BUILDING CULTURAL COMPETENCE IN YOUR ORGANISATION: AN ASSESSMENT TOOL FOR THE DISABILITY SERVICES SECTOR
2015 Hamish Robertson Maria Katrivesis Joanne Travaglia Georiography and Associates
Please cite as: © Robertson HL, Katrivesis M, Travaglia J. (2015) Building cultural competence in your organisation: An assessment tool for the disability services sector. Georiography and Associates, Sydney Australia.
For additional copies, or copies of full Cultural Diversity Competency Framework report by the same authors, please contact :
Email:
[email protected] Website: www.georiography.com
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The Cultural Diversity Competency Framework Assessment Toolkit Introduction Recognition of the diversity of human beings and their experiences and the complexity that diversity brings to human interactions is, and always has been, a constant in the provision of high quality services. Service providers’ ability to embrace and respond to diversity can be seen as a measure of their organisational capacity, capabilities and competence as a whole. The effective provision of support to people with disabilities depends on organisations’ and individuals’ responsiveness to clients with complex conditions and situations. In modern management “speak” this depends on an organisation’s agility and resilience. These characteristics rely in turn on the service’s culture, understood increasingly as those day to day discussions that put values into action. The Cultural Diversity Competency Framework (CDCF) provides the foundation for a new approach to diversity within disability organisations. The CDCF begins not with a blank slate, but from a position of acknowledgement and recognition of the strengths, vision and commitment that the disability sector already has in place to individuals and groups with a diverse range of experiences and expectations. The CDCF draws together and explores areas of common concern for providers, clients and communities, by employing an holistic approach which includes an understanding of how population (macro), community and service (meso) and individual (micro) needs shape the delivery, use and outcomes of services. It is based on the latest research and best evidence on quality improvement and change management, but for a very practical purpose, that is to assist clients and providers in working together to achieve the best possible outcomes for all those involved. The CDCF will lead you through a series of questions around ten key areas. There are no right or wrong answers. The Framework is about assessing where you are, where you could be, and how to get there. The outcome will be a personalised profile of your organisation, its strengths and weaknesses in relation to cultural diversity issues, and more importantly insights into how to increase your responsiveness to clients – and staff, of all backgrounds.
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Principles underpinning the use of the CDCF assessment tool Underpinning the CDCF and this associated self-assessment tool are four principles. The first principle is focuses on the client, and acknowledges that each individual has a range of characteristics, capacities and concerns which will affect their needs and choices. While the CDCF takes CALD and disability as primary foci, it acknowledges that people’s gender, socio-economic status, age and sexuality, as well as their education, location, employment and so on, will all affect their the way in which they seek out and utilise services, and which services they consider most appropriate. Stereotyping is a persistent danger across all services; assumptions that an individual comes from a large, warm embracing ‘ethnic’ family and therefore has an extended support group is as dangerous for an individual seeking services as the assumption that sexuality is not a concern for an woman with disabilities, with a strong religious commitment. The second principle focuses on the community. It acknowledges that while consumer directed care rightly argues that the individual is in control of their choices, it also recognises that individuals are relational beings, and that these relationships or context (often, but not always) link them to carers, families and friends, groups and communities. These relationships have to be accounted for in the delivery of services. Moreover, it is important to acknowledge that patterns of disadvantage, in relation to our four cornerstones (access, utilisation, quality/safety and outcomes) occur within and across groups and communities, and therefore services cannot respond to individual needs without recognising and planning for community expectations and concerns. The third principle recognises that diversity applies not only to clients but to staff. Recognition and responsiveness to diversity is most successful when it treats staff with the same level of cultural competency as the clients: building on strengths, recognising challenges and affording all the choice as to which elements of their experience and identity with which they wish to acknowledge and engage in the service delivery process. The fourth final principle addresses the improvement process itself. This principle is drawn from appreciative inquiry and positive organisational theory which seeks to build accountable, resilient and reflexive organisations. These theories suggests that organisations should first seek to identify and strengthen what an organisation is doing right, and in the belief that small changes can result in big improvements to the day to day experiences of clients, carers, families and staff.
