The EFA Enquirer: 11 September 2024

In this edition

• Recap of NDS Quality, Safeguards and Practice Governance Conference 2024
• Engels Floyd Team Planning Day and Website Shoot
• New provider guides for implementing the NDIS Code of Conduct
• Release of the latest quarterly NDIS Commission Report
• How to stay viable in the current NDIS environment (Michael Arbon, My Business Alchemist)

Recap of NDS Quality, Safeguards and Practice Governance Conference 2024

We were honored to be invited by the National Disability Services (NDS) to present at their recent Quality, Safeguards, and Practice Governance Conference in Canberra on September 5th, 2024.

Our incredible Technical Manager, Patty Wassenaar, delivered an insightful presentation on person-centered approaches to quality management systems. The conference featured an impressive lineup of speakers covering a diverse range of topics related to quality, and we highly recommend attending future events!

Engels Floyd Team Planning Day and Website Shoot

On August 14, 2024, the Engels Floyd team gathered for an exciting planning day, combined with a video shoot for our upcoming website launch. We were thrilled to have some of our incredible clients join us and be part of the day. A special thank you to Guy Turnbull from Viva Mutual and Sunny Singh and Rajwinder Mann from Choice N Control, for taking the time to share their experiences working with us during the interviews.

Stay tuned for more updates as we get ready to launch!

New provider guides for implementing the NDIS Code of Conduct

As you may know, all NDIS providers and workers are required to follow the NDIS Code of Conduct, which now includes specific rules to prevent overcharging participants.

To support this, the NDIS Commission has released new guides, including posters and fact sheets, to help providers and workers better understand their responsibilities under the Code of Conduct.

Providers are encouraged to display these posters and share the fact sheets with their staff.

Access the new guides through the link provided here.

Release of the latest quarterly NDIS Commission Report

The NDIS Commission has released its fourth Quarterly Performance Report providing an overview of the NDIS Commission’s performance and regulatory operations from 1 April 2024 – 30 June 2024. 

Key findings from the report that might be of interest include:

• A 9% increase in complaints received in connection with supports and services delivered by NDIS providers and their workers (7,635 last quarter to 8,303 this quarter) with more than 80% of complaints reported by a person with disability or their support person.
  • Of these complaints, 46.8% were related to provider practices, and 10.1% (up from 8.8% in the previous quarter) were related to provider policies and procedures. Common issues included the absence or misuse of appropriate complaints management systems and a lack of robust medication management policies.
• A 21% increase in individuals excluded from working with people with disability in a risk-assessed role (1,353 last quarter to 1,639 this quarter).
• Over 511 compliance and enforcement activity outcomes including over 84 refusal of registration and over 200 education activities.
• There was a 4% increase in new registered providers this quarter (1849 new providers).
• Registration decision timeframes dropped slightly for new application certification audits (323 days) this quarter but increased for new application verification audits (136 days), renewal verification audits (172 days) and renewal certification audits (279 days).
• 163 NDIS auditors have been trained in the last financial year (all of which have been trained exclusively by Engels Floyd Quality Consulting).

If you are in need of support in the areas of policies and procedures, complaints and incident management or compliance generally, please contact us on 1300 790 194 or info@engelsfloyd.com for a complimentary consultation.

ASK THE EXPERTS

How to stay viable in the current NDIS environment (Michael Arbon, My Business Alchemist)

Back in our July edition of “Ask the Experts” we heard how to go about growing your business, developing and applying strategies to hit your targets.

For a lot of providers, small medium and large, the challenge has been for a long time, to “remain in business” so the clients you are supporting have the critical services they need and want.

It was the last sentence of that article that has struck home, especially with the current climate within the NDIS sector for providers and the flow on impact to clients and families. 

What was that last sentence?

“I often hear NDIS providers say, ‘we work very hard and are profitable, but we don’t see it in our bank account.’ Well, isn’t that the question?”

I’m not an accountant, but ultimately if you are not seeing money in your bank account, then that leads to a somewhat strong conclusion – that you are not profitable!!

So, how does a business become profitable given all the elements that providers have to deal with within the NDIS?  I call this being between a rock and a hard place. The Rock (SCHADS Award) and “The Hard Place” (The Pricing Arrangements).  It is in this middle ground is where the profit is made and lost, and where a business is made or broken, and a service is quality or cr@p.

Whilst there has been a long-standing (and valid) argument for increased rates in specific areas of the NDIS to better cover costs, there are many providers across the nation that are delivering high quality services and delivering a profitable result. So what are they doing?

