136 - Jo Boyce - CEO - Crookwell/Taralga Aged Care

Arete Podcast with Richard Triggs

In this episode, I interview Jo Boyce - CEO of Crookwell/Taralga Aged Care. Crookwell/Taralga Aged Care is a merger of 2 organisations responsible for 3 aged care facilities. Jo shares her experiences as the CEO of the company, about the facilities they handle, the communities where the facilities are, the company being an integral part of the communities, and her plans after exiting the company. Jo’s current professional responsibilities She is the current CEO of Crookwell/Taralga Aged Care Ltd, responsible for 3 care facilities: Viewhaven Lounge, Sunset Lodge, and Upper Lachlan Community Care The company merged from 2 organisations,Crockwell and Taralga, 12 years ago. "For a community, by the community" CTAC have been operating for about 45 years in Taralga and nearly 40 years in Crockwell. Her educational background is in business and studied in QUT's Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS) She’s been the CEO for 7 years and is exiting the role for personal reasons "Some roles you do tend to put in a lot more than you get back, but, I think, in this particular role, I certainly got a lot more back." What CTAC was like when she joined 7 years ago The Upper Lachlan Community Care which has grown exponentially over the last 7 years What is the importance of the home care part of the business? Continual care type of service: from onboarding, basic level of care, building relationships where clients learn to trust the company and the company trust the client, then they move to the higher level of care, home care packages and often some entering the facilities later on for a respite or full time care. "Home care is important. We put a lot of effort into getting the base-level services going and seeking every opportunity we can to expand those base-level services." The culture of the business and what Jo enjoyed most "Relational care: that's what I try to bring into our organisation." "You try to build that relationship and build that level of trust. Coming into smaller communities you realise that you need to do business that way. People won't trust you if you don't." "The level of interconnectedness and relationships is even more critical but it has its positives and negatives." Things that Jo is excited about for the organisation in the medium term "The load is shared, which is also a really great thing when you've got a team where you can share the load and people feel that they also can spread their wings a bit. And that is something I've always felt important in a managerial role." How would Jo best describe the region? What are some of the things people get up to and the attractions? Jo shares what people who are considering aged-care management their next career opportunity should expect "Looking at times like what we had recently with Covid-19, being able to reach out and communicate to everyone through this critical time is very important. And across the whole organisation, not just the staff, but to board members, to our residents, to our clients, into our wider community as well." "It's good to know who we've got around us, and who we can turn to." "If someone was to come on board and be very genuine, you know, take on the role to the next level with the independent living units and the opportunities that creates,I think it would be a really great time for them." After Jo leaves the company, what are the things she is looking forward to? Jo Boyce on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-boyce-3151b034/ Crookwell/Taralga Aged Care Ltd Website: http://www.ctac.org.au/ Richard Triggs on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardtriggs/ Arete Executive Website: https://areteexecutive.com.au