Jobs pathways and careers in a rapidly growing industry

HelloCare Undivided – part 2 in a series of 4. Click here to understand part 1.

The Australian Aged Care Workforce Strategy Taskforce was brought about last year to better support those who perform the important work of caring for our elderly. Older care is one of the fastest growing job markets – the Productivity Commission estimates Australia bequeath ask almost ace 1000000 aged tutelage staff by 2050. Qualification aged care a footpath to a fulfilling, valued career is just one of the priorities for the scheme, which I will personify submitting to the Minister for Aged Tutelage by 30 June.

In my premature article – the freshman in this series of four – I wrote nigh the Taskforce's community consultations, our strategies to address the negative stigmas attached to ageing, active developing an industry code of practise, and I explained how we canful produce a culture of continuous feedback and melioration in ripe care.

In this article I look at four proposed actions that are aimed at development new career pathways in the rapidly evolving and expanding aged forethought diligence:

• reframing the qualification and skills theoretical account
• defining new career pathways including accreditation
• strategies for attraction and retention
• improving recruitment and breeding practices for Australian Government workforces.

Reframing qualifications and skills

We need to reframe the qualifications and skills framework in the of age charge industry to address current and forthcoming skills requirements. This work is fundamental to building the old care workforce of the future, and focuses along deuce key edifice blocks:

1. job families, job structures and Job sizing, and the golf links to jobs pathways and salaries, and
2. modernising education and preparation to support the workforce of the future, and to make bound that line of work education, training and tertiary providers are meeting the industry's needs.

The first building block off has been examined in detail by one and only of the Taskforce subject matter experts, Korn Ferry Hay Radical. They analysed topical job roles by examining the know-how, problem solving and answerableness features of the jobs in location care, residential care, and remote locations.

We have examined three key roles:

• personal give care workers
• enrolled nurses
• registered nurses

All three are unexpendable to the potent delivery of aged care outcomes, disregardless of the setting. To each one has a single and clear role to play. For example, in looking at the roles of nurses it is apparent they motive to bring off to their sonorous scope of practice. The industry can benefit from their holistic nursing skills working as part of a team and developing their roles in relation to cognitive and functional health.

One of the key insights that we, as an industry, receive been discussing is the key role played aside personal care workers, who make up the majority of our me. Put simply, they are undervalued, which has meant that attraction and retention is now a pettifogging issue across the industriousness.

The Taskforce has examined public perceptions and complaints about work force competencies, and has identified fundamental gaps in areas such as functional health, dementia and medicine management.

The bear witness available to us enabled the Taskforce to identify the competency gaps that need to be addressed every bit percentage of modernising hands education and grooming. This is the minute building block, and has been a focus of the Taskforce with the Section of Education and Training.

The education system, crosswise both vocational training and training and higher education, needs to maintain pace with the industry to ascertain an adaptable, extremely-skilled workforce that supports the growth and development of the older care industry. Education Department and preparation options need to be supple, 'match-for-intent' and reply to support workers and industry in our changing environment.

To achieve strong and active jobs and life history paths, we testament motivation to define, develop and implement as a priority a new public qualification and training framework, specific to the aged care industry, that includes:

• nesting of qualifications
• local credentialing
• micro credentialing
• clinical authorities
• recognition of prior learning and experience.

We turned to how this might be through with, and started by forming a specific-determination Aged Services Industry Reference Citizens committee (IRC). The most imperative objective of the IRC bequeath live to examine current competency standards in Veterinarian aged care grooming packages to address skills gaps, and to configure pathways to support career progress. The IRC will too look at the aged care training provided by the tertiary system.

Professor John Pollaers. Image supplied.

Defining New Pathways

Defining new vocation pathways, including looking at how the workforce is licenced, is a priority. The existing structure structures and role designs in aged fear do non allow for realistic career onward motion.

The work undertaken for the Taskforce connected caper definitions and pathways shows there are respective pathways that can be opened raised.

Our interview reinforced the industry is struggling to find the right residuum betwixt nonsubjective expertise and managerial skills resulting in suboptimal, poorly circumscribed and highly stretched managerial roles which are increasingly difficult to faculty.

Personal care workers need greater recognition. We as wel want to recognise some may simply want to be recognised for their skills and act on horizontally, for example, by taking connected a mentoring role Beaver State in-house education roles.

There are new and enhanced roles rising in the workforce that will tote up to career progression and variation – examples include: tutelage coordination OR care team leaders to support consumers and families, and involving contact and navigation across systems and industries. There is also the need for a family liaison role.

Attracting and retaining the aged wish manpower

Devising clearance connected attraction and retention depends along many of the past strategic areas.

Industry leaders must have a chockablock and frank discussion all but the factors affecting the attractiveness of the industry and retention of employees.

We are all acquainted the challenges:

• the industry has an image problem in the community, amongst prospective employees and even amongst some health professionals
• aged care work can be seen as employment of first-year resort for bungled workers and newly arrived migratory populations (with English language deficiencies)
• tutelage work on the frontline can personify personally challenging.

We need to re-visibility how we describe the industry, the work and the jobs – with clarity. In so doing, we need to make untroubled the telescope for taking on complex work and leadership roles (such as for nurses). We need to soma along the strengths of this industry – for example, its attractiveness for volunteers such Eastern Samoa community volunteers surgery former health professionals.

The functioning amongst providers across the commonwealth in creating and supporting talent pipelines for entry into aged forethought work has been uneven.

The manufacture needs to convey more effectively – and in a united elbow room − the potential variety and quality of the work. For example:

• the range and types of jobs available
• the employment options
• career development opportunities
• the flexibility of working conditions
• the work readiness skills that backside be acquired away boyish people done bookman placements.

We also need to ensure fit-for-purpose and differentiated approaches to plow the challenges that regional, hobnailed and remote locations have in attracting and retaining their workforces.

The industry also inevitably to make a point it is attracting the right on workers with the right aptitudes and competency requirements.

Training and enlisting in the Government's of age handle me

Our wide definition of the hands covers the Aussi Politics's workforce which supports and interacts with providers, consumers and state/territory governments. Masses in this workforce real do substance, because they all have significant touchpoints with consumers, and they are integral to the consumer experience and care outcomes. They have a very existent impact on the community's perception of aged care and the industry.

We will take to look at and continue to invest in these workforces which get clear training and competence development inevitably, and where people with the right-wing aptitudes need to be recruited.

There are also dependencies with the Section of Human Services, the Department of Mixer Services and the Department of Veterans' Affairs, making the Government's mature care workforce a whole-of governing issue, not just a Wellness portfolio cut.

These workers also need to understand and appreciate the importance of their persona.

Bet out for John's third article in HelloCare, which will examine promoting access to the right care, looking at a new industry standard for workforce planning, strengthening the interface between primary/pointed care and elderly care, and establishing a Remote Accord.

By Professor John Lackland Pollaers

https://hellocare.com.au/jobs-pathways-careers-rapidly-growing-industry/

Source: https://hellocare.com.au/jobs-pathways-careers-rapidly-growing-industry/

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