Empowerment and change management in Aboriginal organisations: a case study

The social organisation of work, management styles and social relationships in the workplace all matter for health. It is now well recognised that people who have control over their work have better health and that stress in the workplace increases the level of disease. In the context of organisational change, the potential benefits of empowerment strategies are two-fold: a positive impact on the organisation's effectiveness and enhancements in staff health, wellbeing and sense of control. This case study describes the University of Queensland Empowerment Research Program's experience working with the Apunipima Cape York Health Council in a change management process. Participatory action research and empowerment strategies were utilised to facilitate shifts in work culture and group cohesion towards achieving Apunipima's vision of being an effective lead agency for Indigenous health reform in Cape York. As part of the project, staff morale and confidence were monitored using a pictorial tool, Change Curve, which outlined the phases of organisational change. The project findings indicated that organisational change did not follow a clear linear trajectory. In some ways the dynamics mapped over a period of 18 months mirror the type of struggles individuals commonly encounter as a part of personal growth and development. In this case, one of the factors which influenced the program's success was the willingness of executive employees to actively support and participate in the change management process.