FOLLOW POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND

PROGRAMS OF THE

ORGANISATION

FOLLOW ORGANISATION GUIDELINES

Recap from week 2 -What is a policy?What is a procedure?What is a philosophy?How are they used within a service

organisation?Why are they used within an organisation?

WHAT ARE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES?

Today, as a result of legislation, regulations, funding requirements and best practice standards, most community service organisations have some form of written or spoken guidelines.

These guidelines are generally called policies, procedures, protocols or programs.

Policies reflect the philosophy of the service or organisation and usually outline a set of general guidelines or rules that tell us what the management of the organisation expects will be done in particular situations.

They may also include a philosophy statement as well as step-by-step procedures or protocols that relate to how things should be done in practice.

For example; At the workplace where you are there are

rules for you to follow and information for you so you will know what to do in a particular situation.

Some things would include what to do if you are arrive late for work or what type of behaviour is expected of you as a professional

CONT’D

Policies are usually specific to and developed by individual organisations, are informed by legal obligations and ethical considerations, and are monitored and enforced through service management procedures.

This means that an organisation writes policies that will abide by all laws that govern them and it is the management who will make sure that they are being followed

CONT’D

For example;People with disabilities who are receiving

personal care in their own homes what to be sure they are treated with respect.

Parents want to be sure that their child will be safe and cared for in an appropriate manner in a children’s service

Workers in community or children’s services want to be able to work in a safe and healthy environment

CONT’D

Community Service organisations will have policies and procedures relating to all areas of their operation. Often these policies are compulsory because we must follow occupational health and safety. This means we must keep our staff and clients safe and healthy in the workplace.

CONT’D

These include;

Clients or service users eg. confidentiality, behaviour guidance

Staff eg. workplace agreements, job descriptions/responsibilities

Community eg. access to the service, anti-discrimination

Management eg employment, staff complaint and grievance

Health and safety eg immunisation, administering medication, illness, accident

CONT’D

CONT’D

Policies are usually written and kept in some form of “Policy Manual” or on an organisations intranet site.

Occasionally there are spoken policies however these are generally not a good ideas as they can be open to misinterpretation.

Today, with so much legal obligation in community services organisations you would think that all policies are written to ensure that they are clear and understood and everyone has access to them

CONT’D

Written policies provide a clear record which can be referred to by management, workers and clients using the service

Like job descriptions they inform the relevant people about the standards of the organisation required in a particular situation

Policies and procedures help workers by telling them what to do in particular circumstances

For exampleWhat to do if there is a fire, if someone

comes asking for help from the service etc.

CONT’D

Policies and procedures also uphold the rights of clients and service users and ensure that they are being treated fairly and appropriately

Think about what types of things you need to know in your school environment.

Everyone needs to know how their school timetable operates, what time to have recess, lunch and where you should be for every lesson.

Imagine if different students or teachers decided to change rooms or lunch times for different classes……it would be disorganised chaos at your school

CONT’D

The management of an organisation usually determines the policies with input from staff and clients.

Staff are often given greater responsibility for determining the procedures detailing how a policy is to be implemented.

FOLLOW ORGANISATION GUIDELINES

DRAFTING OUR OWN SERVICE

PHILOSOPHY AND POLICY

WK 3 1/8/2013

ACTIVITY 1A

Large (CLASS) Group work

Students are to design a service philosophy. Working together and using the resources from the booklet How to update and develop policies successfully (without the stress) Pp 9 – 11This philosophy will be printed for use using the sample on p 11 as a guide.

ACTIVITY 1B

Small Group work – Developing policy.Students to divide into 3 groups of 4.

Where would you go to start to develop a policy?How would you start?What resources would you use?

1. How to update and develop policies successfully (without the stress) Pp 12 –

2. Education and Care National Regulations 2011

3. Children's Services Central

4. Being, Belonging and Becoming

5. Australian Education and Care Quality Authority

….? Where else

ACTIVITY 1C

Small Group work – students to divide into 3 groups of 4.

On A4 paper, work on 3 separate policies.Group 1 relating to child safetyGroup 2 1 relating to staff Group 3 relating to child health - medication