By Katrina Armstrong
More and more organisations are registering to become registered NDIS providers. This is an excellent thing as the NDIS needs more people providing supports to people with disability. Being registered also gives people with disability, their families and carers confidence that organisations are operating in accordance with the NDIS practice standards.
As the number of registered NDIS providers swell, people with disability, their families and carers find it increasingly difficult to sort out who’s who in the pack. Do you want to be the pick of the pack?
Here are our six top tips
1) Individualised support – we all know that everyone has the policy that talks about person centred support, but are they really doing it in practice? To stand out from the crowd, immerse yourself in all things individualised support. Double-check your organisational polices. Do they actively encourage individualised support? Do you and your employees know how to implement person centred approaches in practice? Your customers will be sharing their experiences with their peers and online. You can be assured that word will get around when you walk the talk.
2) Employ only the best workers – let’s face it, your employees are the public face of your organisation. A bad experience can turn participants, their families and carers off. They may also tell other potential customers to stay away. It is worth taking the time to carefully recruit and make sure you bring on the right people, with the right attitude. Poor recruitment decisions can be costly. Great recruitment decisions will be free publicity for your organisation as your customers will be telling everyone about the amazing support you are providing.
3) Follow through – there is nothing more annoying when people make promises and don’t deliver. If you tell your customers that you will get back to them on something, follow through. Your customers will value your responsiveness and they will let everyone else know how impressed they are.
4) Feedback, feedback, feedback – We can’t repeat this enough … talk to your customers. Find out what’s working and what’s not. Don’t be afraid to hear the bad and the ugly, as well as the good. Customers want to share their experiences so you can provide better services. In addition to running a survey, call your customers and have a conversation. You may find out things about your organisation you would never have known if you hadn’t asked.
5) Involve your customers in decision making – This can include involving your customers in recruitment processes and selecting their support workers. It can also include establishing a customer advisory committee where you can seek feedback on organisational policies and strategic plans. Involving your customers is a great way of demonstrating that you operate within a rights-based framework. It also tells your customers that you value their input into how your organisation works.
6) Make your website sing – be creative, share how you are going to provide individualised support. Share your values and how you put them into practice when delivering services.
For more NDIS registration information, click here.