Work Counts

28/08/2025

Rob has just finished two days of delivering our 'From Assessment to Action' and 'Three Cups of Tea' workshops in Waihōpai Invercargill, with attendees from APM, Work Opportunities, Choices NZ (IHC New Zealand), Whanake House and Ministry of Social Development NZ.

"I got to hear of some great success stories and experiences from the local employment support providers and even had some out-of-towners from Dunedin join us too. Appreciate you guys making the trip down! I hope you found these workshops helpful to your ongoing mahi."

Thank you again to all who were able to make it, South Alive Invercargill for use of the colourful venue, and Koha Kai for the awesome catering across both days.

If you would like Work Counts to come to your area, please reach out! We can offer our foundational workshops in the IPS approach, or even design bespoke training for your organisation or team.

Visit our website and check out the next round of Work Counts workshops coming up in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Ōtautahi Christchurch in October (see link in comments).

25/07/2025

Calling all practitioners and providers in the Southland region!

Work Counts looks forward to coming to Southland in August - our first time to deliver workshops in Waihōpai Invercargill! If you're a practitioner or provider, we warmly invite you to register for one (or both) of the trainings on offer.

Three Cups of Tea (26 August) is about increasing engagement and confidence with employers - and it's one of our most in demand workshops. In the current labour market, relationships and connection are more important than ever!

From Assessment to Action (27 August) is our new workshop launched earlier this year, based on feedback from providers. This half-day training session is about developing practical expertise in vocational assessments and tailored employment planning.

To find out more and register your place, visit our website (link in comments).

21/07/2025

Last month, Work Counts and The People's Project (part of the Wise Group) hosted a special guest from Sweden: Kristina Carlsson Stylianides, a doctoral student at Lund University's School of Social Work. She gave a seminar at Harakeke House in Manukau.

It was great to hear about Kristina's research in person - and bring together mental health, housing and employment support representatives in the same room!

As part of her research, Kristina is investigating Housing First and IPS in various municipalities in Sweden.

Read more on our website (link in comments).

18/06/2025

You spoke, we listened.

Last week we were proud to launch a new workshop 'From Assessment to Action: A Guide to Employment Planning.'

Our thanks to attendees from Workwise, Ka P**a Ka Ora Emerge Aotearoa, Ember Korowai Takitini, Mahitahi Trust, Pathways and Equip Mental Health Services for making the workshop a success (see photo). We appreciate the energy, positivity and humour that you all brought on the day but also your willingness to share experiences of your mahi so that it could inspire and help others.

This new training was created with employment consultants in mind, and we wanted to make sure it would benefit everybody regardless of experience or tenure.

“It was so specific to our job (as employment consultants), everything was perfectly relevant and useful. I found it to be very informative.” - Training participant

We are excited to be rolling out this workshop in Taranaki and Wellington in the coming month (2 and 31 July). Find out more and register via our website (link in comments).

11/06/2025

Along with the Wise Group, we are pleased to welcome Kristina Carlsson Stylianides to Aotearoa New Zealand later this month - for a seminar sharing experiences from Sweden on the implementation of two evidence-based practices, IPS employment support and Housing First.

For those based in Auckland and interested in the findings of her research, please join us on 23 June at Harakeke House in Manukau.

Registrations are essential, via the Work Counts website (link in comments).

23/05/2025

Thank you to everyone who attended our IPS employment support practitioner meet-up in Manukau on Tuesday.

It was a pleasure to connect in person, work together on some of our regional planning, and hear from the Work and Income team (Ministry of Social Development NZ) as part of further relationship-building.

The Work and Income session was highly informative, it was great to hear people’s questions, and it was clear to see the shared passion about supporting people in our communities.

The IPS employment support approach demonstrates positive change in action and for many people employment is not just an outcome, but a vital part in living well.

To clinical folk in Health New Zealand - Te Whatu Ora community mental health teams, Work and Income (Ministry of Social Development NZ) and employment support providers Reconnect Family Services, Workwise, Ka P**a Ka Ora Emerge Aotearoa, Odyssey Trust, Ember Korowai Takitini and Mahitahi Trust - your work is inspirational!

23/05/2025

Be the first to experience our new workshop dedicated to vocational assessment and action planning!

Following feedback from IPS employment support providers, we are excited to launch a new workshop "From assessment to action: A guide to employment planning".

This half-day training session will help you conduct comprehensive assessments and individualise employment plans.