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Using the assessment tool This assessment tool is based on an extensive review of the research and previous work conducted and tested by Travaglia and Robertson. Use of this assessment tool should be undertaken in conjunction with the whole Cultural Diversity Competency Framework report which is available from the authors at the www.georiography.com website, or through the Northcott Society website. This tool will lead you through a self-assessment of 10 key elements in cultural competence: population, place, personal, philosophy, policy, planning, personnel, practice, programs and products. There is a brief description of each element, followed by five basic questions. The scoring process is subjective – but given the purpose of this tool is self rather than independent review, the very process of reflection and review is intended to assist disability services to come to an understanding not only of what they currently do well, but also areas for improvement. The tool can be used in a variety of ways. It can used as a straightforward questionnaire. It can be used as prompt questions for stakeholder focus groups, in formal or informal discussions. Sections of the tool, for example the questions associated with practice, could be used as Key Performance Indicators or as part of staff review. In whatever way you choose to use the tool, one central element should apply. In research there is a concept known as ‘triangulation’. This principle means what is sounds like – that different sources (often three, but even two are fine) are compared. So while this assessment tool is intended to be a positive experience, it is also intended to be an honest one. This means that the more stakeholders and different opinions you gather, the more robust the results. In practice, whether you receive a score of 15 rather than a 16 might be a matter of pride, but the real value lies in whether your staff’s self-assessment score is 17 compared to your clients’ score of eight. The value and the truth of this tool lies in comparison: between stakeholders, and over time. Take time to review the tool. Consider the questions in light of your current strategic and operational plans. Consider building into your next planning cycle. Feel free to change the format, simplify the language, put it in the first person (“our
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organisation”) and most of all, given the intent of this project as a whole, to have the information translated and given to clients from a variety of backgrounds. Do read the associated Cultural Diversity Competency Framework before you apply the tool. It will give you additional information and rationale for its use. At the end of the tool you will see a spider graph on which to plot your overall scores, and some feedback based on your score. These will provide you with some direction and advice on how to address the areas which need additional development. If you feel that you have substantial areas for development, then consider asking a specialist facilitator to come in and assist you both in the assessment and in the response process. Consider this tool and its associated principles as a starting point. Whatever your scores, there is always the opportunity to reach out to new or different communities, to engage new stakeholders, to develop and broaden the skills of your staff and to engage them more fully, to take an individual and organisational leadership role, and most of all to ensure that your service ensures the best possible outcomes for all your clients.
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Population Strategic planning means understanding who your current clients groups are, who they could be, and how they are located. In this section we will ask you reflect on how much information you currently have on the populations surrounding and utilising your services, what additional information you might need and most importantly, why.
Competency
Always Sometimes 3 4
Rarely Never 2
1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Does your organisation regularly collect data about the demographic composition of its catchment area or areas? 2. Does your organisation utilise that data to inform its planning processes? 3. Does your organisation have strategies in place to reach out to new, emerging or missing communities? 4. Does your organisation use that data to improve client service provision? 5. Does your organisation collect data about the diversity of its workforce? Total
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/20
Population 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Place Place is about the location of your organisation, but it is much more than that as well. It is about both how your organisation reflects and responds to your surrounding communities, and how it represents the diversity of those communities in its appearance, accessibility and overall design.
Competency Item
Always Sometimes 3 4
Rarely Never 2
1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Does your organisation regularly collect data about the communities represented in its catchment area(s)? 2. Does your organisation target community events and activities to inform the community of its services? 3. Does your organisation target specific cultural/language groups or communities relevant to your catchment area(s)? 4. Does your organisation reflect the diversity of the people it serves and employs in its visible appearance (e.g. signage, images, pictures etc.)? 5. Are your organisation’s premises accessible to everyone? Total
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/20
Place 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Personal The provision of all services is about relationships, relationships between clients and providers, between staff and managers, and about leadership as a whole. Person centred practice is also known as relationship centred practice, and for good reason. Understanding how best to deliver a service to an individual or group must be based on a clear understanding of the skills and capabilities of the people who provide that service.
