Workforce Forum 2023 - Keynote speakers

​Day 1

A​ngus Stevens | CEO & Co Founder, Start Beyond

Angus Stevens is CEO & Co Founder of Start Beyond; Australia’s leading VR & AR immersive learning studio. Following a decade of building out Southern Cross Austereo and Nova Entertainment’s digital platforms, since 2016, Angus has overseen the Start Beyond team delivering over 100 mixed reality (VR/AR) experiences to clients that range from international and Australian Fortune 500 companies, to state and federal government departments, to media publishers, universities and educational organisations. In September 2023 Start Beyond was awarded a listing in The Australian Financial Review’s Top 10 Most Innovative Technology Companies in Australia.

His session will separate speculative tech hype from real world opportunities. It will give a hands on account of the benefits of immersive learning, and how organisations such as NSW Health can leverage their existing assets and infrastructure to immediately create value for their organisation, as they build a future proof pathway to the metaverse. It will also offer demonstrations of various health, aged care & science related VR & AR experiences.

Simon Jobson | Director Capability & Learning, Sydney Trains

Simon Jobson is presenting on Sydney Trains ‘Elevate’ Customer Service Program an international and domestic award winning blended learning program that focuses on uplifting the customer service capabilities of frontline ‘station’ employees (2000+). Everyone appreciates customer’s expectations, priorities, and behaviours (especially post COVID) are continually evolving and ‘Elevate’ was initiated to ensure Sydney Trains workforce is ‘fit for the future’ and can keep pace with these ever changing customer expectations.

He has experience in leading & managing high performing teams with broad expertise spanning all aspects of L&D, HR & OD including leadership training delivery, executive coaching, employee development, succession & talent planning, team management, large scale project delivery, customer service and change management. Other experience includes developing successful customer service delivery programs (AITD Finalist ‘Best Blended Learning Solution’ 2022) and presented to several external forums/seminars showcasing large scale CX training programs.

Matt Fenton | Head of Advisory, Beamery

Matt Fenton is Vice President and Head of the Advisory Practice at Beamery . He helps leaders shape strategies to establish talent as a source of competitive advantage and driver of business value. Passionate about the intersection of talent and analytics, he specialises in helping organisations use people data to increase efficiency and effectiveness of talent programs. Prior to Beamery , he worked at McKinsey and Company where he was a leader within the Organisation and People Analytics Practices.

Matt's presentation will focus on AI for talent. It is no secret that top talent is both a scarce resource and source of distinctive advantage. In this session, we will explore how leading edge organizations are making skills (and people) top priority, using data and advanced analytics to transform the entire employee journey. The result? A step change in performance.

Fiona Robertson | Culture Transformation Expert

Fiona Robertson holds an MBA from London Business School in strategy and organisational behaviour, is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and the Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership.

In her 35 year career she has worked in and consulted to dozens of blue chip corporates domestically and internationally, with all levels of government in Australia and coached numerous senior executives in large and small organisations. She is the former Head of Culture for the National Australia Bank, where she spent twelve years in senior executive positions. In her early career Fiona spent eight years with Ogilvy Public Relations in London where she specialised in complex multi country communications campaigns for clients like IBM (35 countries), The Nasdaq Stock Market (8 countries), Oracle (10 countries) and McKinsey & Company (globally).

She is now an independent culture transformation speaker, educator, facilitator and executive coach for senior leaders. Past and present clients in Australia included ANZ Bank, Monash University, Multiplex, Pexa, La Trobe University, National Australia Bank, Australian Institute of Sport, Slater + Gordon, AusGrid , Australian Retail Credit Association, Institute of Public Accountants, Melbourne Polytechnic, Praemium , RMIT Online, RedZed , Australian Catholic University, CoreNet and the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM).

Her current book 'Rules of Belonging change your organisational culture, delight your people and turbo charge your results' is published by Major Street Publishing.

