Insights From Strategic and Change Management Projects in

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Insights From Strategic and Change Management Projects in Registered Training OrganisationsDr Peter Smith CONTENTS

Introduction 2

CASE STUDIES

1. Multiplying Capability for Responsive Training 4

2. Innovative Outcomes for Remote Locations 8

3. Developing Strategies for Responsive Long Term Planning 11

4. Enhancing Service Paradigms 14

5. Developing a VET Culture in a Community Services Organisation 18

6. Effectively Supporting Remote Trainers 21

7. Entrepreneurialism, Innovation and the

‘Agile’ Structure 24

8. Building an Indigenous Training Network 27

9. Change to Better Support Apprenticeship Training 31

10. Change Supporting the Screen Industries 35

11. Responsive Library Services 38

Conclusions 41

Appendices 45

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NEXTCONTENTSBACK2 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Introduction

11Introduction

BackgroundThis publication provides a snapshot of a sample of eleven of the thirty Reframing the Future strategic and change management projects undertaken in 2007. The eleven projects were chosen on a basis that each of them focused on building capability strategically.

The projects were managed and supported by Reframing the Future, the national staff development and change management program that supports the implementation of the national training system in Australia. The program is an initiative of the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments. More information about the strategic framework of Reframing the Future is provided in the appendix.

MethodThe projects chosen as exemplars for further exploration in this publication were selected for their combination of looking inwards and looking outwards to identify changes required to support contemporary VET, as well as the VET we may see in the future. At the conclusion of the publication we draw a set of conclusions from these projects on the ways in which they have contributed to the aims, and how they can act as beacons to other RTOs and individuals intending to travel the same pathways.

Once a project was identifi ed for inclusion in this set of eleven case studies, the appropriate project convenor or facilitator was approached and interviewed to elicit further information about the project, and its effects the following year. Interviews were then undertaken either in person, or by telephone, using a semi-structured interview schedule. Interviews were written up as reports on the project and sent to each project convenor to check for any inaccurate statements and interpretations

about the project. Once returned by the project convenor, any necessary adjustments were made to the report at that stage.

The researcher, Dr Peter Smith, who undertook the interviews and reporting for this publication is a recently retired senior academic and experienced researcher, with a long-standing understanding of VET and Reframing the Future, but with no operational involvement with Reframing the Future, nor with any of the projects funded in 2007.

ConclusionsThese are developed more fully in the fi nal chapter of this publication, but are summarised here.

• Internal workforce productivity – Reframing the Future projects universally had acted as a catalyst in developing higher levels of productivity for staff within RTOs. These productivity enhancements came through structural and cultural change, most importantly a shift towards a team and/or project based organisation that led to enhancement in skills and knowledge usage, communication, and accuracy of response to client needs.

• External workforce development and participation – all projects could point to outcomes that showed enhancement of the productivity of individuals, or the workforce of client enterprises. Most projects were able to provide evidence and comment about increases in participation as well. They were confi dent and precise about project outcomes associated with enhancement of products or services. While there was always confi dence that the project had increased business throughput, it was acknowledged that other infl uences may have played some role in this as well.

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3 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Introduction

• Agile structures and culture – the concept of developing an organisation that was agile in its structure such that it could quickly respond to new requirements was evident in projects, along with the culture change required to support that agility. Agility here included seeking and forming partnerships with other providers where that was strategic.

• Language and culture – Reframing the Future projects had been instrumental in developing a shared language about change in RTOs that assisted discussion and enhanced outcomes and eventual productivity. That language and culture also developed between RTOs and their clients, resulting in greater capability to understand each other and for RTO’s to respond effectively and accurately.

• Change management processes – across the projects collectively there has been the development of a great deal of knowledge about change management theory and its practical application to working organisations. It is suggested these experiences and knowledge be collected to form a basis for others embracing change management in the future.

• Innovation multiplier effect – Reframing the Future projects normally achieved more than they had planned to, and there was a multiplier effect evident whereby projects impacted on more people than was expected, or on more processes than was expected achieving outcomes beyond what was originally anticipated.