Competency Item
Always Sometimes 3 4
Rarely Never 2
1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Does your organisation support non-English language skills learning (e.g. Auslan) and use in the workplace? 2. Does your organisation support the development of cultural competency by all of its staff? 3. Does your organisation provide specific training on how to work with interpreters? 4. Does your organisation provide training on diversity issues, cultural competency or similar (e.g. access and equity)? 5. Does your organisation treat all of its clients with appropriate respect and courtesy? Total
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/20
Personal 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Philosophy Disability services more than any other sector is aware of the importance of values to the way in which organisations approach their work. In this section we will ask you to reflect on the alignment of your organisations’ values and the day to day practice of staff at every level.
Competency Item
Always Sometimes 3 4
Rarely Never 2
1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Are diversity issues embedded in your values, mission and/or vision statements? 2. Are your organisation’s practices consistent with these values? 3. Does your Board, executive and senior staff reflect the diversity of your existing and potential clients? 4. Does your organisation explicitly acknowledge the diversity of its clients? 5. Does your organisation explicitly acknowledge the diversity of its staff? Total
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/20
Philosophy 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Policy Policy is one of the great levers for organisational change and improvement. It sets out publicly the commitments and expectations of the organisation, and enables both internal and external stakeholders to assess just how successful the organisation is in meeting those commitments. Competency Item
Always 4
Sometimes 3
Rarely 2
Never 1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Does your organisation have specific policies in place that address cultural competency concerns (including culture, language, religion, dietary needs) of both clients and staff? 2. Does the policy review process identify how well the policy reflects cultural competency principles? 3. Does your organisation have a policy of outreach to diverse communities? 4. Do your clients and their communities have input into your policy development processes? 5. Does your organisation have an antidiscrimination policy in place? Total
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/20
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Policy 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Planning Recognition of diversity – both within your organisation’s staff and their existing and potential client groups, provides the framework for achieving and assessing the best possible outcomes for all parties involved. The CDCF enables organisations to start to integrate diversity goals from the start of each planning cycle, and to assess and celebrate achievements and outcomes, including increased client and staff satisfaction and retention.
Competency Item
Always 4
Sometimes 3
Rarely
Never
2
1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Does your organisation have a range of short and long-term planning processes in place to address the needs of a diverse client and staff groups? 2. Do these planning processes identify and budget for diversity as a key issue for client service? 3. Do these planning processes identify diversity as a key issue for workforce recruitment and retention? 4. Does your organisation’s leadership team drive the inclusion of diversity in these planning processes? 5. Does your organisation monitor the effects of its planning processes on all clients and staff? Total
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/20
Planning 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Personnel Organisations are about their people. Recruiting and retaining the best possible staff requires a clear understanding and an established process for acknowledging the capabilities of individuals and assistance for their continued development.
Competency Item
Always 4
Sometimes 3
Rarely
Never
2
1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Does your organisation have employees (and volunteers if recruited) from a diverse range of backgrounds? 2. Does your organisation employ staff who reflect your current/potential clients and community profile? 3. Are people with disabilities and CALD backgrounds employed at all levels within the organisation? 4. Are the interpreters your organisation uses trained in disability concepts and issues? 5. Do all staff position descriptions identify responsibility for implementing culturally responsive/culturally competent practices? Total
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/20
Personnel 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Practice Clients experience organisations through their day to day interactions with staff. This interaction can be understood as the daily practice of professionals, staff, managers, leaders and volunteers. In this section we will ask you to reflect on your current practices in relation to your existing and potential client groups.
Competency Item
Always 4
Sometimes 3
Rarely
Never
2
1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Would you describe the staff in your organisation as culturally competent? 2. Is cultural competency included in job advertisements for your organisation? 3. Are the cultural competence and language skills of staff assessed as part of their performance indicators? 4. Are cultural competence and/or language skills, promoted or rewarded in your organisation? 5. Is your organisation a culturally safe place for staff, clients, carers and volunteers? Total
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/20
Practice 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Programs While not all organisations have programs, most have organised their delivery around key service points. In this section we will ask you to consider how closely your programs match your current or potential client groups, and what you could do to improve that alignment.
