Vocational Service

1. Vocational Service

2. Vocational Service Vocational Service is one of Rotary’s Five Avenues of Service. Vocational Service calls every Rotarian to: • Aspire to high ethical standards in their occupation; • Recognize the worthiness of all useful occupations, and; • Contribute their vocational talents to the problems and needs of society.

3. Vocational Classification When professionals join a Rotary Club they have responsibility of:- • Representing their particular business or profession • Representing their vocation within the club • Exemplifying the ideals of Rotary within the workplace

4. Ethical Standards One of Rotary’s guiding principal is the advancement of high ethical standards in the workplace and can be expressed in our Four Way Test • On all things that we should say and do • Is it the truth? • Is it fair to all concerned? • Will it build goodwill and better friendships? • Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

5. Ethical Standards In modern business terms this can also mean:- • Communicate openly and honestly • Treat all people fairly and with dignity • Encourage the diversity of opinions • Recognise and reward achievements • Respect people and our community • Be accountable for our own actions

6. Ethical Standards • Honest and explicit use of language. • Insisting on proper behaviour. • Refusing to allow for gray areas. A 2009 article in Forbes Magazine on Leadership suggests that ethical business practices depend on three things: -

7. RI Strategic Plan • Support and strengthen clubs • Focus and increase humanitarian service • Enhance public image and awareness The Rotary International strategic plan going forward comprises of three priorities, all of equal importance. These are to: -

8. RI Strategic Plan • Unify image and brand awareness • Publicize action-oriented service • Promote our core values • Emphasize vocational service ideals • Promote networking opportunities For the priority of “enhancing our public image and awareness’, the following guidelines are given: -

9. Vocational Service Projects • Post the “what Rotary stands for“ on prominent billboards about the town. • Display “the ideals of Rotary” at your work place and tell colleagues of your commitment. • Have regular classification talks at Club meetings and “my view” on business ethics. Individual Rotary Clubs can support the RI Strategic Plan by following any or all of these recommended project ideas:

10. Vocational Service Programs • Support RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award) programs with its special emphasis on ethics • Support the NZ Business Week with its special emphasis on leadership development • Sponsor a youth essay contest on how they would apply “good business ethics”. • Include regular “place of employment visits” in your Club meeting programs

11. Vocational Service Projects Sponsor a Career Day for Rotarians to bring young people to their places of business Encourage Club members to join and take leadership roles in Business Associations Create Vocational Awards. i.e. “Pride of Workmanship”, “Most Courteous Business Persons” or “Top Shop” “Walk The Talk” by ensuring that your actions always demonstrate high ethical standards

12. Vocational Service Month • Every October, Rotarians are encouraged to focus their attention on Vocational Service • Vocational Service Month is an opportunity to begin year-long vocational service activities • It is a good idea to start by completing a “Community Needs Assessment”.Note; the best projects responds to real community needs

13. Vocational Resources The following resources can be found by visiting www.rotary.org: Follow: - • Introduction to Vocational Service (255-EN) • Community Needs Assessment Tools • Declaration of Rotarian's in Business • ProjectLINK • Linkedin

14. Community Needs Assessment

15. Community Needs Assessment A successful service project • Has realistic goals with measurable results • Responds to community identified needs • Incorporates the abilities of those served • Recognizes the importance of all participants • Uses available resources effectively • Builds networks for future service projects

16. Community Needs Assessment Assessing your community. • Take the time to learn about your community’s issues and the real community needs. • Discover new opportunities for service projects and prevent the duplication of existing community assets. • Make the best use of available resources so that you can adapt inexpensive options to fit communities

17. Community Assessment Tools Assessing strengths and weaknesses is an important first step in effective planning. Some tools to use are: - Community Survey Asset Inventory Community Mapping Daily Activities Schedule Community Café Focus Group

18. 1 Community Survey Surveys can be very simple, targeting only a small group of community stakeholders, or quite complex, sampling large segments of a population • Person to person, phone, mail or Internet • May need to combine several delivery methods • Start discussion with a purpose statement • Keep short with easy to understand questions • Best is one gathering point like a market • Test your survey on a small group first • Report - “Happy – “Unhappy” – “Neither”

19. 2. Asset Inventory An asset inventory is a technique for collecting information about a community through observation, similar to stocktaking. • Involve several teams of community (2-4) people • Teams walk or drive around their community • Observing people, places, and things valuable • The teams create a list and prioritize importance • Then meet and discuss with the larger group • Identify community assets the most important • Discuss why these are the most important assets

20. 3. Community Mapping Used to reveal people’s perspectives and use of a community’s resources. Can be adapted for participants of any age. Facilitators leads discussions. • Involve 20-30 people from the community • In small groups draw a map of their community • Mark their place of residence on the map • Add places of importance; markets, schools • Parks, health clinics, police stations, services, etc. • Choose places they spend time or don’t enjoy • And places they think important • Then the places they think are missing

21. 4. Daily Activities Schedule Used to identify the daily routines of different people in your community. This will provide information when different groups are available to participate in a project. • Involve 20-30 people from the community • They write down their schedule on a typical day • Then in teams discuss similarities • Each group to develop a generic schedule • Bring groups together to discuss similarities • Then what could be done to reduce workloads • And what time is available for project involvement

22. 5. Community Café A Community Cafe creates a fun atmosphere at which people from the community can get to discuss issues. It can be both an entertaining event and a unique way to learn about a community. • Involve 20-30 people from the community • Meet for coffee at a Cafe or Restaurant • Each table has a host or facilitator • Guides the discussions on a particular topic • Participants move from table to table after a time • As each issue is discussed major ideas recorded • Report the common ideas to the cafe “maitre d’ • Clubs can use these ideas to decide on projects

23. 6. Focus Group A focus group is a carefully planned discussion, used to determine a community’s preferences and opinions on a particular issue or idea and how these issues should be addressed. • Involve a group of 5-6 key community stakeholders • Someone skilled at facilitating discussions • Can be as a panel group at a club meeting • Asked a series of carefully worded questions • Focuses on different issues in the community • More like a job interview than a debate • Requires a Scribe to record responses

24. Resources and Support Resources on Community Needs Assessment Tools can be found by visiting www.rotary.org Douglas Hutchinson Chair Vocational and Services Phone: (06) 278 6054 E-mail: dhutch.dna@xtra.co.nz