• Empowerment – Reframing the Future projects served to empower RTO staff to be able to operate more productively and autonomously while operating out in workplaces. The empowerment process was supported through professional development and culture change at management and staff levels.

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4 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Multiplying Capability for Responsive Training

1. Multiplying Capability for Responsive Training

Project Sponsor: Gordon Institute of TAFE, VictoriaProject Convenor: Sheryl Mackie, General Manager, Educational Services

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesThe Gordon Institute of TAFE, in Geelong, planned to establish Education Development Adviser positions in 2007. The role was envisaged to work with teaching and management staff to develop skills and attitudes that seek out and develop relationships and projects that support the needs of business, and then to support Institute staff working in those projects with advice and expertise. This would require teaching and management staff to focus to a greater degree outside the Institute, to recognise and develop opportunity, and to be innovative in response.

In more detailed terms, the work of the Advisers would be with individuals to assist in educational development projects and with writing submissions and tenders with groups as part of the development of a community of practice. The Advisers would also be coaches and mentors to other Institute staff. This project was designed to develop the skills and qualities among Education Development Advisers that would support them as change agents.

The project anticipated the development of a strong change management process which could be used across this large Institute in a range of contexts and projects, and that would guide change as it rolls out throughout the institution. Also expected was the development of a team of skilled change agents, well supported through further professional development, who would act as internal agents of change and its processes.

Those structural and cultural changes, it was expected, would also lead to increased capacity to design and deliver more customised training across a wide range of Training Packages; increase capability in project management, tender and submission development and innovative education design; assist in progress towards a client-focused and responsive culture; and the encouragement of a culture of sharing ideas and practices.

Program Methodology and Outcomes AchievedThe project was initially designed around the Cummings and Worley (1997) model of change management, with the variation that within each of the fi ve stages of the model there would be locally fl avoured methodologies to suit Institute context. Action learning was central to the Education Development Advisers experience within the project, with encouragement for participants to co-design activities that met their developmental needs, and to create the vision for change within each of the teaching areas they support. Accordingly, as Sheryl Mackie said in interview:

The methods these Advisers were to develop would vary between the different teaching areas and client groups, due to different contexts, cultures, practices, and expected outcomes.

This project suffered a major setback and then staged a recovery that forms an interesting contribution to the data around Reframing the Future projects. The setback was that the Gordon Institute was eventually unable to source and employ the eight Educational Development Advisers it had intended to appoint, and who were to form the focus of the project. The sorts of people the Gordon wanted to appoint were simply not available in the marketplace. That meant a substantial

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re-think of the project such that the focus became one of enhancing the human capital of selected existing staff, by developing the educational development skills among those people. The Gordon already had a mentoring system in place for e-learning development, and a similar model was brought to bear on the Reframing the Future project.

Partially as a result of the re-engineering of the project, and partially through practice, the model of change evolved as the project proceeded, and eventually moved away from the Cummings and Worley model to a simpler two-stage model promoted by the Australian-based Wheeler Strobel Consulting Group. That model was favoured partially because Wheeler Strobel had been engaged by the Institute for some leadership development work, such that there was strong local understanding of that different model. The non-linear nature of this model appealed, where the fi rst stage, Initiating Organisational Change included developing motivation, vision, impact and process, and much of this ground work had been completed in 2006 as a driver for the Adviser appointments. The second stage of the Wheeler Strobel model includes Strategy, Risk, Design, Leadership, Commitment, Sustainability and Project. The preference for this model was that, in the view of the project manager, Sheryl Mackie:

….the model and its activities are not particularly linear in nature so that things could develop alongside each other rather than in a staged sequence, and it meant that the preparatory work we had done in 2006 on initiating change could be conceptualised into the project process and model.

Much of the program was driven through Friday afternoon workshops – preceded by a healthy lunch. A change management workshop that introduced

Appreciative Inquiry was scheduled fi rst. This really set the scene and the tone of the whole project. External facilitators were utilised for most of the workshops. They brought different facilitation styles that the group could analyse and in some cases adapt to their own teaching or facilitating. A central feature was allowing time at the end of most sessions to refl ect on what had been learnt and how the facilitator had performed.

