We were very proud to be nominated as a finalist in the WorkSafe awards this year . The ongoing reductions we have achieved in workplace injuries has been as a result of a holistic and committed response right across the organisation . Whilst we did not win the Award , it has encouraged us to raise our profile and use our successes to assist the broader sector . We have also begun to use this status in our recruitment advertising .
This year has seen us finalise our Professional Development and Assessment Program . This framework , supported by a suite of tools , integrates many aspects of staff management from recruitment and position descriptions through to Appraisal . Take Two have piloted the appraisal system with good results and the new position descriptions are also rolling across the organisation .
4.4 Employment We have rolled out the Employee Self Service part of our new Payroll system to all staff , except those on rosters ( mostly residential staff ). This means staff can now complete their timesheets on line , request leave and update their personal details .
We are also very pleased that the increased functionality of the Payroll system is allowing us to generate some excellent data for our operational teams . We are now providing quarterly reports , which look at turnover , labour costs , performance issues and compliance within each region and comparing these across the organisation .
One hundred and twenty eight ( 128 ) staff attended one of nine Organisational Orientation sessions held during 2009 at the Central Office and regionally ( VBCMS ). It is pleasing to note that 61 % attended these sessions within their first 3 months of employment . Of these new staff members ( less than 3 months employment ) 63 % had already completed a Supervision Agreement , and 74 % reported having supervision according to the Supervision Policy .
We have created a part time position within the People , Work and Culture team that focuses solely on Early Employment , which will allow us to focus on how we induct staff and take them through compulsory training in their first three months .
4.5 Volunteers All of our foster carers ( 238 households ) are volunteers and foster care would not exist without them . Similarly , you can ‟ t run mentoring programs ( Reaching More Kids & Lead Tenant ) without the 103 volunteer mentors . The majority of our five hundred volunteers ( 500 ) volunteers were engaged through our Community Relations / Development team ( 301 ), most of whom assisted with the Berry Street Football Cup and Merry Berry . There were 169 community volunteers and 132 corporates . An additional 176 volunteers helped with the annual Foster Care Camp and ELF Reading Days in the Hume region .
4.6 Industrial Relations Primarily , our staff are covered by the Australian Services Union ( ASU ) or the Health Services Union of Australia ( HSUA ). Berry Street supports the ASU ‟ s pay parity campaign and we have provided them with the opportunity to talk to staff in both the North & West and South Eastern regions .
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