The New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services (NZCCSSS) has launched ‘The Workforce Guide’, to support understanding of the variety of roles across the social, community and health workforce.

NZCCSS Kaiwhakahaere Nikki Hurst says the resource celebrates the strength of this often-undervalued workforce. "Our sector by nature is highly relational, and our super-power is when we all work together. The ideal scenario is when a team of professionals bring their unique strengths together to support those we work alongside. Having the right people, providing the right support makes positive change possible."

The intention of The Workforce Guide was to collate into one document an A-Z of the roles across the sector. The information contained in the guide was sourced from NZCCSS’ members, professional / regulatory bodies and existing resources. The guide profiles real people doing the mahi, and provides scenarios of how different roles may be involved in a client’s care. It shares not only each role’s scope of practice, but provides links to more information around qualifications, codes of practice / ethics, responsible bodies, and who the role serves.

Hurst explains, "The Workforce Guide celebrates the variety of roles across our sector. It also seeks to clarify that each role has its own way of being that it brings to the table. Having a good understanding as to which role is best suited to a given situation makes things safer for everyone. And far more effective for those we aim to work alongside."

The guide is intended as a resource for those whose mahi influences this workforce – whether that be policy makers, education deliverers, funders, career advisors, the media, or anyone curious about the sector itself. Gaining a better understanding of the contribution of this sector – through resources such as this guide – we are better able to value those who are hard at work in ensuring their communities thrive.

Community, health and social service providers are seeing a marked increase in the complexity of needs across the country. Workforce scarcity is an on-going crisis, that a coming recession will exacerbate. It is more important than ever that roles across our sector are diverse, trained to support those they serve and clear as to the roles they fulfil.

NZCCSS’s The Workforce Guide is available online at: 
https://nzccss.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/NZCSS-Workforce-Guide-November-2022.pdf

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