Building the Capacity of Community Organisations
The Victorian Government’s Action Plan: Strengthening Community Organisations (PDF 178 kb) or (Word 243 kb) identifies a need for not-for-profit (NFP) organisations to continue adapting and evolving.
Long-term trends for Victoria indicate major workforce challenges ahead for the NFP sector. The Action Plan sets out five actions for the Government to help to strengthen the capacity of NFP organisations, to ensure that the sector retains its highly skilled workforce to continue to provide quality services for communities into the future.
These five actions are:
- Action 12: Investing in leadership development
- Action 13: A Community Services Workforce Capability Framework
- Action 14: Community sector placement and mentoring
- Action 15: Increasing the skills and engagement of volunteers
- Action 16: Developing organisational support services and networks
The Office for the Community Sector has progressed work in a number of these action areas in the last twelve months.
Investing in Leadership Development Project
Action 12 of the Action Plan commits Government to investigating the feasibility of a national academic centre of leadership excellence for the not-for-profit (NFP) sector.
In March 2009, the Office for the Community Sector (OCS) contracted the Victorian Council of Social Service to complete Stage 1 of the Investing in Leadership Development Project.
Stage 1 of the project comprised consultations across Victoria on the meaning of leadership to the sector. The project asked:
- what leadership is,
- what current opportunities are available for leadership development,
- are there any barriers to accessing leadership development opportunities, and how can barriers be overcome,
- what problems does the sector face in developing leadership capability.
Read the final report of Stage 1 of the Investing in Leadership Development Project (PDF 321 kb) or (Word 169 kb). During 2009/10, the OCS will continue working on leadership capability with the sector.
Workforce Capability Framework
Action 13 of the Action Plan highlights some of the workforce challenges ahead for not-for-profit (NFP) organisations, such as attracting and retaining suitably qualified staff in an environment of increasingly complex client needs. Action 13 also commits Government to developing a Workforce Capability Framework to help address these workforce challenges.
The Office for the Community Sector contracted Hanover Welfare Services in consultation with Precision Consultancy to develop the Workforce Capability Framework. A pilot Framework, a capability framework toolkit and capability cards were developed in June 2009, in consultation with a broad range of NFP organisations across Victoria. The final report of this project is the Workforce Capability Framework report (PDF 1398 kb) or (Word 1262 kb)
The Workforce Capability Framework provides NFP organisations with a description of the skills and capabilities required for effective service delivery now and into the future. It can be applied to a range of human resource functions; including recruitment and retention of staff, job design, professional development and performance appraisal.
Trials of the Framework, toolkit and capability cards have begun with a range of organisations in two DPCD regions. Along with the trials, the Office will be running a series of regional capability framework workshops. In early 2010, the Framework will be finalised and published for the sector. If you are interested in testing the framework in your organisation, please download the Trial Workforce Capability Framework (PDF 371 kb) or (Word 245 kb) and Trial Workforce Capability Cards (PDF 1261 kb) or (Word 893 kb).
For more information please contact the Office for the Community Sector: communitysector@dpcd.vic.gov.au
Organisational Support Services and Networks Project
Stage 1 of the Organisational Support Services and Networks Project implements Action 16 of the Action Plan. Action 16 aims to support innovation and organisational capacity of not-for-profit (NFP) organisations by improving their access to information and support services.
The Office for the Community Sector contracted dK2 to undertake Stage 1 of the Organisational Support Services and Networks Project. Stage 1 involved consultation with NFP organisations from around Victoria, with a focus on:
- scanning current approaches to provision of support services and information,
- determining the adequacy of current support service models in consultation with NFP organisations, and any improvements that could be made,
- finding examples of best practice and innovative approaches to the provision of support services and information.
Read the Executive Summary of the final report of this project (PDF 108 kb) or (Word 240 kb).
Stage 2 of the Project will build on the findings of Stage 1, and will be integrated with other work being undertaken for the Office by InfoXchange about information technology and communication (ICT) support. More information on Stage 2 of this Project will be available later in 2009.
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Read more About the Office for the Community Sector
Read more about the Background to the Action Plan
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