🔹 If you’re an employment consultant, career advisor, Work and Income case manager or anyone supporting a person with their individual goal planning, this training is for you.
🔹 In this workshop, you’ll learn how to turn conversations and assessments with people into useful documents.
🔹 Understand the level of detail needed and become familiar with how AI and other tools can help.

The first of these workshops is happening on 10 June (in-person) or 17 June (online). Register via our website - link in comments!

Develop practical expertise in vocational assessments and tailored employment planning to achieve impactful employment outcomes.

14/05/2025

Thank you for the valuable feedback from recent workshop participants! April saw Robert Williams travel to Ōtautahi Christchurch to deliver a training on "Three Cups of Tea: Developing Employer Relationships". Despite a state of emergency being announced during his visit, spirits on the day remained high!

“It was a pleasure spending time with employment specialists from Ka P**a Ka Ora Emerge Aotearoa, Choices NZ (IHC New Zealand), Odyssey House Christchurch, Catapult Employment Services, SkillWise and Pegasus Health. The work you all do is truly inspiring, and I hope the workshop added valuable skills to your kete.”

"A big thank you to Emerge Aotearoa for welcoming us and hosting the workshop at their offices. Special thanks to Thrive Catering for the delicious kai!"

Although Robert forgot to take any photos of our attendees (again!) and the weather wasn't ideal for capturing stunning images of the city, we hope to be back in the near future.

Our next Three Cups of Tea training is happening in Wellington on 30 July, register your place via our website. See link in comments.

We are also taking expressions of interest from providers in Invercargill. Send us a DM if you’re in Southland and interested in coming along!

07/05/2025

In looking back at highlights from 2024, we’re pleased to share a snapshot that is full of relationships and learnings. Along with so many others, we hold fast to the belief in employment as a health intervention.

Last year, we were pleased to see growth in IPS employment support across Aotearoa New Zealand as well as a real focus on improvement through the high number of fidelity reviews that were conducted.

Read more about the impact we've made on our website (link in comments).

27/03/2025

We're excited to be offering a training in Christchurch for the first time, next month (30 April) – kindly hosted at Ka P**a Ka Ora Emerge Aotearoa offices.

Designed with employment consultants and support workers in mind, our Three Cups of Tea workshop will increase your engagement and confidence with employers. In today’s busy world, our relationships are precious and our interactions need to be authentic and intentional.

“I really enjoyed all the sections, especially the practical application with employers. The content was both insightful and engaging, and I left with a lot of valuable takeaways.” – Three Cups of Tea workshop attendee (Auckland)

Make the most of engaging with employers, with hands-on learning from Work Counts. Limited spaces available - register now to reserve your place! See link in comments...

Photo: Workshop attendees from Mahitahi Trust, Workwise and Walsh Trust at a recent Three Cups of Tea workshop in Auckland.

26/03/2025

Coming together to improve IPS delivery in Auckland!

Work Counts was pleased to host an IPS employment support workshop in Auckland in late February, which included regional work planning for programmes funded by Health NZ and Ministry of Social Development. It was a highly valuable session with great contributions from the group around collaboration between employment consultants and others, total inclusion (a more positive way of thinking about zero exclusion), focus on competitive employment, and follow-along supports.

We are planning another session in May to continue this piece of work – this will be for employment consultants as well as employment champions from various clinical and AoD services.

Ka rawe! Thank you to all our workshop attendees for their knowledge and insights (see photo).

Ka P**a Ka Ora Emerge Aotearoa, Workwise, Mahitahi Trust, Ember Korowai Takitini, Health NZ - Te Toka Tumai Auckland, Health NZ - Counties Manukau, Health NZ - Waitematā

Sign up to the Work Counts newsletter to keep in the loop with IPS employment support news from across the motu (link in comments).

13/03/2025

Work Counts had the privilege of delivering our Three Cups of Tea - Developing Employer Relationships workshop in the beautiful city of Ōtepoti / Dunedin earlier this month. This was the first time for us to deliver a training in Te Waipounamu / the South Island, and we could not think of a better place to start than "Highlanders country"!

Thank you to APM, Choices NZ (IHC New Zealand), Community Care Trust and Work Opportunities for attending, and Petridish for the venue and warm hospitality provided to us on the day.

We received the following feedback after the training:

“I learnt a lot, especially around phrasing how to start conversations [with employers] which will lead to further conversations in the future. Rob’s ex*****on of the course was great - will recommend to others!”
- Rachel, employment specialist

If you are interested in this workshop, or want to learn more about IPS employment support, please visit our website www.workcounts.co.nz or reach out to info@workcounts.co.nz