New Community Vision CEO Delivers Advice for Female Leaders

Yvonne Timson, has a leadership approach that focuses on flattening the business structure in order to empower her staff and allow for self-managed teams in a sector that traditionally didn’t have many opportunities. 

Self-managed teams are teams that are responsible for organising, planning, and executing tasks on their own, without the need for a manager or supervisor to direct them.

“You were either clinical, you were either in management or you were a support worker, never they would meet,” Ms Timson explained.

“I’m devolving the structure around allowing decision making and self-managed teams because they’re the ones the customers trust, they’re the ones the customers are closest to, they’re the ones who know the customers best.”

Aged care provider, Community Vision Australia (CVA), recently appointed Ms Timson as their new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and hope she will bring strong corporate governance into their organisation to give everyone the chance to thrive in their roles.  

As an associate member of the Governance Institute of Australia, Ms Timson believes that good corporate governance is crucial to properly assist staff – particularly female staff – and clients living in the community.

“My main goal for CVA is to continue to work towards a more inclusive community where people can live independently in their own communities for as long as possible,” she said. 

“I truly believe that age, disability, or diagnosis should never be a barrier to living your best life. I am incredibly committed to this organisation and I am heading into this role with passion, accountability, and enthusiasm.”

CVA provides home care, disability and family day care services to over 1000 customers in Western Australia, employing over 180 staff. 

In an exclusive interview with HelloLeaders, Yvonne shared her advice for women in business, her experience as a female leader, and her thoughts on the challenges facing age care.

Advice for Aspiring Female Leaders

Ms Timson’s advice for women in business is clear: lead by example, listen to and support your team, create a culture of positive challenge, and strive for parity in your organisation. 

She also emphasised the need for providers to be flexible and open, the importance of challenging biases, being creative about what you can offer staff, and being transparent about pay and opportunities. 

“You’ve got to make it fun and enjoyable,” Ms Timson explained. 

“We have a culture of positive challenge, and what we mean by that is you’ve got to start with vulnerability. 

“You’ve got to be open to the fact that you could be wrong or there could be something better.” 

Having a less hierarchical structure with wider teams allows more people to contribute, leading to greater diversity of thought. This helps challenge any existing biases.

Diversity strengthens the outcomes for any organisation and that by striving for parity in leadership, providers can create better teams that will benefit clients overall.

In an industry that has predominantly female workers, it is crucial for women to support each other. 

“It’s really important for women to support other women and to be open around the challenges you’ve got and to be open around what works and what doesn’t, but also being flexible around your level of resilience and what you’re prepared to deal with and when you spot the science to move on,” Ms Timson. 

“Promote people, support people, [and] tell people not to be put off. You’ve got this, it might not always be perfect, but you can do this.”

Challenge Facing Aged Care

Yvonne believes that the biggest challenge in aged care is the lack of conversation around who should pay for it and how it should be funded.

The financial sustainability of the aged care sector has been in question for years, and according to some industry experts, more consumer contribution to aged care services from those who can afford it is the key to get out of this struggle. 

StewartBrown Senior Partner, Grant Corderoy, said a user pays proposal would help prevent providers operating as such a huge loss.

“This reform needs to happen to allow providers to charge more to the consumers that have the ability to pay,” Mr Corderoy said to HelloLeaders.

Yvonne encourages providers to plan out the transition into aged care step by step rather than occurring during a crisis, stressing the importance of communicating with customers and being honest about what can and cannot be provided. 

Yvonne encourages providers to not make promises they cannot keep, and that if someone wishes to leave, to let them do so with grace. 

Conclusively, Yvonne’s message is that having an open and diverse mindset is key to making sure that everyone is included and respected. She promotes the importance of leading by example, being open and honest about biases, providing support and flexibility and challenges the status quo of the industry. Her advice to those following in her footsteps is to strive for transparency, equality and diversity in order to create a better working environment.