Are We There Yet?

How Wollongong City Council is Progressing Towards being an Employee of Choice

Rosemary CrowhurstLisa-Marie Walsh

A little bit about us...

Over 40 engineers and 10 scientists

Serve a community of over 200,000 people

Wollongong City Council represents the 3rd largest population in NSW

Covering an area of 714km2

Wollongong is the 9th largest city in Australia.

Work Life Balance?

It is not a destination, it is a state of mind

“You can see the mountain in the distance, it’s a journey with a big hill you have to climb”

Mother of two, carer of one parent, environmental scientist

“After you do the things you do, you go home to do the things you need to do. I don’t have a choice it’s just what I want to do.”

Elite athlete, horticulturalist

Work Life Balance?

“My definition of Work Life Balance is being happy with the amount of time and effort that I give to my work and my life, because work is part of your life.”

Married with one child, senior manager

There is no simple formula that will make it happen for every individual all the time

Employee of Choice“I have been in organisations where the manager has said that I would like to do this but I have been constrained by process, here we have the processes and there are some good managers that allow us to put them in place.”

Married, mother of one, senior manager

“I always prioritised life over work, I work to live and don’t life to work. I chose employers based on the ability to live my life, Wollongong City Council has done that for me”

Father of three, engineer

Why Council?Live close to work

I benefit from the outcome of my work

Flexible working hours

Challenge

Pay

Why Council?“Local government you end up doing things that you never thought you would do, you become and expert out of necessity. That’s the way local government works, if you actually want to do something that needs to be done in the end you need to do it yourself.”

Scientist, self made pest expert

“Members of the public notice what I do and ask how I am, this makes a big difference to know that you are appreciated. This is what makes me happy and keeps me at council; I can look back and see what I have achieved.

Newly married, enforcement officer

When it’s worked?

“I couldn’t have gone through what I did elsewhere, people me around assisted. I was offered the ability to get through it, there was an understanding that baggage doesn’t inhibit work ability - when we do something wrong we need to not be reprimanded for it and ask, ok so how do we fix it.”

Recent divorcee, project manager

When it’s worked?“If it stays the same it’s just too boring and I need to move onto something different. It’s all about challenge, every 2 to 3 years I have had a job change, and I have worked for the same organisation for over 16 years.”

Mother, traveller, wife

“At the height of my illness I did not have work life balance, I was in bad relationship, nothing was in balance, I had bad self-esteem, was putting myself down and put too much pressure on self. Work was the stable. If I worked anywhere else I would have lost my job.”

In recovery, horticulturalist

Everyone’s Different“My day begins and ends with chaos, and in between there is lots of talking and listening.”

Mother of three, strategic manager

“This job gives me time to deal with my family life, I can relax and level my head from the decisions I have made during the day.”

New dad, arborist

Inspiration

“The first thing that comes to mind is my kids, but if I go deeper than that it’s self-contentment, having balance, having a challenge - if there’s nothing to challenge then there is no motivation”

Civil engineer, change manager

Inspiration“It’s amazing how enriched your life gets when you have all of these people from different backgrounds who all have an influence on what you become.”

Business manager, team Leader

“My self-esteem and being a role model for my family is what inspires me.”

Father of three, safety officer

It’s Not Constant“Having a component of ‘you’ time means that there is resilience and is good for having healthy relationships with work and family. I have structured my life to get a balance between my wife and I, right now she is studying as well as work so study has replaced her ‘you' time but that is what she needs right now.”

Part time, scientist

It’s Not Constant“You have the ying’s and yang’s and you need to make good use of the yang’s while they are around, I have shit fights at home and shit fights at work. When it was wrong it felt like being a caged animal that was being poked, I took the opportunity to move but some things stay in the back of your mind even though you grow out of it.”

Father of three, horticulturalist

It’s your choice!“My greatest pressure is the expectation I put on self - being a good leader, supporting manager, parent/lover/partner, setting very high expectations and trying to meet them.”

Senior manager, social planner, board member, father of three

“I work for the world’s most flexible boss and I still didn’t have work life balance. I have the balance now but it is chaos, you can’t have it all and expect it to be easy, the work place has helped make it easy but it is my choice.”

Kids just starting school, strategic planner

It’s your choice!“I have given up my golf for now due to financial and time pressures with kids at a demanding age, in 5 years’ time I hope to be able to get that back but right now it is OK to have lost it for a good reason.”

Want to be golfer, technical officer

I’ve got to stop saying that I don’t have work life balance because this is my life and I have it, I need to make the most of what I have.

Who We Need“We need professionals who want to make a difference.”

David Farmer, General Manager

“We need fresh ideas; it takes people from other places to bring ideas in. We need to constantly look at things from a new perspective so that we can continue to improve our efficiency, safety and continue to innovate. It can take just one person to inspire a whole team.”

Leading hand

Who We Need

“More people who are flexible thinkers, risk takers rather than risk adverse, particularly within senior management - less males, the gender inequity is insurmountable - how do they ever see me as an equal.”

Senior manager, community services advocate

Are We There Yet

So are we there yet? Not by a long way.

Should we give up?Not by a long way.

Can we do it on our own?NO