community services’ providers, effective communication strategies – what works, what doesn’t, and finally how to build on the relationship to ensure long-term success.

You can hear more from Mahongo on WISE Employment TV where she and three of her clients are featured on the ‘New Job, New Life’ vodcast.

Welcome to the WISE Employment blog!

Welcome to the first post of the WISE Employment blog! 

My name is Georgina Liew and I am the Marketing and Communications Manager for WISE Employment and our social enterprises Clean Force Property Services, Incito Maintenance, GBE Electrical and Equity Labour Services (ELS). 

At WISE, I am fortunate to work with a group of people who are passionate about the community, assisting people into employment and believe in our vision ‘Empowerment through Employment’. 

Working across Australia, our clients come from a variety of backgrounds and may be affected by a number of issues – disability, Indigenous Australians, youth, mature age, ex-offenders, refugees and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD). 

The WISE Employment blog is an opportunity for our staff, clients, employers and community partners to share their insight into the challenges and issues relating to gaining and maintaining employment. 

Finding a job is more than just a pay cheque (although that’s important!). It’s also about building self-esteem, confidence and feeling more connected with your community. On this blog we encourage you to join our community. 

Join the discussion and spread the word!