CIO Bulletin

Connect Staffing Group – Connecting job Seekers with flexible employment opportunities in the healthcare, aged care, and hospitality sectors

“We’re on a mission to eliminate unfulfilling work.”

Flexible work is evolving rapidly; its permutations are proliferating; you could say it has gone viral. Flexibility is the umbrella term used to describe any role that breaks the traditional norm of a rigid 9-5, five-day week structure. At its core, individuals have potentially greater freedom over when, where, or how to fulfill their particular roles.

With the rise of flexible working, more candidates are seeking out jobs that offer a better work-life balance. Having flexible work options, like remote work, a flexible job, or part-time hours, would make a huge difference in the lives of so many people. Improved mental health and increased productivity can provide numerous advantages to employers and employees.

With talented professionals in the healthcare, aged care, and hospitality industries in high demand, providing them with high-quality, flexible employment possibilities only allows and empowers them to provide their finest services. With over 15 years of experience staffing Western Australia's (WA) largest hospitality, healthcare, and aged care organizations, Connect Staffing Group retains a high-performing workforce because they don't just fill positions; they help people find fulfillment at work.

Recently, CIO Bulletin spoke exclusively to Paul Morrison, the Director of Connect Staffing Group. The following excerpts are taken from that conversation

Q. What was the motivation behind starting Connect Staffing Group, and how did the company get its start?

Connect Staffing Group was the result of a merger of two businesses: Connect Health Services, which was established in 2004, and Elite Hospitality Personnel, which was my company, established in 2015. The company began as a joint venture to provide hospitality staff across the aged care and healthcare sectors.

I then bought out the managing director, Sue Appauaff in October 2018 and Hilary, our business partner, in October 2021. Then we rebranded as Connect Staffing Group on July 1, 2022.

Q. What are the services that you provide, and how do you find the right service for individuals looking for jobs?

We provide nursing services mainly across the aged care and healthcare sectors to public and private hospitals throughout WA. We serve close to 280-290 clients across the aged care sector. Due to our large footprint within the aged care industry, we began providing services to the metropolitan and regional public and private hospitals around WA. With that, individuals looking for jobs have consistent and varied work where and when they want to work in aged care across metro and regional hospitals.

Q. How do you plan to champion flexible work, and why is flexibility important in healthcare?

Industries change, people's circumstances change, and people want more variety in their lives. It's not often now that you have a person who will stay with a company full time for 10, 15, or 20 years. People want to be able to pick and choose when they can work, how they want to work, and where they want to work because they could have families.

But they still want the continuity of having work, where if you're working in a full-time job or full-time role in a hospital, you’re on a fixed roster and have fixed hours. Sometimes people do get tired, and with the flexibility of working for Connect, it prevents nurses from getting burnt out.

Q. Can you elaborate on the importance of finding fulfilling work and how Connect Staffing Group deals with labor shortages?

Given the rebrand as of July 1, Connect Staffing Group has affiliated with large and prominent universities for nursing across WA. With that, the company is supporting the people coming through the colleges and being able to work across aged care, healthcare, as an assistant in nursing (AIN), or as a caregiver. And then, when they do graduate, we also support them in going back and working at the client's locations where they worked as a caregiver or an AIN, accepting the role as a nurse.

With that in WA, if they do a year or two of working with an aged care facility, they do have the opportunity to work across hospitals.

Q. How does Connect Staffing Group provide equal opportunity and ensure safe environments for health and aged care workers?

So, Connect Staffing Group is the only agency in Australia that is ISO certified in HSEQ (Health, Safety, Environment, and Quality). We are the only agency in Western Australia that is certified in Staffsure. Staffsure is protection against modern slavery and underpayment of people's wages, protecting the employees’ rights and obligations for working and representing Connect Staffing Group.

Q. In what ways has Connect Staffing Group changed over the past year? How do you, as a company, hope to expand in the future?

Connect Health Service was set up in December 2004 and was actually run from a sitting room in a house. They then moved into an office in 2007, with only six people working in the office. At the moment, thanks to Sue and Hilary’s help and since they have retired and now with paul being the main director of the business, we have grown the office staff to 18+ and have also increased our client base to 300 aged care clients. We are also the main panelists for all the public hospitals throughout Western Australia. We have also just signed a 10-year contract with the government hospitals for assistance in nursing.

We plan to expand in the future with the nurses. We are going to lodge a labor agreement in the coming weeks. So that means, as an agency, we will be able to sponsor nurses from overseas. With our affiliations, we have supported local content throughout Western Australia. This is done through our partnerships with universities and industry bodies. During COVID-19, Connect Staffing Group spearheaded the surge campaign in collaboration with the industry body, which is RCSA, and the state and federal governments of Western Australia.

Empowering care providers to work flexibly while providing outstanding services

Paul Morrison is the Founder and Director of Connect Staffing Group. Originally from Ireland, Paul has a background in hospitality, having worked as a chef. After moving to Australia in 2011, he set up Elite Hospitality Personnel, a hospitality agency in 2015.

Paul bought out Connect Health Services in November 2018 and Hilary his then business partner in November 2021. After rebranding on July 1, 2022, as Connect Staffing Group, the company was twice ranked in the prestigious Australian Financial Review. First in 49th place of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies in Australia in 2021, and then again in 2022, and as number 200 out of 500 of the Fastest Growing Businesses across the Asian Pacific, the Financial Times APAC.

When asked about Connect Staffing Group’s plans for the future, Paul says, “Over the next few years, our strategy within the company is to increase our footprint across the healthcare sector for the provision of nurses. So in the next three years, we aim to become one of the largest providers of nurses across all of Western Australia.”