NCSS MEMBERS CONFERENCE 2007
20 OCTOBER 2007
‘ATTRACTING, RETAINING AND OPTIMISING RESOURCES'
SPEECH BY DR VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN
MINISTER FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, YOUTH AND SPORTS AND SECOND MINISTER FOR INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS
Speech
RADM (Ret.) Kwek Siew Jin,
President of the National Council of Social Service
Friends from the social service sector
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.
2 Despite the affluence of our society, there will always be a group of people who need assistance from social service agencies like yours. The economic impact of globalisation, and changing demographics due to the ageing population, smaller nuclear families and the evolving social landscape will increase the demands for your services in the future.
Update on the Social Service Sector
3 Over the years, the social service sector has grown and developed under the leadership of NCSS. Today, out of the 1,900 registered charities, 17 percent are in the social service sector. NCSS has 380 member agencies which offer 800 social service programmes. Of these, 327 programmes provide services to the Children, Youth and Families; 302 cater to the Elderly and 174 are for Persons with Disabilities.
Fundamentals and Resources
4 In order to meet the needs of the poor and helpless in society, a steady stream of resources is vital. In the last Financial Year, NCSS helped to disburse $127 million to the sector, of which $112 million were used to fund over 220 social service programmes. Most of these programmes are in the areas of eldercare, children and youth, and disability. This Financial Year, NCSS will help to disburse close to $200 million to fund more than 500 social service programmes. Over and above this, the sector also receives grants from the Government and donations raised by the VWOs.
5 Resource management is an ever present challenge for the social service sector. VWOs have to be pro-active, skilful and innovative in optimising their resources and finding ways to attract and retain talent.
6 Basic fundamentals must be in place. Do you have what it takes to raise funds and recruit good talent? Is the mission of your agency still relevant and properly articulated to stakeholders? Do you have rigorous systems and processes in place to ensure good governance and accountability of public funds? Are the programmes efficiently run, and do they have a positive impact on your service users? These are questions that I am sure many of you have considered. These are also the same questions that grant-makers, funding agencies, donors, job seekers and volunteers will ask.
7 There will always be limited resources. We will have to constantly strive to do more within these limits. One such way is to share resources. Smaller VWOs can share premises with other agencies that provide complementary or related services. This will enable you to share resources such as office equipment, administrative support and general maintenance. VWOs that do not have dedicated staff to handle certain functions can also tap on the shared support services facilitated by NCSS. The Therapy Hub is another good example of optimising resources through sharing of specialist services.
Good Governance
8 Good governance is also a cornerstone and pre-requisite to achieving the theme of today’s conference, i.e. attracting, retaining and optimising resources. Good governance will ensure good management, leading to good programmes and service delivery. This will ultimately benefit those whom VWOs and charities were set up to help. A well-governed charity will also spur more public support, attract more volunteers and retain the good ones, thus leading to even better governance board and management, as well as service delivery. This is a virtuous cycle that all VWOs and charities should try to create.
9 The Charity Council recently drafted a set of Code of Governance for the charity sector for public consultation. While the Code and implementation details are being finalised by the Council, I would like to encourage all VWOs and charities to adopt the Code, which will in turn create the virtuous cycle I just talked about.
10 The need for transparency cannot be overstated. The key ingredient is trust. Funding agencies and donors want to know where their money is going and how their money will be used. With informed giving and keen competition for donor dollars, VWOs need to be prepared to provide evidence-based outcomes to convince donors to support your cause. As responsible stewards of public funds, VWOs also need to optimise the charity dollar and continue to demonstrate financial prudence and accountability to stakeholders, donors and the public.
11 In this regard, I am glad that NCSS has been actively building the capabilities of VWOs through various ways. More recently, NCSS has been focusing on outcome management. The ability to track outcomes will help VWOs attract and retain donors. Internally, outcome measurement also improves the standard of service delivery, and ultimately benefits service users and fulfils the VWO’s mission. When service users are helped in a meaningful and tangible ways, staff and volunteers will feel fulfilled and motivated. I hope all of you see this as a useful tool that can help you attract, retain and optimise both financial and human resources.
Professionalism
12 As with any other industry, professional expertise is a critical resource for the social service sector. As social needs evolve and become more complex, more trained personnel are needed. However, amidst the robust job market, it is a challenge to attract skilled and competent personnel to join the social service sector. Therefore, while we put in effort to attract skilled manpower into the sector, equal, if not greater, effort will be needed to retain the good people we currently have. Providing a rewarding work environment and opportunities for career advancement and personal development will help to attract and retain these gems in the workforce.
13 The Social Service Training Institute (SSTI) plays a critical role in building capability in the social service sector with its wide spectrum of specialised training and consultancy services. SSTI has partnered both local and overseas academic institutions to offer social service-related courses to help build manpower capability. Social service professionals and practitioners should continue to stay relevant by keeping abreast of sector needs, and staying updated on professional practice.
14 It is encouraging to note that the take-up rate for courses offered by SSTI has increased by 62 per cent to 6,320 training places in the last Financial Year. I am glad that VWOs and charities are according importance to skills upgrading and staff development, a key to attracting and retaining human resources. With on-the-job and specialised training, coupled with skills certification, we can expand the pool of manpower in the sector. Since April this year, the Government has increased the amount of resources to support capability building at VWOs. The new five-year VWOs-Charities Capability Fund or VCF was raised from $30 million to $45 million, and extended to all charities. I hope that you will make good use of the VCF to build/enhance the capabilities within your organisation.
CSS WSQ Framework
15 Another important component in the drive to expand the skilled manpower pool in the social service sector is the Community and Social Services Workforce Skills Qualifications or CSS WSQ framework. I am pleased to launch the CSS WSQ framework at today’s conference in collaboration with the Workforce Development Agency and other key stakeholders in the sector.
16 I would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions by the chairpersons and members of the various sector workgroups towards the development of the CSS WSQ. This framework maps the specific competencies for personnel in various sub-sectors including youth work, therapy service, disability and eldercare services. It enables VWO personnel to upgrade themselves for career development and progression. For the employers such as yourself, the framework elevates the level of industry and occupational competencies in your organisation. This is an opportunity not to be missed if you are keen on developing the skills and expertise of your team.
Conclusion
17 Finally, allow me, on behalf of Singaporeans, to thank you for your commitment and passion to serve the needy in our society. Much like the thread that holds a quilt together, your role as a helping hand in nurturing children to succeed, keeping families together, dignifying the lives of the elderly and helping people with disabilities lead independent lives is vital in ensuring that no one in Singapore gets left behind. I know you will continue to bring hope and comfort to those you serve. Thank you very much.