The Need

To provide a skills based volunteering experience for the Worksafe HR team which gave back to the community and acted as a professional development  opportunity and team event. 

Size9 Volunteering: Working with prisoners

16 Worksafe team members took on the somewhat daunting task of  working with prisoners (residents) and potential and current employers at  the Judy Lazarus Transition Centre. 

Gaining employment is key to the success of a prisoner successfully re entering the community. The Worksafe team used their interpersonal and  technical skills to collect information, case studies and ideas to assist the  JLTC leadership team in their quest to secure unpaid work experience for  the residents. Other goals were to build the confidence of the residents by  involving them in a positive team based interaction.

The day included sharing a BBQ lunch prepared and cooked by the residents and concluded with joint presentations back to the JLTC leadership team. The post experience de-brief drew out the learning from the day and applications to the Worksafe’s own roles and lives.

The Outcome

The learning outcomes exceeded expectations. All participants were initially outside of their comfort zones, as were the residents. For Worksafe the day was a powerful and emotionally charged experience.

Each team member had to really listen, be aware of their personal filters while uncovering the resident’s backgrounds, fears, challenges and  hopes for the future. They had to quickly build rapport and manage their group’s diverse needs, expectations and personal agendas. With an ambiguous brief, skills in adaptive leadership were essential. The key learning: Be prepared to really listen to someone’s story before making  assumptions or drawing conclusions.