Recognition and retention

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Cultural capability guide - Kylie

Video explaining the importance of recognition for Aboriginal employees.

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Video transcript

Cultural capability guide - Kylie

[Music] 

My name is Kylie Bray I'm the district's Works manager um in transports New South Wales and I'm a gy person uh my mobs from walut um uh come mostly related to Kennedy's and Dixons there the jobs of District Works manager is um so I'm a civil engineer and we do all the road works and road construction between uh willow tree and the Queensland border all on the state highways road Network got about 80 staff roughly so yeah between here and so got four different depos and and um stuff situated over um yeah 400 km so it's a big Network we cover big area there's a lot of things that I really enjoy about transport I've been to private sector and I started off in public went to private and then came back um the the the managers are fairly fairly good my manager at the moment is really um easy to work for and lets you know what you need to to do to succeed um so that's really helpful um he couldn't care less if I've got pink hair and two heads if I'm abinal or not abigal we've got a job to do and and he just focuses on that and and that they just they make it about the work and it's not about yeah where you're from or anything like that or if you're female or male so yeah for me the retention is about feeling safe when you come to work it's got to be like um you got to enjoy coming to work and what better the M way that I can think of to enjoy work is to have those people around you that you want to go and spend time with them and work with them and support them to do their jobs and um and you help each other and feel part of a team and yeah that's what that what I think makes me want to stay in this role if there was one thing that you could do to increase retention of um our mob in in public service and that is to have more Aboriginal people in there I know it's easy as said but that just makes my life so much easier when I've got original people around me to um to bounce off and they understand what I'm talking about and um we've we're quite lucky in this part of the organization that we've got over 10% Aboriginal people Aboriginal staff so we don't have a shortage there um we do have an issue with original people being in higher management roles so that's where my challenge is to try and get people lifted up to those I honestly feel that it's really important to make the work meaningful and and always have lots of work out in front of us to so so people and original people especially can see their part in the bigger picture and explaining that to them and just so they can feel they belong and they feel included to move forward and stay with us and this is what we got coming up and there's a future here for you and so yeah so there's a longer term thing there as well not just for the short term like this is just another job for 12 months or whatever until it run work runs out we want people to come and stay and make it a career and and then pass their skills on to the younger people that come through.

Recognition

Proactively recognising and celebrating workplace achievements helps create an inclusive and culturally safe work environment, as well as a positive workplace experience. Celebrating the achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees in your agency shows appreciation for their diligence, dedication, and the results they deliver.

Recognition is a key driver of retention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and acknowledges the value they bring to the agency. Culturally safe environments that embrace and celebrate cultural diversity enhances an agency’s reputation, are important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees wanting to build their careers and encourages others to enter the public sector workforce.

Awards

The NSW Premier’s Awards recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements from across the sector. Some agencies also have their own awards to recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements from staff across their agencies.

Consider nominating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees and teams for their workplace achievements when submitting your agency award nominations.

Retention

Research on retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees indicates that retention relies heavily on creating cultural safety, in addition to factors that are usually considered for any mainstream retention strategy.

Focus Group insights on retention

Key reasons Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff were likely to leave the NSW public sector:

  • Lack of career progression.
  • Low level roles and temporary roles for long periods of time.
  • Cultural load placed upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff.   
  • Acts of racism and absence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander involvement in racism complaint procedures.
  • Complaints procedures not seen as culturally safe spaces for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to raise issues.

Key reasons Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff were likely to stay in the NSW public sector:  

  • Career progression seemed faster at more culturally safe agencies, which meant staff often transferred to enhance their career.
  • Agencies have cultural awareness training and further opportunities for non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff to engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
  • Agencies addressing racism through training and policy.
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