Day 2

Ryan Hannelly | Head of Human Resources, Johnson & Johnson Australia and New
Zealand

Ryan is the Head of Human Resources for J&J Australia & New Zealand and has been with J&J for 8 years. Prior to J&J, Ryan worked in HR roles for Vodafone, KPMG, and DLA Piper. Ryan’s HR career journey has included a mix of HR generalist and specialist roles with specialist roles in Employee Relations, Talent Management, Global Mobility and Total Rewards. As Head of HR Ryan leads the HR function in ANZ and is a member of the J&J ANZ Executive Team . He has qualifications including a Bachelor of Business, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a qualified solicitor with a Juris Doctor law degree.

His presentation will provide a n overview of why and how J&J invest in talent & succession planning as a case study for us to explore. Ryan will share the progress within the J&J journey, and also the tools and templates used and recommended.

Ariane Virtue | Founder, Ariane Virtue Consulting Pty Ltd

Ariane Virtue is a seasoned and dynamic Executive Coach with a relentless passion for empowering individuals to take charge of their careers, expand their networks, and explore new opportunities. With over 20 years of experience in talent development, Ariane has guided countless professionals across diverse industry sectors and job functions, helping them unlock their true potential and achieve unprecedented success.

Ariane is one of Australia’s most prominent thought leaders in the area of flexible work strategy, design, and implementation. She has partnered with organisations across a broad range of industry types, to embed and normalise ‘best fit’ flexible working frameworks. The pioneer of the idea of separating best practice flexible work theory from best practice work design. She knows what best practice flexible working is but more so, what your ‘best fit’ flexible working frameworks should be for your organisation. She partners with organisations to embed new ways of working in the hybrid world of work aligned to the needs to the organisation, leader, team, customer, and the individual’s requirements. Ariane provides education, research and expertise, consulting widely to organisations, on how to humanise work and allow people to best the best they can be at work and at home. Day 2 Ryan Hannelly | Head of Human Resources, Johnson & Johnson Australia and New Zealand R yan is the Head of Human Resources for J&J Australia & New Zealand and has been with J&J for 8 years. Prior to J&J, Ryan worked in HR roles for Vodafone, KPMG, and DLA Piper. Ryan’s HR career journey has included a mix of HR generalist and specialist roles with specialist roles in Employee Relations, Talent Management, Global Mobility and Total Rewards. As Head of HR Ryan leads the HR function in ANZ and is a member of the J&J ANZ Executive Team . He has qualifications including a Bachelor of Business, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a qualified solicitor with a Juris Doctor law degree. His presentation will provide a n overview of why and how J&J invest in talent & succession planning as a case study for us to explore. Ryan will share the progress within the J&J journey, and also the tools and templates used and recommended.

Our NSW Health presenta​​​tions ​

Day 1

Our Cult​​ure Transformation Journey 10 Years of Blue | HealthShare NSW

Fiona Buscombe Acting Culture and Organisational Development Team Manager Lorie Cittadino | Manager Culture and Organisational Development HealthShare NSW has been partnering with Human Synergistics to drive culture transformation since 2014. 2024 marks 10 years of driving transformational change at HealthShare. We will be presenting our culture journey, the highs, the lows, the learning and the achievements and where to next.

Transforming Safet​y Culture From theory to practice | Clinical Excellence Commission

Susan Sims | Safety C​​ulture Lead

The Clinical Excellence Commission Safety Culture framework was designed to develop a shared understanding of the enablers of a safety culture and support all staff, from boards to the front line, to lead positive safety cultures. The first step is to help people understand what a safety culture looks and feels like, how individuals can contribute to it personally, and why it is critical for safe, quality healthcare. This presentation outlines the process taken to operationalise the theoretical CEC Safety Culture framework to become a foundation for programs that influence, support and build capability for psychological safety, effective teamwork and better staff and patient experience.

Daring to lead ​​differently Growing Allied Health leaders through vulnerability | Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD

  • Sue Fitzpatrick | Executive Director Allied Health
  • Sue Ellen Hogg | Head of Discipline Speech Pathology

The culture of allied health is distinct, with a tendency toward person centred, inclusive and ‘nice’ ways of working, not predisposed to difficult conversations or vulnerability. It is further complicated by the heterogeneity of the professions. Traditional leadership programs have not always aligned with the values and behaviours of allied health, failing to develop staff or organisational culture in transformative ways.

