Workplace Learning : Corporate relationship building
Presentation by Francesca Saccaro, Director TAFE NSW National Business, Carl Thompson, Project Manager, Competency Development, Country Energy and Lara Blackwell, TAFE NSW/Country Energy Training Partnership Manager.
Providing workplace training and assessment for up to 3,000 staff working for an employer that covers 95% of the state is a major undertaking in anyone’s terms. Partnership with Country Energy has moved TAFE’s workplace delivery approaches into a new level of sophistication and complexity. This presentation explained the structures and relationships that have been built to make this large-scale partnership work for everyone involved.
Country Energy - TAFE NSW partnership
Country Energy is a profitable energy retailer operating in five states and territories. In NSW it operates in nine regions, covering 95% of the state. Starting in September 2006, Country Energy’s Powerful Skills Project aims to improve employee capability and move beyond the existing salary progression model based on years of service, to a model that identified associated career path opportunities based on competencies and qualifications. Of Country Energy’s 4,200 staff, 3000 were identified as needing to upgrade their qualifications before progressing in the new career path. The partnership with TAFE NSW, involving a ‘virtual team’ from across the state, aims to identify the competencies already held by staff, and develop a customised training program to meet the competency gaps.
Getting started – Consultation, Development & Communication
The first stage involved extensive consultation with staff, including unions. Staff were asked to identify the tasks they performed, and a survey was used to build up a picture of who did what tasks, the frequency and importance of the tasks, and the skill 
level needed. All this data was entered into a database to identify the skills used in each region. The result was a set of contextualised job models, which could then be mapped against national competencies, and organised into a set of core competencies and electives. The approach also attempted to take into account the skills that would be required of a new worker in three to four years time. The result was a new model that links pay to Australian Qualification Framework levels.
With such a large project, there are challenges for all parties. Country Energy, in undertaking such a large up-skilling process, must meet the challenge of ensuring that the skill development meets the current and future needs of their dynamic, highly regulated, and contestable market. They want to ensure that they involve their own staff as mentors in the workplace, and achieve the maximum benefit for their training investment.
For TAFE NSW the challenge is to contextualise the training to reflect Country Energy’s systems and processes, and to offer flexible delivery, with non-standard times, locations and delivery methods. The project also moves TAFE into new course areas, with the associated challenges of identifying appropriately qualified staff and developing learning resources.
Implementation
The partnership arrangement between Country Energy and TAFE NSW means that the Learning and Development unit in Country Energy retains its role, and TAFE NSW takes on responsibility for training and assessment services outside Country Energy’s scope of registration. As part of a consistent approach, the current training and assessment resources of Country Energy are recognised and validated, and new resources developed to meet the standards of the Training Package.
Coordination of this large-scale project is facilitated by the appointment of a TAFE NSW/Country Energy Training Partnership Manager, Lara Blackwell, who provides a single point of contact for Country Energy within TAFE NSW. Lara’s role is supported by two discipline experts, technical and business, and a virtual team representing each Institute across Country Energy’s footprint.
Assessment of competency is undertaken both on-the-job (validated by the Team Leader), and off-the-job. The two organisations have developed shared record keeping practices, and auditing is incorporated into the approach.
Role of the Training Partnership Manager
The Training Partnership Manager is based with Country Energy, and forms the first point of contact for training outside the scope of Country Energy. A key role is to ensure, through validation processes, that the customised course meets national requirements, and that assessment processes and tools are validated against Training Package standards. The other key role is to work closely with delivery and assessment teams in both organisations to ensure consistency of delivery, including consistency across the various TAFE Institutes who are involved in the project.
The Training Partnership Manager works closely with the TAFE NSW Discipline Experts, who conduct assessment validation, liaise with the Curriculum Centres, coordinate the timely development of resources, and lead the Teaching and Learning Networks.
Keys to success
Management of the relationship is as critical for success as management of the training and assessment services. Relationships have been built from the senior levels of both organisations, and a matrix of relationships clarifies the linkages. Maintenance of internal relationships, between teaching staff responsible for delivery and assessment, are just as important. A team approach, bringing together teaching staff, TAFE NSW business unit and Country Energy, has been critical for communication. A project management approach is adopted for all training activities.
There have already been successful milestones reached, and the program ensures that these are publicised and celebrated, in newsletters of both organisations, as well as joint media releases.
