How to Foster a Positive Work Culture with Paul Betts from Integricare

Paul Betts is Chief Operations Officer of Integricare, an Early Learning Centre with eight locations across Sydney. Integricare's roots go back to 1882. Although the centre has changed and expanded over the years, Integricare is still striving for the same mission - "To be leaders in providing holistic, innovative and integrated services for children and families that achieve transformation in the communities we serve."

We asked Paul how he develops a positive work culture. 

How do you think Integricare’s long history has impacted how it operates today?

Integricare grew out of a desire to help young families in need. As years marched on, that desire has continued. Our services today seek to support young families through early learning and our community programs. We deliver those services in a way that seeks to identify connections that support the deeper needs of families in a context of early learning. Our brains develop at an explosive rate from birth to 5 years and those early childhood years are so important. Our founder knew it, we articulate it more eloquently today but it still drives our purpose.

How did Integricare grow to 11 early learning centres?

Integricare established centres in Parramatta and Rockdale both in our own premises and in those owned by councils. In decades past it wasn’t uncommon for churches to establish early learning centres, but it has become harder. In more recent years, local churches are increasingly finding the growing burden of governance diverts attention from their core mission.  The most recent additions to the Integricare family have come from churches who see a missional alignment with Integricare and still seek to demonstrate the love of Jesus with families without having the burden of administrative control of the service. We are seeing some incredible things come out of those partnerships as the early learning centre becomes a touchpoint for young families to connect to a broad array of supporting networks.

What is the leadership structure of Integricare?

Integricare is Governed by a Board of Directors made up of a people from diverse backgrounds. The Chief Executive Officer reports to the board and oversees a 3 member executive team who take responsibility for Finance, Operations and Chaplaincy.

What is your management style?

I am passionate about enabling people to reach their full potential and aim to adjust my style of management to bring out the best in the people I lead. I buy into those Linked In memes that preach it is folly to employ good people then tell them what to do, for the most part people already know what to do and the role of the manager is to help identify the best alternative and help clear the path to make it happen. Good educators are insightful enough to learn from children, we will be better managers if we can gain even half that insight.

What makes your team work?

It helps to have a common vision. Excellent early education has a big impact on children, families and communities; being able to agree on what that should be achieved is key. I have been lucky to be gifted a team who already had a coherent and logical vision and were generous enough to share it with me. That vision gives the team a common point of reference from which to set objectives and evaluate progress. Each team member is different, but all are passionate so it’s important to maintain perspective, patience and respect so that the natural conflicts are empowering not destructive.

How do you foster positive work culture?

Our mission demands high performance but in seeking excellence people will make mistakes. We try to get best value out of mistakes, learn from them, share learning with others. One of the great things about this sector is we are genuinely building the future. Every task we perform well flows on to better outcomes for children. Quality early education is a strong predictor of increased whole of life success in a range of indicators and we need to retain perspective of how important this work is. Keeping that perspective helps drive culture.

Does the split across multiple locations impact your work culture?

Part of our culture is valuing the individual community and individual cultures. There is a common Integricare thread that runs through all our services, but it is expressed differently. Early learning connects children to their community and their world, doing so means that services operate in different community cultures, but also share a broader culture – a Sydney culture, an Australian culture. Our organisational culture is strengthened by understanding and learning from our differences to grow what we are as a collective. The mission and values remain constant across all locations, we share a common philosophy of education and give a degree of freedom in how that is enacted. Our different locations are free to explore different passions, we learn lessons and share them. Those differences build our common culture, which is in part established by the board, but equally growing organically. Early Learning isn’t static, there is a constant reflection on practice and quality improvement. That is echoed in culture.

What are 3 tips you would give another business owner to foster positive work culture?

My first tip would be to keep in mind the importance of what your organisation does. If it wasn’t important, you wouldn’t be doing it. Make sure your people know that, believe that and see that it is important to you.

The second is to find the best people you can, give them every opportunity to grow and every opportunity to succeed. You need to be robust enough to pick people up when they fall short, but almost daily I see or hear of one of our people doing something exceptional just because someone gave them an opportunity.

Don’t be afraid to lose people – even good people. When it is time for someone to move on, celebrate their time and make it easy to move on. There comes a time when the job isn’t right any more and you don’t want people in the wrong job. Good people in the wrong job are dangerous – help them find the right job, and quickly. I think about the great people we’ve said goodbye to in the last year, they have all gone on to do great things elsewhere. They always leave a gap, but it’s a gap for another person to grow into. We will be stronger for it, this sector will be stronger for it and stronger early learning is a stronger future.