Bre​​akout rooms

You will have the choice of attending one of the following breakout rooms

Workshopping the refresh of the NSW Health Culture Framework | Ministry of Health

  • Kieren Purnell | Manager Culture and Employee Experience
  • Nicole Daras | Senior Culture Advisor
  • Georgia Bartholomew | Senior Culture Advisor

WPTD has been asked to coordinate a refresh of the NSW Health Culture Framework. This workshop will use the collective talents of the People and Culture teams to create definitions of the CORE values that are contemporary and meaningful to all workforces across NSW Health.

Reflective Practice Humanising our experience at work and connecting us as p​eople Clinical Excellence Commission

Debbie Draybi | Clinical Communication Lead

Reflective Practice is essential in integrating our human experience and transforming the way we deliver and receive care. This workshop will provide insight into the value of Reflective Practice as an integral part of staff wellbeing and is foundational to processing the complex stressors associated with healthcare work. Reflective Practice engages the relational aspects of our engagement and understanding of each other. It enables us to unpack the emotions that surface by creating a space to share and learn about each other and truly integrate our human experiences.

  • Leading and Living Constructively in Health | HealthShare South and Western Sydney LHD
  • Jason Lawrence | Manager Organisational Development, Culture and Diversity (SWSLHD)
  • Fiona Buscombe Acting Culture and Organisational Development Team Manager (HealthShare)
  • Ross Nicol | Culture and Organisational Development Specialist (HealthShare)

To lead and live constructively, we often start with our personal purpose. Actualising this in the world aligns to the mission and vision of NSW Health. Human Synergistics, a provider of culture and leadership development tools and programs, developed a model called the Circumplex to support this form of development. This session aims to provide some insight into the model and to tell some stories about wellbeing, purpose and leadership development. This will be an interactive session, involving participants to get up and move around a little.

To Get There Together Creative approaches to mentoring conversatio​ns | Nursing and Midwifery Office

Kelley Lennon | Principal Advisor Midwifery

To Get There, Together: Creative approaches to mentoring conversations

  • Provide an overview of Appreciative Inquiry as it informed the Mentoring in Midwifery program ( MiM ) in NSW.
  • Practise the tools used to facilitate caring conversations
  • Explore wa ys to use the tools in a variety of settings.
D​ay 2

Talent Man​agement Framework | HealthShare NSW

  • Alanna Vial | Talent Development Business Partner
  • Vibha Thirumalai Repellin | Talent Development Officer

HealthShare NSW (HSNSW) would like to present Talent Management to showcase our function of succession planning and its importance in the organisation. Having a capable, agile and diverse workforce is essential to ensure HSNSW’s ability to respond to challenges effectively and continue to deliver high quality services to the wider Health network and the people of NSW.

The framework outlines an evidence based and practical approach that includes

  • Future proofing of our organisation and our people to be adaptable and resilient. Taking a systematic approach to managing the career growth of high potential employees to ensure HSNSW has the right people ready for critical roles now and in the future.
  • We ensure our talent management process compliments leader capability development and professional growth opportunities, to nurture a safe learning environment and culture for our people to thrive.
  • Talent identification is based on the assessment of an individuals’ performance, potential, interest in development opportunities and readiness.
  • Multi metho d approach for assessments and developments to optimise objectivity in the process.

We will also cover talent pool and numerous benefits of succession planning such as;

  • Business continuity is maintained throughout challenging circumstances.
  • Strategic and operational business objectives are met effectively.
  • Better growth and development of our internal talent.
  • Quicker filling of critical roles vacancy.
  • Capture critical workforce talent informatics important for further strategic workforce planning initiatives

General Manager T​alent Review | Ministry of Health

  • Richard Griffiths | Executive Director Workforce Planning and Talent Development
  • Beth Copland | Senior Talent Advisor

Emphasising the need for consistency and transparency in terms of talent identification to help facilitate greater internal talent mobility and retention within the sector that faces increasing talent scarcity, Richard will share the approach and experience with a recent talent review pilot that has been conducted across the NSW Health sector for the first time.

