About Wesley

Staff engagement

The 2006 Mission-wide Staff Voice Survey provides us with clear indicators of our strengths and areas for improvement. Ninety percent of staff across Wesley Mission said they like the work they do. Other top areas of positive feedback from staff were:

• Staff believe in our overall purpose, mission and values, and the work done by Wesley Mission (95%)
  
• Staff understand their goals and objectives and what is required of them in their jobs (88%) and how their jobs contribute to the success of the organisation (91%)
  
• Staff see Wesley Mission as effectively preventing sexual harassment (95%), discrimination (88%), and bullying and abusive behaviours (82%).

Areas that staff felt Wesley Mission could improve on were:

• Staff reward and recognition
  
• Effective communication across the Mission
  
• Complaints handling
  
• Career opportunities within the Mission
  
• Staff involvement in Wesley Mission activities and church services

We are currently collaborating with managers and employees to develop improvement strategies and aim to report in further detail on initiatives in these areas in our 2008 Annual Report.

Staff tenure

These results indicate a positive trend away from short employment spans towards longer tenures of between 6 to 10 years. We aim to continue finding ways to support our staff in a fruitful career path at Wesley Mission which also ensures the retention of our knowledge and relationship capital.

The community sector typically has a high staff turnover rate*. Some reasons that staff move on are the lower wages for professional work compared to the commercial sector and challenges associated with working with clients who have complex needs. Keeping up staff morale and engagement is essential to providing the best care possible for our clients. Wesley Mission’s employee turnover rate in 2006/07 was 21.4% an 8.6% reduction from last year’s rate.

We are currently researching ways that we can enhance the experience of our valued workforce through improved staff engagement techniques such as changes to the exit interview strategy, intranet feedback mechanisms and bi-annual Mission-wide staff voice surveys.

* 2006 Australian Community Sector Survey, Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS). In 2004-5, average staff turnover across respondent agencies was equivalent to 15.9% which is high compared to the all Australian industry average of between 10% and 12%.

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Employment status

All Wesley Mission employees are entitled to award benefits regardless of employment status. We do not differentiate between full-time, part-time or casual. Since most of our employees are on award rates the basic rate of pay for men and women is the same in most industry categories. Non- Award pay rates are loosely based against CPI. When a new position is being established, the pay rate is determined by internal relativity.

Salary packaging

Salary packaging enables Wesley Mission to offer a range of fringe benefits to its employees. Salary packaging means that an employees’ total remuneration package may consist of a cash component (taxable salary), a packaged amount to be spent on payments deemed eligible by the Australian Tax Office and salary sacrifice superannuation contributions.

In 2006 salary packaging options were reviewed as part of an ongoing evaluation of benefits that Wesley Mission could provide to our employees. As a result all of our full-time and part-time employees are now eligible for salary packaging.

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Health and Safety

Each Wesley Mission business unit is responsible for developing and implementing specific OHS initiatives to reduce injury and illness as part of their overall business plan. We also have an internal team of OHS and injury management professionals, who work in concert with operational managers and employees to implement targeted OHS risk management strategies.

In our 2006 Staff Voice Survey one of the key highlights of the positive feedback from our frontline workers was the recognition of Wesley Missions high standard of occupational health and safety provisions.

When an employee does suffer a work-related injury, our OHS team work closely with the employees’ supervisor, doctor and other treating professionals, to ensure a timely, safe and durable return to work. Proactive injury management and early return to work promotes better health outcomes for employees and minimises the cost of workers compensation insurance for Wesley Mission.

In the 2006/07 reporting period we had a further reduction in the number of workplace injuries as well as fewer lost days.

Notes:
1. First aid injuries and near misses are not included in the above figures
2. Days lost means scheduled work days, calculated from the day following the incident
3. Injuries and occupational diseases are recorded and classified in accordance with Australian Standard AS 1885.1 (1990) Workplace Injury and Disease Recording Standard. An occupational disease refers to a disease arising from the work situation or activity, or from a work-related injury.
4. There were no fatalities in the reporting period

Incidents by mechanism

Wesley Mission provides comprehensive workplace training and education in OHS and injury management. The following chart shows the types of incidents reported by Wesley Mission employees for the past three financial years:

Number of employees undertaking Assistance Programmes targeted at addressing risk and recovery from serious diseases

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Employee Support Programme

Wesley Mission recognises that there are times in an employee’s life where traumatic incidents may occur, either while at work, or in their personal lives. To ensure the well being of our employees, the Employee Support Programme is available to assist employees in dealing with personal, challenging events through access to professional counselling and support.

We remain at the forefront of care practices through training that expands the knowledge base of our employees. Much of this training is conducted internally through the Wesley Vocational Institute. We also support training in relevant external courses though this information is not currently captured.

Learning and development at Wesley Vocational Institute

* Includes Orientation

Employees at Wesley Mission are encouraged to reach their full potential – spiritual, physical, emotional & psychological. To do this, set standards of performance competence are agreed upon annually through the Personal Review & Development Program (PR&DP) where learning options are
discussed and an Educational Assistance Plan developed. Educational assistance may consist of financial assistance and study leave in a course of study relevant to the employee’s current role or career plan. Wesley Mission’s Educational Assistance Scheme has recently been revised and is available to all permanent employees who have been employed with Wesley Mission for more than 12 months.

Equal Opportunity

The worth of every individual is a fundamental responsibility of Wesley Mission in providing a workplace where people are appreciated and respected. Having EEO principles helps Wesley Mission attract and retain the best people from all those available in our diverse communities to deliver high quality services.

Age breakdown of workforce %

Employee ranking

Gender breakdown of workforce %

Composition of senior management and corporate governance %

The boards and committees are responsible for the strategic guidance of Wesley Mission, the effective monitoring of management, and the accountability of management to Wesley Mission and its stakeholders.

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