The Rushey Green Time Bank was established within the local Doctor’s surgery, initially to provide an alternative solution for patients that raised issues of social isolation.
Since 2000, patients have been prescribed, if appropriate, with a friendly visit once a week, or a lift to the shops. They can also be referred to the time bank, for example in the case of long-term depression, if doctors feel that engagement of some kind would be useful.
The evidence is that this works. Early research at Rushey Green showed that 70% of participants suffering from a combination of physical and mental problems reported some remission of their condition within six months of joining the time bank.
There is confirmation of this in research by the Socio-Medical Research
Group at King’s College London, which shows that those participants who are most actively involved in the time bank experience the most improvements in both their mental and physical health. Nine years on it continues to help people discover their sense of belonging.
“…Like a big family everybody is helping everybody…time banking means friendliness…being able to meet and engage with other members and sharing time and sharing skills..you give an hour and get back an hour…”
Focus on Talent vs Need
What sets Time Trade apart from traditional volunteering is that it focuses on highlighting the talents and abilities of people rather than focusing on their needs. In this way it both 1) empowers people that might only otherwise be recipients of charity and 2) encourages people that may not normally volunteer to contribute their time and talent.
Here at Worknow we are building an online system to automate the exchange of time credits so that non profit and community organisations can recruit and reward their volunteers and empower the people they help. Our Time Trade system comes online August 2009 please register your interest today.
With John Keys announcing a $152 million package to create new work, education and training opportunities for unemployed young people we’re feeling even more confident that our vision around helping the youngest working age generation transition into work will find support on many levels. Well, we hope that it does but at the very least we’re reassured to learn that our mission aligns with the concern of our current Prime Minister who said yesterday:-
I am concerned for our young people.Those aged 18-24 are the fastest growing age group on the Unemployment Benefit, representing a third of all those who receive it.
The number of young people who wanted a job but couldn’t get one has more than quadrupled in the past year, leaping from less than 4000 in June 2008 to nearly 17,000 by June this year.
My concern is that for a young person starting out in their working life, a long period of unemployment could be very damaging. Source
Quid Pro Quo: Using Time Trade to Encourage Young People to Volunteer
When we looked at solving problems relating to work it was quickly evident that young people are the demographic most in need of solutions. So we got together to identify ways we could help them transition from study to work.
Lacking the work experience needed to gain value from our contractors’ marketplace we focused instead on ways that we could help them build the necessary work expereince, skills and references.
By incorporating unpaid work into our formula and encourage volunteering through the concept of Time Trade, we identified ways to:-
1) provide a measure of value and recognition for the development of a peer mentoring scheme, using time credits.
Enlisting alumni to mentor upcoming graduates about work life and career paths. Those graduates, in turn, trade their time to perhaps tutor fellow students who in turn again volunteer in their community and build valuable work skills.
2) provide incentive and reward to encourage more young people to volunteer, using time credits.
We believe volunteer work develops a service orientated work ethic and skills that assist the study to work transition. Some of the skills we know volunteers can develop include:-
Leadership & team building skills
Relationship building skills
Communication skills
Negotiation skills
Creative thinking skills
Organisation & time management skills
As Social Development and Employment Minister Paula Bennett points out encouraging Gen Y to become involved in our communities creates win-win situations. Her comments about the Community Max Scheme could as easily apply to Worknow:-
“This is all about providing opportunities – we see this as a very positive approach to addressing youth unemployment while helping fund useful community projects… I believe this is a win-win situation.”
Where we differ is that we intend the growth of youth volunteers to be a permanent fixture of tomorrows communities hence the development of out Time Trade platform.
If asked “what did you want to be when you were a kid?”, I know the answer is – to help people. While I’m not alone in aspiring to help others am I just trying to compensate for my failings? or feel better about myself? Am I really just trying to help myself?
With time trade one’s own motivation to help others comes second. It’s about putting the needs of others before yourself by focusing less on the need to be needed – who can I help?, how can I help? – and more on outcomes that can only be secured by enlisting the time and talents of those we are trying to help – how can this persons talents, skills and time help others?
“…If we want to fulfill our own commitments to make a difference in the lives of others, we need to find a way to use our ability to unleash the capacity of the person we are helping…” Edgar Cahn
People are Assets
Every single person is gifted with talents that are of value in a Time Trade community.
“…it recognises the whole person, that your life experiences, your knowledge, is an asset – everything you are, what you know and what you don’t is valuable…”
For organisations with networks of people that they already help there’s the potential to vastly expand the work accomplished by employing the time and talents of the people they help. This in turn empowers the recipients and moves them away from dependence and potential helplessness towards a sense of contributing value to one’s own community.
For example enlisting university alumni to mentor upcoming graduates about work life and career paths and those graduates, in turn, tutoring fellow students who in turn help volunteer in their community, and build valuable work skills.
