People eager to locate to regional areas due to the impacts of COVID-19, and with the newfound ease of working from home, has created an opportunity to leverage this interest to assist filling job vacancies in Greater Shepparton.
Head to the Great Things Happen Here website for full details
"It was always planned for the Greater Things Happen Here regional development strategy to focus on attracting new residents and employees to the area. With the easing of COVID-19 now is the right time to attract those living in metropolitan areas to relocate to our region", suggests Kim O'Keeffe, Mayor Greater Shepparton City Council.
Under the Greater Shepparton Great Things Happen Here banner, a Great Careers + Lifestyle Working Group has created a regional workforce development plan to support local businesses to attract and retain workers, particularly for difficult to fill positions. The Working Group comprises representation from Goulburn Valley Health (GV Health), GROW Greater Shepparton/Committee for Greater Shepparton, University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, GOTAFE, The Lighthouse Project, Murray Dairy, Agriculture Victoria, Goulburn Valley Young Professionals, Ethnic Council Shepparton & District, Brotherhood of St Laurence, Goulburn Murray LLEN, as well as a range of Council Departments.
"The group has focussed on strategies that encourage people to move to our region to work and live and assist in addressing skill shortages, attract specialist and assist with hard to fill roles," explains Fiona Le Gassick, Council's Manager Communications & Engagement and Working Group Chair. "With GV Health needing to fill up to 450 health and support jobs in the coming years, there is a need to look outside of our region to fill such a high volume and variety of roles."
Following the work undertaken by the Working Group, the attraction and retention strategy is ready to go, so here is how we are telling everyone the reasons why it's a wise decision to move to make Greater Shepparton their home.
- A one-stop-shop website
- Mid-career professionals attraction
- Community Connector Co-ordinator Pilot Program
- Inspiring our local young people
- Attract - Connect - Stay HR Workshops
A one-stop-shop website
The Greater Shepparton Great Things Happen Here website has been updated and now features a dedicated Careers and Lifestyle page.
The page is a one-stop-shop providing all the information and contacts needed for someone thinking about moving to the region or someone who has just arrived and needs assistance settling in.
All local businesses are encouraged include the link on their own websites or send the link to prospective employee candidates. The webpage is also a good resource for our Real Estate Agencies for when they have people from out of town looking to buy or rent a property.
Mid-career professionals attraction
A video/TVC featuring our very own Adam Furphy and Tess Simkin is currently showcasing all the reasons why people should work and live in Greater Shepparton. And yes, the messaging of the video/TVC leverages the "working from home" scenario created by COVID-19.
The video/TV also has a specific focus on highlighting positions available that employers are struggling to fill in such industries as agriculture and horticulture, building surveying, engineering, health and teaching just to name a few.
The TVC will air in the Bendigo, Albury, southern New South Wales and regional Victoria windows, while the online video will specifically target audiences (or geo-target) via display messaging on Seek, LinkedIn, Facebook, online news site, YouTube etc.
The campaign also includes advertising and editorial in The Australian (Careers and Weekend Magazine), The Age and Herald Sun, along with promotion via the Moving Media Mobile Video Billboard being strategically placed in the likes of Melbourne, Geelong, Albury and Bendigo.
Community Connector Co-ordinator Pilot Program
Based on research from the University of Melbourne focusing on the attraction and retention of health workers to regional and rural areas, the data indicated that if a new employee to an region fails to feel connected to their new community within the first 12 – 18 months of relocating, by year two they resign from their position and leave the area.
In presenting this data to a range of local employers and industries, they indicated that they experienced the same issues with attraction and retention as health based organisations.
In response to these challenges the Greater Careers + Lifestyle Working Group identified the opportunity to create a position to assist new employees to the area to feel welcome and assist with connecting and integrating them with their new community.
The Community Connector Co-ordinator position has just been funded as a pilot for six month via the state government's Working for Victoria program.
The position will provide a service to support employees contemplating applying or accepting a position with a Greater Shepparton business or organisation or those who have already accepted a job and are needing to move to the region to undertake a role.
The position is designed to facilitate the employee's and/or their partner's/family's assimilation into our community and to create meaningful opportunities to connect with others in the region so they not only feel welcome but will eventually call Greater Shepparton home.
"This role will be a real asset to GV Health as it will assist with the attraction and retention of staff at GV Health by providing valuable support in integrating staff into the local community, create lasting connections and developing a lifestyle foundation that will encourage them to stay in the area long-term", suggests Matt Sharp, GV Health CEO.
"We are dedicated to recruiting highly skilled and qualified staff that support the health and wellbeing needs of our community. By collaborating with the Community Connect Co-Ordinator GV Health will be able to enhance our attraction and retention support for potential candidates and staff who join our team".
"With GV Health's expanding services and facilities due to our major capital redevelopment project, COVID-19 response, Local Public Health Unit and mental health services, we will have a number of clinical and non-clinical roles that need to be filled over the next few years. The Community Connect Co-ordinator will be pivotal in supporting the transition into a regional lifestyle and embrace all that our wonderful community has to offer."
"We are very excited to have appointed well known community champion Fiona Smolenaars to this position", explains Fiona Le Gassick. "Fiona is very well known and respected for her efforts and commitment to supporting and nurturing members of our community, and her networks will be extremely advantageous in helping those new the area settle in, feel part of and be an active member of the Greater Shepparton community."
