Key Factors in the Attraction and Retention of Local Remote Staff:

Case studies from Northern Australia

Developing Northern Australia Conference, Darwin 2016

Presented by Dr Judith Lovell, Project Research Leader, Synthesis and Integration, CRC for Remote Economic Participation and Northern Institute, CDU

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Ninti One is a not-for-profit company that builds opportunities for people in remote Australia through research, innovation and community development.

Ninti One also manages the CRC for Remote Economic Participation andexternal consultancy projects.

Introducing Ninti

One

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Prioritisation of local remote employment

• Indigenous Affairs Employment agenda • National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social

Survey (2014-2015)• Prime Ministers Closing the Gap Report (2015, 2016)

• Northern Australia development agenda• National Indigenous procurement policy – increase

remote Indigenous employment through the livestock industry and road works

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Perceptions about employment from three research cases

CRC-REP Synthesis and Integration1. Key Factors in the Attraction and Retention of local remote staff: Preliminary situational analysis

CRC-REP Enterprise Program2. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Arts Economies: Analysis of Arts workers’ perceptions3. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Tourism

Products: Analysis of Remote Tourism clusters

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Researching key factors: toward a better understanding

Theme 1.

AttractionTheme 2.

RetentionTheme 3.

PolicyTheme 4.

Outcome

Factors adapted from Becker, K., Hyland, P., & Soosay, C. (2013). Labour attraction and retention in rural and remote Queensland communities. Themes arising from data.

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Staff churn and consistency– Very limited hard data– No clear patterns between sectors– Positive and negative organisational impacts– Strategies for churn vary between locations and

sectors

Local staff will tend to change employer or job sector rather than location; not so for migratory staff.

Factors impacting at organisational level

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Employer expectations varied more between locations than between sectors

– Operational certainty and capacity is required – Flexible employment models are preferred by staff in public

and art sectors– Autonomous work conditions are preferred among

contractors and tourism providers

Organisational role to foster community level economic activity through procurement, clustering, supportive networks or flexible models of employment.

Factors impacting at an organisational level continued…

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Policy and regulation– With 85%+ Indigenous employment in some remote

communities, national targets of 10% to 30% Indigenous employment is contentious

– Cross-cultural capability and local staff leadership are essential to organisation and community health

Culturally aligned employment options attract and retain local staff; to meet the challenge organisations need to address the tension between national/regional policies and local practices – they require local capability and vision.

Factors impacting at an organisational level continued…

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Factors of community level impact

The interaction between communities, individuals and organisations

– Local leadership fosters community resilience and individual capability, which are assets

– Histories of settlement, changing generational and gendered expectations are widely varied across locations

Local employment policy level has great capacity to respond, foster and promote local remote staff attraction and retention, and even more so when community is understood as ‘a living system’ (Wadsworth, 2011).

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Capability, cultural interface and resilience– Motivators include pride, alignment to others in the

workplace and the work itself– Mentoring, employment and training with personalised

outcomes and wrap around support rates high among employers and employees; has significant logistical and financial challenges

– Professional regard and community valorisation of staff

There are different pressures on local staff than on migratory ones; this needs to be better understood.

Factors impacting at personal level

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Conclusions• There is far to go to better foster an understanding of the

key factors that impact on local staff attraction and retention in remote areas

• This is vital work because there are a number of success stories to learn from and issues to take heed of

• Many local organisations would like a better network for support and knowledge regarding remote local staff attraction and retention

In remote workplaces, people sometimes remain vulnerable for unnecessary reasons – organisational lack of insight or forethought, or personal capacity to aspire / have vision.

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Thank You

Dr Judith Lovell, Senior Research Fellow, Northern Institute, CDU

E:  judith.lovell@cdu.edu.au T: +61 8 8959 5316

Dr Judith Lovell is a Senior Research Fellow with the Northern Institute at Charles Darwin University. Her expertise is in the multidisciplinary and collaborative uses of research to enhance social, environmental, cultural and economic capabilities in Australian and international societies, and she leads the Synthesis and Integration of research for the Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation. Her practice meshes sociological research and adult education principles.