Competency Item
Always 4
Sometimes 3
Rarely
Never
2
1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Does the range of programs your organisation provides meet the needs of all existing clients? 2. Does your organisation review its programs regularly to assess their relevance to existing and potential clients groups? 3. Does your organisation have mechanisms in place to identify and assess the needs of all your clients? 4. Does your organisation involve a wide range of clients in your program design processes? 5. Does your organisation advertise your programs, services and products through a wide range of community, voluntary and other relevant organisations? Total
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/20
Programs 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Products All organisations have tangible outputs from their work, whether these are brochures, websites or other products. Whether these reflect or represent the communities they do or could service has significant, but often hidden, implications in terms of client outcomes and satisfaction. Competency Item
Always 4
Sometimes 3
Rarely 2
Never 1
Don’t Know 0
Score
1. Do you know if your organisation’s products and services are relevant to a diverse range of existing and potential clients? 2. Does your organisation involve a diverse range of people directly in new product and service design processes? 3. Do your products reflect the range of existing and potential clients in their design (e.g. language, communication modes)? 4. Does your organisation regularly evaluate its products and services with input from a diverse range of clients and communities? 5. Are your organisation’s communication strategies and processes inclusive? /20
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Products 1. Why did you give your organisation that rating?
2. What assumptions were you making?
3. What needs to happen next?
4. Who needs to be involved?
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Scoring tool Population Score Score 0 – 5:
Score 6 -10:
Score 1015:
Score 15 20:
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Your organisation has commenced its journey into culturally competency service provision by utilizing this tool. Understanding your existing and potential clientele and staff and their needs and concerns is the foundation of all effective planning and service delivery. You need to review carefully why it is that you are currently unable to either answer these key questions, or never undertake these tasks at all. Integration of this information in your strategic and organizational planning will make all the difference. Your organisations is developing an understanding of your internal and external stakeholders. Clearly some aspects are better developed than others. Perhaps you have a good idea of your clients, but less knowledge of your staff, or maybe the opposite is true. Either way, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of your community in all senses of the word. Without understanding your current or potential clientele strategic planning will be ineffective at worst or “hit and miss” at best. Without understanding your staff, you may be underutilizing the skills of your greatest resource. Your organisation has develop a level of cultural competence. In order to move to the next stage you need to consider questions associated with this this element more carefully. Why did you give your organisation the rating you did? What are the areas you were prompted to consider when you went through the checklist? What in particular did you think needed improving? What assumptions were you making in terms of your highest or lowest scoring areas? How up to date or relevant are your current sources of information on your clients? How can you test these assumptions? This band indicates a level of confidence with regards to cultural competence. In order to increase or maintain your scores at this level, the key organisational focus needs to be one of continuous quality improvement. Developing and maintaining a high score is always dependent on the embedding of cultural diversity principles within and across the organisation. This in turn depends on strong leadership, constant consultation and dialogue with clients and staff, organisational agility in response to demographic (and workforce) changes and funding opportunities, skilled and responsive staff, and genuine community consultation. The questions are this level are how can you benchmark or test your ratings and what needs to happen next?
Place Score Score 0 – 5:
Your organisation’s understanding of the importance of place is closely linked you your understanding of the demographic profiles of your current and potential clientele. In order to develop your understanding of CALD client groups it is important that you consider the three dimensions of community: community as place (ie which CALD communities live in your geographic catchment areas); community as relationships (ie how well established or close knit the communities you want to service are, and what types of social, cultural and economic capital they have); and community as organisation (what types of organisations currently support people from the communities you are trying to reach and how closely linked in people with disabilities are to those, or other community organisations). Score 6 -10: Your organisation is developing an understanding of the importance of place in the delivery of services. Typically at this level you will know about some of the CALD communities who do or could use your services. In order to expand this knowledge, you need to think about a process of active outreach. However, before you do, you need to consider what will happen if you are successful. Do you have staff in place that can ensure that the clients and communities whom you wish to attract will find your organisational accessible and appropriate? Score 10- 15: At this level, you should have already established the groundwork in terms of understanding and communicating with CALD clients. Perhaps you have workers from CALD background, and as a result you have attracted clients from the same communities. Perhaps you have links with specific CALD organisations or services. You may have access to or developed some resources for some communities. All of this is necessary. However, the next step is to review and test your current approaches and strategies against the perceptions of current and potential clients. Score 15 -20: At this level your organisation should be engaging in a process of critical reflection regarding the assumptions it makes about the way it presents itself, in all senses of the word, to CALD communities. Which communities are you engaging, and which are you missing? Have you reviewed the appropriateness of your translated materials for both scope and content? Who communicates with the CALD communities (only your CALD workers?) and at what level? How engaged are members of CALD communities in your organisation – and how much input do they have in how your organisation looks and feels?
