Aidan Curtis
EMPLOYERS from around the Limestone Coast gathered in Mount Gambier / Berrin on Thursday, March 30 to learn how to make their workplaces the place to be.
The Employer of Choice workshop, facilitated by Regional Development Australia Limestone Coast (RDALC), helped local employers identify ways to improve their workplaces for their employees.
RDALC deputy chief executive business and workforce development Rachael Ashman said the workshop was a great success.
“We had 28 business owners, operators, and employees in leadership roles, from across the Limestone Coast attend the full-day event at Wulanda in Mount Gambier,” MS Ashman said.
“The term employer of choice describes a business or organisation that people want to join and critically, want to stay at.
“Participants left armed with an Employer of Choice Toolkit and Workbook from the day to assist them to implement changes in their workplaces.”
Ms Ashman was one of the presenters who ran the workshop, alongside Di Ind of Di-Monty Training and Karen Bryant of Latitude Recruitment
She said participants seemed very engaged in the content and eager to put what they learned into practice.
“Feedback from participants at the end of the session was overwhelmingly positive with many people committing to improve their workplace communication, schedule more one-on-one discussions with their employees, develop key policies and procedures, focus on building their Employer Brand and Employee Value Proposition, and developing Performance Conversation processes,” she said.
“With participants reporting that it was a great investment of their time, we are delighted with how the day went.”
Ms Ashman said one of the key points for employers to take away from the workshop was to remember the small things when it came to supporting their staff.
“The value of saying thank you to employees, supporting flexible work arrangements, creating a low cost rewards and recognition program, and focusing on leadership and communication are some key take-aways from the workshop,” she said.
“One of the most important messages from [Thursday] is that is doesn’t matter if you have got things a bit wrong in the past – you have the chance to make lots of small changes now to create a workplace that attracts and retains the best employees.”
Ms Ashman said RDALC is looking to make the Employer of Choice Toolkit available to anyone interested in making positive changes in their workplace in the coming weeks.
