OUR WORK
URCOT uses the latest theoretical knowledge and methods to suit the needs of the project and the organisation.
URCOT specialises in:
- organisational change;
- participative systems design;
- work analysis and design;
- occupational health and safety;
- organisational and individual learning;
- environmental scanning;
- teams development;
- community consultation; and
- strategic thinking and planning methodologies.
Organisational change can involve systems design projects with fundamental implications for an organisation or it may have more modest objectives involving, for example, a review of management arrangements or of project structures.
URCOT has found through experience and research that change management requires close attention to developments in an organisation’s environment and to strategies to assist staff to participate. Staff involvement can be vitally important: partly to capture knowledge about the organisation’s operations but also togain staff commitment to the implementation of change. At the very least, effective participation involves the provision of adequate information together with opportunities for people to provide feedback.
URCOT’s approach is considerate to the complexities of change management. For instance we recognise that change will affect working environments, work design, the social dynamics of the workplace, occupational health and safety, and skills requirements. Our participative approach can provide important insights into the requirements for successful change.
Participative
systems design is an extremely effective and powerful whole system change
process in which all stakeholders participate in planning and restructuring.
URCOT can provide organisations with the skills and knowledge to carry
out participative systems design process to achieve high-quality results.
URCOT’s approach to participative systems design ensures that:
• people restructure their own workplace making their own choices
without designs being imposed;
• implementation of change is instantaneous and redesign is fast;
and
• the organisation's quality and productivity improves over time
URCOT brings together the requirements of customers and clients, the skills of staff, the resources available and the systems support provided to undertake the complex task of work design. URCOT believes an understanding of work systems and the willingness to work through the systems dynamics are integral to achieving satisfactory work and job design outcomes.
URCOT’s approach to work design emphasises task variety, greater collaboration and support amongst staff, and an enhanced sense of task completion. URCOT believes these factors have resulted in positive outcomes for organisations including increased job satisfaction and improved producitivity.
Occupational Health and Safety
URCOT's work on occupational health and safety projects has included significant projects on the on the problem of workplace violence.
URCOT's research suggests that workplace violence is a prevalent systemic and organisational problem which requires more attention. URCOT's research in this area includes reviews of the international literature, large survey research, organisation case studies and focus groups on women's experience of workplace violence as well as research on models for reducing workplace violence.
Organisational and Individual Learning
URCOT understands through its work and research that many organisations have struggled with the question of how to skill their staff most effectively. Organisations have explored ways of integrating learning with work through seeking to develop a learning culture or becoming a learning organisation.These developments have raised many questions about the changing characteristics of work, understandings of how learning occurs, developing specific learning strategies, how best to deploy learning professionals, and the levels of resources required.
URCOT has explored these issues in a number of settings, including the Australian Taxation Office and CSIRO. Apart from consolidating understanding about the relationship between organisational learning and skills formation, URCOT’s work led an Investigative Work Group to develop an on-line, self-paced resource to assist managers and team leaders to identify and provide feedback on learning needs.
URCOT has worked with many organisations to implement the best and most effective team structures and roles. URCOT can assist organisations develop better functioning teams or can help organisations to introduce self managing teams to provide better support for key work processes and more democratic workplaces.
Strategic thinking and planning
Strategic thinking is a complex and dynamic activity. Organisations use strategic thinking and planning to understand the environments in which they work as a basis for business planning and identifying the possibilities for change and innovation. URCOT recognises that strategic thinking is a diverse field of thought with many streams, drawing on theories such as open systems theory, chaos theory and scenario planning. URCOT believes strategic thinking must be firmly based in evidence generated from the organisation’s internal and external environments.
Community and Stakeholder Consultation
URCOT has been involved in numerous projects on consultative practices with Commonwealth and State government agencies as well as with community sector agencies and local councils. Many of these projects have come about through the development of enterprise agreements and their processes of implementation. Others have been as a direct result of policy changes requiring greater consultation within government agencies, between agencies and their clients and within the community.
URCOT is experienced in undertaking community consultations around planning issues and local government strategies. For instance URCOT has worked on community consultations for a Recreation Strategy Plan for the City of Yarra and a Cultural Development Plan for the Maribyrnong City Council.
URCOT staff are skilled in consultation methodologies including meeting facilitation, surveys, interviews and focus groups.
URCOT’s capabilities in environmental scanning are based on a strong theoretical understanding of the subject area as well as from direct experience of utilising and teaching strategic thinking principles for a variety of organisations. URCOT sees environmental scanning as part of the wider process of strategic planning and thinking. Hence we undertake environmental scanning primarily to gather data to provide an evidence base to inform the ongoing strategic planning process and to assist organisations anticipate and interpret changes in their environment. We have experience using a variety of methods to gather data including surveys, questionnaires, focus groups, open forums and interviews. We select our methods depending on the needs of the client, the nature of the data to be gathered and the features of the stakeholder groups.
URCOT has reciprocal website links with the following organisations:
- The Queen
Victoria Women’s Centre is a not-for-profit organisation that
assists women and women's organisations through information, support
and programs. Their mission is to empower women to make informed choices
so they can reach their full potential and be inspired for the future.
Website: http://www.qvwc.org.au/
Queen Victoria Women’s Centre
210 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000
Phone: 03 8668 8100
Fax: 03 8668 8111 - Victorian
Trades Hall Council. The major role of the VTHC is the co-ordination
of union activities and campaigns. When a union requires assistance
and support for an issue which has broad consequences for more than
one union, the VTHC may become involved in a co-ordinating role. It
also provides assistance to its affiliated unions with research, negotiations
and advocacy.
Website: http://www.vthc.org.au
Victorian Trades Hall Council
Ground Floor , Old Building, Trades Hall
Cnr. Victoria and Lygon Streets
Carlton South, VIC 3053
Phone: Telephone: (03) 9662 3511
Fax: (03) 9663 2127
Email: info@vthc.org.au
- The Australian
Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), represents around 1.8 million workers,
and is the only peak council and national centre representing the Australian
workforce.
Website: http://www.actu.asn.au
Level 2, 393 Swanston Street
Melbourne VIC 3000
Tel: 1300 362 223 (local call cost only)
Tel: (03) 9663 5266
Fax: (03) 9663 4051
Email: mailbox@actu.asn.au
- Victorian
Council of Social Service (VCOSS) works together with its members on
issues such as poverty and inequality to ensure everyone has access
to, and a fair share of, the community’s resources and services.
Website: http://www.vcoss.org.au
Victorian Council of Social Service
Level 8, 128 Exhibition Street
MELBOURNE VIC 3000
Tel: 03 9654 5050
Freecall: 1800 133 340
Fax: 03 9654 5749
-
Jobwatch is an employment rights legal centre which provides assistance to Victorian workers about their rights at work.
Website: http://www.job-watch.org.au/
Tel: 9662 1933 - Melbourne residents
Tel: 1800 331 617 - Country Victorian residents
