AFTER listening to the concerns of those in the egg farming industry, Egg Farmers of Australia has been undergoing significant restructure in an effort to develop tighter focus and deliver the support farmers want.
In late-December 2018, the EFA Board enlisted the services of a private consultancy firm to draft a strategic plan for EFA moving forward. The following information is in order to keep members up to date with current activity by the EFA directors.The following outlines the EFA Board’s initial review of a draft external strategic development revision commissioned to address the departure of former EFA CEO John Dunn.
It also provides future direction options for the proposed restructure.
- The Board sees the initial draft as a constructive document providing feedback from our members and also professional views to assist EFA in rebuilding the representative organisation.
- We want to use the report to demonstrate that we are listening to our members and rebuilding to deliver value to the membership base.
- Following an interview process with over 20 members, EFA directors will review the summary of interviews in the draft report. The comments gained from the interview process will be recognised by the Board and will help in a refocused board and organisation.
The following key points from the interviews and analysis need exploring to ensure EFA remains transparent and interactive with members at all times:
- Leadership structure.
- Policy.
- Membership and financing.
- Communication and liaison.
- Future direction.
The key areas of review in the report by the Board are primarily focused on a number of options but have initially determined:
- EFA directors are focused on a ‘minimalist model’ or ‘sustainable low-cost model with a focus on the Standards & Guidelines process’ and addressing other arising issues on priority and funding capability.
- The Board sees the functionality of the organisation and advocacy as its primary focus and not about the crossing over into activities that are currently and capably undertaken by Australian Eggs, such as ICC and extension activities.
- The Board sees the next 12 months will be focused on the S&G and driving the success of our Option C presented to AHA, together with the array of other farming practices which will be considered in the process apart from the ‘cage’ debate.
- We would like to align activities in a minimalist model to just the S&G process, which involves ongoing political engagement across all states as well as with the federal minister responsible for the COAG process and addressing issues, should they arise.
In the draft model, the following items need further discussion before including in our final agreed option.
- The report should provide clear support for the preferred option ‘sustainable low-cost model’ as the strategic plan to be adopted by the organisation and lead to a list of targeted activities for the appointed key leadership role.
- The Board agrees a person should be allotted hours to the appointed key leadership role at least for the first 12 months.
- The final report will form the basis of developing a more detailed business plan and operational plan aligned to the organisation’s key policies, directly with the appointed resource.
- As such, a summarised version of the draft report is what we are looking to provide to members.
- We will provide clear lines of distinctions to remain between roles of Australian Eggs and Egg Farmers of Australia and that the two organisations emphasise the advocacy role only of EFA.
- We will circulate the final report to our membership base along with a call to contribute.
The Board is unanimous that the model should be lean, focused and provide representation only on the Board’s strategic plans in dealing with the S&G in the short term. Also, that a viable structure is maintained with the ability to change in the medium term and ultimately develop a long-term viable presence.