FLASH - Enhancing Leadership Capacity for Clinicians i​n Health | Western Sydney LHD

  • Professor Sandra Turner | Clinical Lead, Professional Development, Research and Education Network and Senior Staff Specialist, Radiation Oncology
  • Jane Bolster | District Nurse Educator, Professional and leadership Development

The FLASH leadership program aims to support aspiring clinician leaders in attaining skills required to effectively drive improvements within the health system. High quality, safe patient care and staff engagements link strongly to leadership. Formal education around leadership is lacking within health professional (HP) training. FLASH directly addresses that gap.

Senior Hospital Scientist Developme​​​​​nt Program | NSW Health Pathology

Siobhan Cunliffe | Associate Director Human Resources, Metro

A large portion of retirements, internal secondments and vacant positions led to a gap in leadership skills, knowledge and expertise within the workforce. The Metro HR team and Statewide Organisational Development Team saw a need to rethink how they invested in building further capabilities within existing staff.

The Senior Hospital Scientist Development Program was developed by utilising existing training programs and tailoring them to be fit for purpose for the specific needs of Senior Hospital Scientists within the South/East operational area. Not only did the program develop skills and leadership capabilities, it also created a development pathway and fostered a cultural of continual growth and learning. The program has promoted collaboration, trust and innovation within the cohort of Senior Hospital Scientists and ensures they provide the best service to their patients.

Learning When Knowledge is Yet to Exist | Ministry of Health Kath Hume

Kath Hume | Manager Workforce Projects

This presentation is about how we construct knowledge socially by coming together to solve complex problems and intentionally learning throughout the process. Kath will focus on the need for simultaneous learning and innovation and how P&C can drive this in their organisations.

Key points will be: 

  • The five moments of learning need
  • The importance of learning by doing
  • The social construction of knowledge
  • How we perform to our potential now and in the future by defining our learning and performance zones.

Activating the Agency Within Elevating the candidate experience | Western NSW LHD

Samantha Hain | Manager Recruitment, Marketing and Candidate Experience

This project builds internal capacity to implement leading edge nurse recruitment strategies which are measure able, pivot easily and are sustainable. Given the shortage domestically, the model’s focus is on Internationally Qualified Registered Nurses (IQRNs).

WNSWLHD has internalised the ‘Agency’ permanent recruitment model, with a marketing and candidate experience team. Candidates are attracted through targeted marketing campaigns, tailored messages, one on one conversations, online information and virtual open days. The candidate experience team keeps candidates engaged and nurtured via personal and automated contact during the sometimes extended timeframe from application to commencing work, personally welcoming them to the district and assisting with candidate needs for the first three months and beyond.

Ongoing advertising, word of mouth and referral marketing generates an ongoing replenished pool of candidates for our rural sites, the model working as a funnel as candidates move from interested to interviewed, staff health to visas, all on their journey to move to Australia and starting work. Rapid upskilling to Australian standards is via an intensive 4 week program at our new Centre for Rural Education, Simulation and Training (CREST) Centre, providing simulation of a wide range of scenarios specifically targeted to rural work.

Each candidate started through this model nets the organisation $93,000 per year against the cost of agency nurses. Since June 2022 we have on boarded 65 nurses saving the District over $6 million dollars each year.

Enabling Digital Workers | HealthShare NSW

Vivian Kirlew

Digital Workers have been introduced to HealthShare at the start of 2023 via their Digital Transformation program. It has been a shared learning journey for business teams and the Digital CoE resulting in people embracing these new team members and experiencing first hand how their work is being reshaped.

Listening to our workforce with the help of technology: AI exit interviews South Western Sydney LHD

  • Jason Lawrence | Manager Organisational Development, Culture and Diversity
  • Courtney Troughton | Manager Rostering and Transactions

SWSLHD has been utilising an AI bot to undertake exit interviews across the District since December, 2022. Our presentation will focus on how the AI bot works, what it asks, how it records results and what we do with those results.

We will attempt a demonstration of the AI bot live at the podium.

Current as at: Thursday 19 October 2023