Supporting, Connecting and Sustaining our Workforce

“This work is hard and can be exhausting… connecting to purpose is invigorating.”

Being connected to purpose and feeling a strong commitment to making a difference in people’s lives is a shared driving force that brings us to the work we do. This is reflected throughout the Workforce Capability Framework, particularly in Domain 5 which focusses on the importance of bringing a reflective and self-aware approach to the work.   

Many of us in the women’s health and wellbeing and domestic, family and sexual violence sectors have a very strong sense of our purpose and why we show up to do the work we do each day. It’s important to recognise that our purpose must be balanced with boundaries and self-care so that it doesn’t become all-consuming, leading us to neglect other important aspects of our lives, such as our relationships, health, and wellbeing. 

Boundaries are the limits we set on our time, energy, and resources to maintain balance in our lives. They help us prioritise our values and ensure that we are investing in ourselves in a way that sustains us to continue to do meaningful work. When we find the right balance between purpose and boundaries we can approach our work with clarity – this is true for individual practitioners, leaders and for teams. We can align with our values and priorities and have a strong sense of our role and responsibilities and where they start and stop. This is vital for professional longevity. 

The Workforce Capability Framework is a great tool for conversations about supporting, connecting and sustaining the workforce. Here’s a few tips for bringing it to life in your service in meaningful and practical ways: 

  • Introduce self-awareness and reflective practice to new workers by embedding the Workforce Capability Framework in induction programs. 
  • Individually reflect on your own practice using the supporting capabilities (E.g., How am I going? How do I know? Do I need some support in this area?). To delve deeper, explore further in supervision. 
  • Explore the Organisation Reflective Questions as a regular part of your leadership group. 

Whether you’re a brand new or experienced practitioner or leader, the Workforce Capability Framework is a great tool to support your work. Check it out here: Workforce Capability Framework and keep a look out for additional supporting resources to be released over the coming months.   

We would also like to invite you to join us for the People, Culture and HR Forum on 15th November 2023. You can find out more and register here People, Culture and HR Forum.   

If you would like support to embed the Workforce Capability Framework into your organisation, please contact Christine at christine@healingfoundation.org.au.

This blog was written by Amy Wormwell and the quote is from one of the contributors to development of the Workforce Capability Framework.