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Personal Score Score 0 – 5:
Service delivery in the disability sector is all about relationships. Current research into excellence in organisations indicates that organisational culture – a strong predictor of organisational success – is created in the day to day dialogues that occur at every level and in every place within a community. If you score places you within this band you might be in a position where you are beginning to think about diversity for the first time, or you might have engaged in only a limited way in the past. The two basic keys to good professional relationships within a service setting are effective communication and respect. At this level the questions to consider is why did we give our organisation this score? How does the score differ, if at all, between staff, volunteers. managers and existing clients? Organisational capacity is built on professional capacity. Understanding Score 6 -10: the level of cultural competency required by the personnel (staff and volunteers of your organisation) is fundamental to its development as a cultural competent provider. At this level organisations should consider a review of existing staff skills and an alignment between those skills and current provision of cultural diversity training. What and who are your organisation’s priorities (both in terms of staff and clients)? What assumptions are you making about the competency of your staff and the way they deliver services? Are you under or overestimating their skills and capabilities? Score 10- 15: Having reached a certain level of professional and organisational capability with regards to cultural competence, organisations at this level need to consider the ways in which they acknowledge and reward that competence. Higher level cultural competency skills include an organisation’s ability to engage with and respond to the needs of clients and communities in a way which is respectful of culture, but which recognises and supports individual choices and perspectives. Score 15 -20: At this level, your organisation should have a systematic and universal plan for the development of cultural competence in staff and volunteers, along with a clear set of performance indicators. Do you have a learning plan for individual staff that encourages and supports cultural competence? Are cultural competence skills reviewed as part of annual performance reviews? What procedures do you have in place if you identify incidents of discrimination or disrespect by or towards staff or clients?
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Philosophy Score Score 0 – 5:
Disability services, by the nature of their function and because of their history have in general a greater awareness than other types of services of the philosophical values which underpin our work. At this level, your scores indicate that you may not as yet have had the need to consider how diversity aligns with those values. At this level, the key is to spend some time, possibility with a diversity facilitator, considering the ways in which you review and assess your current organisational vision, mission and values statements and how they might incorporate a diversity perspective. Having acknowledged diversity, the next step is to formally incorporate Score 6 -10: this into all your key documents. To achieve this score your organisation’s commitment to cultural competency should be evident in your values, strategic plans, policies and procedures. Score 10- 15: At this level your organisation needs move beyond recognition of diversity to its actual application. It is one thing to say your organisation values diversity, it is another to demonstrate and pursue it. At this level you need to be testing the strength of your commitment by reviewing the alignment between your client and staff profiles, by considering the ways in which clients and communities from CALD have direct input into your planning and decision making processes. Score 15 -20: The alignment of an organisation’s commitment to diversity has to run the length of the organisation. At this level, key questions relate to the representation of CALD people on the organisation’s highest decision making bodies and positions, including outreach to new and emerging communities. It includes constant monitoring of the design and delivery of services in alignment with the principles of the CDCF and an active valuing of diversity as an organisational asset.
