Day: July 28, 2023

Aged Care Employee Day is a National Day of Significance for Australia’s aged and community care workforce held on 7 August each year, which this year falls on a Monday.

The creation of Aged Care Employee Day was in response to the growing awareness of the essential role that aged care workers play in the lives of the elderly and the broader community. These caregivers provide vital services and support to the aging population, often working tirelessly to ensure the well-being and dignity of their residents.

The day celebrates the more than 427,000 residential care, home care and retirement living staff who care for over 1.5 million older Australians. ACCPA’s annual #ThanksforCaring campaign recognises all the varied roles involved the aged care workforce – from nurses to personal care workers, allied health professionals to lifestyle coordinators, hospitality teams, drivers, cooks cleaners, administration staff and so many more.

In addition to celebrating the incredible work of individuals and teams, Aged Care Employee Day is also an opportunity to highlight the great initiatives being led by aged care organisations and good news happening across the country in aged and community care, retirement living and seniors housing.

On this Aged Care Employee Day, find some time in your day to extend gratitude to these remarkable individuals who brighten the lives of our residents and elderly Australians in general.

#ThanksForCaring

For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Have you ever had a manager who was good at giving you feedback? Even when it came to the not so good feedback?

Unfortunately for some of us, it is the opposite. We have had a manager who isn’t the best at giving feedback, or we don’t get any at all.

Following last edition’s article on performance reviews, we had a number of managers reach out about tips and techniques for giving feedback, in general.

Giving feedback, whether positive or negative, is an inevitable part of effective management. We all have moments where we need to discuss performance issues or offer developmental insights to team members or, in some instances, residents.

No matter who you go to for advice, it will always start the same way – be prepared. But what does prepared look like when it comes to giving feedback?

The STAR Method

The STAR method provides a clear structure for delivering feedback or sharing experiences. By organising feedback or responses into these four components, you ensure that your points are well-defined and easy to understand.

Example 1: You notice a staff member helping a resident after hours

Example 2: You need to give feedback to a staff member for regularly turning up late to meetings.

This method helps you provide specific examples that demonstrate the individual’s skills, achievements, and areas for improvement. Whether you’re conducting performance evaluations, interviews, or giving feedback in various situations, the STAR method can be a valuable tool to convey information effectively.

One more tip, consider your mindset.

Quite often we go into these conversations with the mindset that we must give negative feedback – which is a difficult process. Straight away our mindset is on ‘negative’ and ‘difficult’.

Try the 5:1 method. Get yourself in the habit of regularly providing positive feedback, five times to every one piece of negative feedback you give. As a manager, this will elevate your relationship with the person you are meeting with and help to make it feel like an everyday conversation.

That positive mindset sets you up to have a constructive conversation about development rather than always focusing on the negative.

And remember, it doesn’t always need to be perfect. But giving some feedback, either positive or negative, is better than giving no feedback at all.

Good luck.