“…We have to find news ways, or very old ways, of putting people to use doing things for each other…finding ways for people who don’t think they have skills to discover their own strengths…” Edgar Cahn
Time Trade is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community.
In recognition for your contribution you receive one Time Credit which you can then gift or trade, with other members of the community, in exchange for their talent and time. It’s a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.
Here at Worknow we are building an online system to automate the transfer of time credits between Community Members. Our Time Trade system comes online August 2009 please register your interest today.
Dr Seyfang of the University of East Anglia has conducted some insightful and inspiring research into the effects of time banking in the UK
Case study research, which provides evidence that time trade can provide tools for promoting community development and overcoming social exclusion. I have recently read and would recommend:
Seyfang, G. (2004) Time banks: rewarding community self-help in the inner city. Community Development Journal 39:1 62 – 71 Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Seyfang, G &Smith, K. (2002) The time of our lives: using time banking for neighbourhood renewal and community capacity building. New Economics Foundations: London Download PDF Here
Time Trade aka Time Banking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community.
In recognition for your contribution you receive one Time Credit which you can then gift or trade, with other members of the community, in exchange for their talent and time. It’s a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.
Here at Worknow we are building an online system to automate the transfer of time credits between Community Members. Our Time Trade system comes online August 2009. For more information check out these links:-
Migration needed to care for ageing population. Source
Are we today so separated from our neighbors, so divorced from our communities that we must employ workers from other countries to take care of our own?
Has it really come to this? Are we simply to busy to care or is there not enough time to go around? Not exactly…
Community organisations like Age Concern do brilliant work in our communities, throughout New Zealand. So if you find the thought of our elderly people, alone and lonely; a sad, disturbing insight into your community – you can make a difference.
Volunteers & Time Trade
From delivering Meals on Wheels to in home visits or even just a friendly phone call. It really is this simple to make a positive difference to someones day. Do you have the time to help others? to make a difference and help build happier communities?
Yes! it seems that we do. Statistics New Zealand shows that kiwis contribute 270 million hours of formal, unpaid work for non-profit organisations annually.
270 million hours! Imagine then if we could take this time and use it as a trading currency to get people to support our older people. Actually, no need to imagine, we can.
Time Trade is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community.
In recognition for your contribution you receive one Time Credit which you can then gift or trade, with other members of the community, in exchange for their talent and time. It’s a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.
Here at Worknow we are building online system to automate the transfer of time credits between Community Members.
What will you volunteer your time for when you can earn and exchange it for the time and talent of others?
Being Maori, I was raised with a cultural notion of collective and collaborative action.
As a child my mum and her brother and sisters would spend hours developing their collective world view. To onlookers it could have seemed that they simply talked and argued, often, about the same issues.
Yet, such a simplistic point of view belies the nuances of tribal etiquette that are integral to creating collective purpose. Simple rules that can and should be applied throughout society. For instance:-
When making a decision or deciding on a course of action that affects others, everyone is allowed the chance to voice their opinion.
Inevitably multiple opinions leads to conflict but it is important to recognise this as part of the process, rather than a problem. The discussion should continue for as long as takes for everyone to be heard.
It’s not about majority rule, tribal communities were never a democracy. Leaders must make decisions for others to follow.
Followers need not necessarily agree because in having their voice heard and in listening to others there now exists a shared understanding of why the decision is made.
Tribal etiquette can help build a shared sense of purpose and strengthen teams when we:-
Encourage and support collaborative process that openly allow people to offer their opinion or point of view.
Recognise that conflict is natural and inevitable, it can even be constructive. Note though, it has taken me many years to realise that many people do not share this understanding.
Don’t take conflict too personally, we all have the right to disagree.
Value constructive criticism, what better way to refine and craft ones thinking than to have it challenged.
Worknow is a community and marketplace to help people find, connect and work together
The greater our collective purpose the more shared intelligence we build together the stronger we become.
I had an interesting conversation with an intelligent gentleman, yesterday afternoon, who held the belief that Gen Y does not exist. We are, he said, “the same as any generation”.
Now I don’t like to be stereotyped on the basis of my age but I would sooner be Gen Y than merely the “same” as the old. Yet there’s always the option to perpetuate a more accurate describer – Gen We.
Y Generation We, not X or B.
That we are different is what we, Gen X & Boomers have in common. Each “generation” has in some way or form changed the status quo on those that came before, it will happen to us too. So this “generational” issue and blame game is more about people’s inability to adapt and accept differences than it is age.
Yes, ideally, people shouldn’t be stereotyped by age. Yet we are simply not that same, and somewhere a line has to be drawn to help us build a clearer understanding of our differences, so that we can all work together.
That I don’t want a 9 – 5 employee role does not mean that I’m lazy. I just know that my most productive work hours are from 10am – 3:00pm and 7pm – 1am but I’m happy to work 10+ hours to suit my lifestyle.
That I constantly seek new challenges and ongoing feedback around expectations and performance, I know seems demanding and needy to some. But I grew up in a world that has taught me to be performance orientated and continuously improving.