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Policy Score Score 0 – 5:
Policy is essential for an organisational level commitment to cultural diversity. At this level you need to review your current policies and compare them with the profiles of your clients and your staff. Are there any areas or issues which require new or additional policies relating to diversity issues? When were your substantive policies last reviewed and by whom? Have they ever been reviewed for a diversity perspective? At the most direct level any organisation in Australia today needs to have Score 6 -10: policies addressing key diversity issues (for example, on the use of interpreters or bilingual workers, anti-discrimination and so on). At this level you should be aware of your basic policies and whether you have, or don’t have, ones specifically addressing diversity issues. If you don’t, then this is place to start. At this level you should be considering a process of ongoing review and Score 10- 15: integration of diversity issues across all your policies. At this level you should be starting to think about the inclusion of diversity at a deeper level. Your organisation needs to start considering if and how diversity issues are integrated across all your organisation’s policies, and how you will know what needs to be included. Score 15 -20: Having considered the basics, the next step in the integration of diversity across policies is to consider a process of development and review which includes the active involvement of clients and staff. How do you develop your policies? Who is involved? How do you measure their effectiveness? Does that measure include information about potential variable or unintended consequences for CALD or other groups (of both clients and or staff) as a result of your policy?
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Planning Score Score 0 – 5:
Planning like policy is built upon an understanding of the other elements of the CDCF. Planning has to be based on a clear understanding of the existing and potential client base, and how this relates to your workforce. Basic information on different CALD communities and their profiles are available, however this information is largely generic and caution needs to be considered when planning on this basis as disability profiles may not match those of the general population or even those of the CALD community to which the people with disabilities may choose to belong. Developing a broad understanding of the communities you want to integrate in your planning process is necessary, but not sufficient. However, it is a great place to start. At this level, your understanding of how to integrate diversity Score 6 -10: perspectives in planning is deepening. At this point contact with community organisations and key healthcare and service may be useful. Part of the planning process needs to be the active engagement of clients and staff from diverse backgrounds, with a recognition, however that that engagement may need to take a variety of forms. Score 10- 15: Having considered the basics of planning in place, at this level you need to be considering expanding your organisation’s planning processes. Has your response to planning around issues of diversity been largely reactive? Have you reached out only to the largest or most obvious groups? In terms of staff, have you operated on the basis of minimal rather than maximum benefit from cultural competency skills? Are diversity issues (for example a budget for the use of interpreters) viewed only as an add-on or a luxury item? Score 15 -20: Having considered the basics, the next step in the integration of diversity across all planning processes. Do you have a diversity champion or champions in your organisation whose explicit role it is to ensure diversity perspectives – and associated resources – are integrated at all stages of the planning process. Do you monitor the impact of your existing planning processes for CALD clients and staff Have you tested your assumptions about the need for specific resources or the benefits they might provide? Are there any groups that are systematically and or inadvertently excluded due to planning decisions and processes?
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Personnel Score Score 0 – 5:
While the success of diversity initiatives is not entirely dependent on having staff from diverse backgrounds, research evidence (unsurprisingly shows that employing people from specific backgrounds tends to attract clients from similar backgrounds. At this level, you should be developing a clearer picture of the profile of staff, including hidden skills and capabilities that can contribute to culturally appropriate service provision. Having understood the importance of culturally competent staff, at this Score 6 -10: level you need to consider the ways in which your staff profile do or do not match those of your current or intended client profiles. The presence of some staff from diverse backgrounds may be useful, but to gain maximum benefit for your organisation you need to consider where those staff are located (are they only short term, casual employees) and how they are utilised. Score 10- 15: At this level you should be considering a proactive approach to personnel planning. This includes active recruitment of staff to who have experience in working with clients from CALD backgrounds, identification of growing client groups that could be engaged through specialist bilingual staff, a systematic approach to engaging not only CALD people but people from CALD backgrounds with disability across your service. Score 15 -20: At this level you should have a staged plan for the employment and development of staff from CALD backgrounds as well as people with disabilities. Your organisation should be committed to the use of professional interpreters, with a deep understanding of disability issues. Your staff profile should not only mirror your client groups – but be used as a way of attracting new groups. Your workplace should be a positive workplace environment, where diversity is valued and encouraged, and where additional skills development is supported for individuals of all backgrounds and at all levels of the organisation.