In my experience, the success hinges on the ability to identify, create, deliver and maintain a balanced approach to service delivery, whilst exercising agility and currency (up to date), in other words – Planning and Implementation. To consider your plan, you need to understand your business in terms of its strengths, challenges, opportunities and risks. An old one but a good one is a SWOT analysis. Ideally if you are going to do this, it is best led by someone from outside of your business – Engels Floyd are a great partner in achieving this for you.

Furthermore, in your planning (and even succession planning – exit strategy), you need to know where you want to be in 5 years’ time. What does your business look like – describe it across many elements. Then reverse engineer it to work out what it should look like at 3 years and then in 1 year.   But before you head into the future, you first need to have clarity on “Where you are starting from”.

Ok, I can hear you ask, “well how do we do that”?  Truthfully, if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it, and we would all be happy – but that’s not the case.

I have developed and openly share a framework that encourages business owners to open and explore their critical thinking by delving deep into the following elements to identify and deliver on a balanced and successful business model and service delivery construct – I call it my 5P’s.

Before building the framework, there first needs to be a strong foundation – that is your Purpose! 

Purpose

This is a deep and personal part of your business and cuts into the very manner of WHY you are in the NDIS sector delivering services OR maybe you are in this space just to generate an income and it’s not quite working out for you?

The 5 P’s are.

Product

This element focuses critically on how you are delivering the solution to the client’s “problem”.  You are not delivering core supports, community access, support coordination or personal care. Instead, ask yourself from the perspective of the client what that service means to them – is it freedom of choice, connection with friends, family and community, empowering or enabling them to make decisions, helping them feel, think, experience and live life their way!!

People

Who is your business working with to deliver services.  Other services, stakeholders and staff are all critical in you delivering successful outcomes. I’ve always believed that “you can teach skills and knowledge, but you can’t teach personality”. So what are you doing to attract the right people to your business?  What are you doing to retain them?  What are you doing to stand out as an employer of choice and therefore a provider of choice?

Processes

What systems do you have in place to support your services, your staff, your clients, your business. Are your processes long winded, extensive and time consuming? Are they effective in delivering what you need to provide quality and impactful services?

Promotion

What are you promoting, who are you promoting it to and at what solution are you providing the clients problem? What elements do you need to be aware of, apply and critically manage the outputs to get outcomes.

One thing my clients hear me say a lot of the time is “It not what you know nor is it who you know – it is WHO KNOWS YOU!!”

As I have heard the saying “50% of marketing works, the challenge is working out which 50 it is!!”

and finally…

Profit

Do you know your numbers?

NO!! Do you reaaaaally know your numbers, inside and out?

“We are profitable, but where is the money?”

 Profit = Revenue – Expenses, so there are many ways this can unfold for you, but I want to focus on the sometimes-intangible elements and what I call the “Support Structure” – what I consider as the “glue” to hold the business together – making those smaller % elements of the framework add up (similar to compound interest) to profit, profitability and a successful, sustainable business.

These two support elements are:

• Communication
  • If you have bad communication practices between you, your team, your clients and your stakeholders, then I would suggest that the business is not delivering well on its services. It may mean you have staff that are unsure, unprofessional, untrained, not matching your values and not following your direction. If you have good communication occurring, then congratulations, you have the first side of the scales balanced and your lack of profitability is not because of this.
• Culture
  • What is the culture of your business, your services, your staff, along with your own display of culture? What are you seeing, what are your clients seeing? Are you letting your culture develop on its own regard or are you leading the way with your values and practice through ACTIONS. Are you seeing a high turnover of staff, a low retention rate of clients, finding it difficult to attract staff? If so, then there is a strong chance that your culture is not as good as it could or should be and the first person that you need to ask (and be truthful to) is you. You may be the boss, but are you the LEADER of the business and services you are delivering? If you are not having the above issues, then congratulations, you have the second side of the scales balanced.

In Summary, ultimately, every business is different to the next, even in the NDIS and even if it is delivering the same type of services – WHY??  Because we all have our own business DNA. We all have our way of doing business, processes, people, promoting, how we deliver our product and how we communicate and deliver our culture. Therefore, depending on how you balance your business elements, will determine how “profitable” you are (or not)!!

If you would like to chat to Michael Arbon please contact us on 1300 790 194 or info@engelsfloyd.com for a complimentary consultation.