& sure, I’ve had more than 5 jobs in five years because I know what I want and if my plans can’t be achieved or my values respected then there’s no mutual benefit and it’s time to move on. I’m instinctive, goal orientated and I adapt quickly to change.
Same Planet, Worlds Apart
Back to yesterdays conversation. I can be a bit of the antagonist, when given cause to express my own beliefs. It’s the same characteristic that made becoming a lawyer the only career option I was ever advised to follow.
I wish I’d had access to more advice before pursuing that education path but oh well, live and learn. Thankfully, I’m not a lawyer and I’ve learnt lessons in tact so I simply asked:-
“OK. Do you use LinkedIn?”
“Yes,” he answered.
To which I replied, “I don’t”.
Point proven. We are not the same.
Worknow Community
If networking involves building connections amongst peers, then clearly LinkedIn has much more to offer the over 30 demographic. With millions of members LinkedIn is indeed a brilliant concept. Yet it is time to tailor the idea for a more entrepreneurial and lifestyle orientated generation.
Here at Worknow, we are gathering a community of talented people that seek new more collaborative and flexible ways to work together. Why? because we believe networking technology can help foster and harness the collective potential of existing communities and distributed groups but we simply don’t connect with LinkedIn
Social innovation refers to new strategies, concepts and organisations that meet social needs which in our case, influenced by economic recession, means the need to support communities and help people find work.
Although there are already volunteer networks, community and business groups that contribute tirelessly to this need, we believe social networking technology can help foster and harness the collective potential of existing communities and distributed groups by providing a way for people to easily find, connect and work with each other.
Time Trading a.k.a Time Banking
Time Trading a.k.a Time Banking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community. In recognition for your contribution you receive one Time Credit which you can then gift or trade, with other members of the community, in exchange for their talent and time. It’s a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.
When times get tough, our most important asset is a resilient and supportive community. More secure than money in the bank, and more long-lasting than storing food and water; creating a more self sufficient community is the smartest investment we can make now… they strengthen the community by creating an incentive and market for people to help each other. Source
Worknow
We are building a user friendly, online solution to help people find, connect and work together, in new ways. One of the first services available incorporates the concept of Time Trading via the provision of an online system to automate the transfer of time credits between Community Members.
Entrepreneurship is not yet considered a viable alternative to the professions because, as Sam Morgan noted November 2008, New Zealander’s tend to view entrepreneurship as a niche, high risk, slightly crazy alternative to employment.
This sentiment permeates New Zealand’s culture as was confirmed when I spoke to students attending the Otago University Career fair about news of a trend in New Zealand towards private contracting instead of employment.
When asked whether they would consider private contracting as an alternative to employment some did not consider it a viable option while those that did support the alternative noted that it’s often seen as too risky.
Our education system undermines the development of a more entrepreneurial culture by encouraging our smartest people towards “safe, secure professions” such as lawyers, accountants, and doctors.
“We seem to have focused wrongly on building CVs rather than building businesses” Sam Morgan
As a result we have a wealth of talented people preparing themselves to be “employees” rather than cultivating talents which could drive economic growth through the creation of new business and new jobs.
Aotearoa NZ, Past Achievements.
We would do well to remember more often that our small pacific nation has lead some of the best innovations and achievements of the last century.
Rutherford split the atom, Hamilton built the first jet engine. We were the first to allow women the right to vote and our spirit of adventure inspired Sir Ed to summit the tallest peak on earth.
More recently, Sam Morgan and Trademe introduced us to a new world of buying and selling online and Stephen Tindall and the Warehouse forced us to reconsider our need for plastic bags. History proves, we are an innovative nation.
Present, Our Entrepreneurial Nation
Entrepreneurship is one of our economic strengths. In 2008 Auckland was voted the most entrepreneurial city of the OECD. The same research in 2006 identified Maori as the third most entrepreneurial people in the OECD yet we still promote the fallacy that entrepreneurship is too “high risk” without qualifying or highlighting any of the benefits of risk vs reward.
Future of Entrepreneurship
Gen Y demographic research shows that more than any previous generation Gen Y has a more flexible and entrepreneurial approach to work. The traditional dependency on employers has begun to weaken as more and more young people recognise the potential we have to connect with others in order to create our own forms of work.
While our entrepreneurial and flexible approach to work demands of us greater self-reliance in return we reap the ability to shape our own future rather than “comply” or “conform” to the expectations of a workforce that often fails to utilise our talent or understand our work ethic.
Inspire Encourage & Support Change
Rather than bemoaning the generational differences we suggest it is time to inspire and encourage a more entrepreneurial culture to support the development and growth of talented “business owners & teams” rather than just “employees” .
Educate and promote the economic, lifestyle and personal benefits of a more entrepreneurial culture
Encourage and support entrepreneurship as a viable alternative to the traditional “professions”
