It just happened, just like that, it was 2016 one minute and the next thing you know it’s 2017. The New Year is upon us and the Nudge office is already in full swing. A very busy end to last year has continued with an equally busy beginning to 2017. The Nudge team has had a chance to briefly relax and refresh and are now back to business, engaging people for work and training opportunities and working with employers to identify new opportunities in the coming months.
At the beginning of a new year it provides us with an opportunity to look back and reflect on the time just passed and also set goals for the time ahead. There is only really one word to describe the year for Nudge – huge! We started the year as The ROADS Foundation and finished it as Nudge. This monumental change cannot be underestimated and will have an enormous impact on our future sustainability and the goals we are able to achieve this year and beyond. Whilst we may have changed our name and branding, it also represents a huge change or shift for the organisation. We have broadened our appeal and scope beyond the civil and roads sectors to commence working with a wider variety of industries to create opportunities for youth, Aboriginal and disadvantaged people to take the next step. At the same time as all the change has been occurring, the constant has been the core elements of our services and our focus on people – this will always be the key aspect of how Nudge works.
Focusing back on 2016 and the year ahead, we have some exciting plans and goals for the year, amongst some more changes (although not as huge as last year). The beginning of the new year will see the implementation of a new internal staffing structure to address our growing needs and ensure we can best cater to our partners, stakeholders and individuals in the community. Lauren Mathison will move into a newly created Manger Service Delivery role, overseeing the development and quality of our services to employers and employees/trainees. Ami Kitchingman will now move into the Manager Partnerships role, which will focus on establishing and maintaining our strong connection with both commercial and community organisations. Ami will actually be taking leave for a period of time (commencing in March) to have a baby, so we wish her new family well and look forward to welcoming her back towards the end of the year. We also have a new role, Training & Support Coordinator, which will be commencing in January 2017. These changes have meant that the current Administration Support Officer role is no longer required, and thus Isabel Azzalin will be leaving the Nudge team in January. We thank Isabel immensely for all she has done during her time at Nudge and know she will be an asset to her new employer.
One of the immediate effects of the new branding change and broader focus has been our ability to work more closely with Local Governments across WA. Local Gov have always been big supporters of Nudge, however with the new direction means we can now connect with their entire workforce needs rather than just the civil teams previously. This has resulted in a busy beginning of the year with a large number of local council’s utilising Nudge for the recruitment, preparation and support of their new trainees and employees in a variety of sectors (parks, business, civil etc.). We are hoping to continue the busy start right throughout the year with many large building and infrastructure projects due to commence. We will continue to nudge all parties involved in these works to not only identify and support the engagement of trainees and apprentices but also see the value of the Nudge approach, using an alternative method to achieve strong outcomes for business and the community, seeing long term sustainable employment for people all over WA.
We would like to wish you all a safe and Happy New Year, hope your own goals and ambitions for 2017 are fulfilled and look forward to working with you to make our WA economy and community even stronger and more vibrant.