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Practice Score Score 0 – 5:
The employment of personnel with knowledge and experience of CALD communities in only one strategy towards culturally competent practice. An holistic organisational view of cultural competence requires this skill across all staff, and not just specialist staff. At this level, you need to review the basic skills of your staff, and learn more about their knowledge of culturally competent practice in general and in relation to your specific client group in particular. At this level, you should be considering how the practice of staff Score 6 -10: members could be enhanced and rewarded. You need to review whether your staff have the capabilities and resources to ensure that your services are accessible, equitable and appropriate, how you know this is the case, and what else needs to happen in order for this to occur. Score 10- 15: At this point, your job advertisements as well as your position descriptions should include cultural competence as one of the criteria for employment. You need to have an up to date register of cultural and language skills across the organisation, and to be developing protocols and policies for their use to ensure that no individual staff member is over or underutilised. Your organisation needs to have, or to be developing a mechanism for supporting, reviewing and rewarding the cultural competence of staff. Score 15 -20: At this level your organisation should be striving to be a culturally safe place for all individuals. This means that the environment as a whole is reflective of the community you serve and the community at large. It means that your organisation should respond proactively to diversity from a positive, rather than negative perspective. It means that diversity is no longer relegated to special days, cultural events or specific foods, but rather is based on an approach of openness, respect and dialogue across all individuals and groups in your organisation.
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Programs Score Score 0 – 5:
Understanding the implication of program delivery for CALD communities starts, but cannot end with an understanding of issues of access. At this level you need to consider who accesses which programs, services, units or teams in your organisation, and who does not. You need to begin to explore whether this usage comes about because of your client group, or whether, through location, information or design you are wittingly or unwittingly excluding potential clients and staff. Having considered the basic issues of alignment between service type Score 6 -10: and client group, at this level your organisation needs to review the alignment between current and optimal service provision for all clients. This means engaging in a process of consultation and fact checking that explores your assumptions about how services are delivered compared to how existing and potential clients think they should – or could – be delivered. At this level you should be considering the breadth and the depth of your Score 10- 15: services. Is their potential to provide or to collaborate in the provision of specialist CALD services? Are there new programs or markets needed to meet the needs of emerging communities? You you need to review your “traditional” methods of identifying and assessing clients to make them more targeted and culturally appropriate? Are you targeting your marketing to the right communities in the right way? Score 15 -20: Once you have established the benchmark for your services, you need to examine the way in which they are designed and delivered in greater detail. Your organisation needs to consider co-design, not just with the most engaged or most available clients and communities, but with those individuals and groups who are can remain voiceless not only in the service setting but even in their own communities.
Products
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Score Score 0 – 5:
Your organisation is visible not just in what it does, and who it employs, but also in what it produces. At this level you need to review your current materials to see if they match the profile of your existing or potential client groups, and start examining the question of why you gave your organisation this score, and what needs to happen next if you are to engage with cultural diversity. Once you have reviewed the basics, you need to consider which Score 6 -10: communities you are missing out on, and what the best approaches to information are for those communities. As this point, issues of accessibility and design become important. The images people see on your materials whether they are promotional, informational, or educational matter. So too are they people they see promoting your organisation. If you want to expand your client base you need to ensure that the information you provide is appropriate, accessible, and engaging to them, rather than to a generic client. Score 10- 15: At this level you should have considered all the basics, including whether you have a range of informational or educational approaches depending on your client group (paper, audio, audio-visual, online, etc), in which languages, and directed through what means (community papers, community organisations, general practitioners, pharmacists, specialist services). Score 15 -20: At this last level, you need to go beyond the process of translation into the field of co-design. Your organisation needs to consider how all your materials are produced, for whom, and in what way. You need to consider market segments, including children, young adults, parents and carers as appropriate. You need to review and reflect on the inherent messages all your communications provide – not just those targeted to CALD communities. At this point you should also be considering evaluating all existing materials for inclusiveness.
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This graph is a simple visual presentation of your score in the assessment tool. Plot each score on the axis of the corresponding term and join them together with a line. The surface area you create will give you an overall impression of how far along the journey of cultural competence you currently are. The ultimate is not to produce a “perfect” score but to identify areas, rather than single elements, for improvement.
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For more information please contact:
Hamish Robertson Managing Director Georiography P/L
Mob: 0425 237 942 Email:
[email protected] Website: www.georiography.com
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