There were four workshops devoted to Education Design. The fi rst three covered the theoretical aspects. The fourth workshop provided the opportunity for the project team to develop a process specifi cally for the Gordon Institute. The model was developed with an intention that it could be used for all education design projects and this has in fact turned out to be one of the outcomes of this project that is highly valued.

There were also two workshops devoted to Project Management. These have provided the foundation for the Institute to move from a functional organisation to a more project orientated organisation. Making a wider use of available skills that are brought to bear on a project, and supporting that project with advice and expertise have substantially increased the productivity of the Gordon workforce.

Appreciative Inquiry was introduced as a technique early in the project, and the examination of how people in organisations respond to change set the scene for a positive approach to making changes. Three of the project participants clearly showed the importance, and exciting impact on them, when they said:

It gave me the opportunity to refl ect on change and how I can change my approach to it?

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andThe fi rst session I attended was a real buzz. Looking around the room, there were lots of ‘movers and shakers’. The innovative people that often have their hand up to get involved and try something new. It feels great being in a room of motivated people.and I think the best session was the 1st session about appreciative inquiry. I felt for one of the fi rst times excited and inspired by a PD session at the Gordon. I was able to hear so much about the great work that my colleagues have been doing around the Gordon and talk, in depth with one colleague to share our positive experiences of work challenges and achievements. It would be so great to use appreciative inquiry regularly in our work at the Gordon. My only regret was it was only one session.

As noted above, an important across-Institute outcome of this project has been the identifi cation and development of a change management model that works for that context. This is potentially an important model to develop further out of this project since the Gordon Institute is a large, complex, and not atypical TAFE institute, such that any successful model developed out of refl ective practice at that institution would be a good place for similar institutions to start from in their own thinking about change.

In terms of workforce productivity there were several outcomes identifi ed by participants and by the project convenor. First, the introduction of a cross section of the Institute to appreciative inquiry as a change management strategy was very successful and provided a platform and a strategy to identify and adopt change with some confi dence in technique. Second, there was a considerable enhancement of the education design skills of at least twenty staff and enabled a model for education design to be developed for the Institute. Similarly with project management, with both of these outcomes resulting in stronger and more

effective relationships with enterprises served by the Institute, and more responsive training products and delivery formats.

A further major outcome came through having to rethink the project when the Educational Advisers were not able to be appointed. That meant a rethink of project participants, and the relationship of those participants to other members of Institute staff. What has happened as a result of the project rethink is the development of skills among a larger number of people than originally intended (20 as opposed to the originally intended 8), and the embedding of these people within the Schools of the Institute to work alongside their peers on development projects.

The project convenor, Sheryl Mackie, was delighted with the project outcomes and said in interview

We have had major increases in workforce productivity, in the development of human capital, and in the responsiveness of our staff to client requirements. Responding to client needs is no longer an issue – it is just something that people now do, expect to do, and are skilled to do. There is a methodology for instructional design and team development to respond to clients, and a language of client engagement has developed along with the right sorts of attitudes. The response methodology has been tested now with a major project and we feel pretty comfortable with it. We would not have achieved that without the Reframing the Future project.

A further important change was the multiplier effect on the rest of the Institute who did not participate in the project. These other Institute staff have been impacted by the development of an open and dynamic group of experienced

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and skilled educators who are ready to be change agents, together with the development of the response methodology, and a clear vision of the direction in which the Institute needs to move. The closer congruency between Institute strategic directions and the supporting skills of staff is a major move in the direction of greater workforce productivity and stakeholder satisfaction.

Finally, the Gordon is preparing itself for the possibility that the Victorian State Government will require providers to tender for an amount of their course profi le, possibly in the high skill areas. Sheryl Mackie, in interview, made the point that the response methodology, the new skills and relationships developed, and the move towards a more responsive mindset were all organisational characteristics that would enhance the Institute capacity to fl ourish in an environment of greater tendering competitiveness.

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8 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Innovative Outcomes for Remote Locations

112. Innovative Outcomes for Remote Locations

Sponsor: Charles Darwin University, Northern Territory Project Facilitator: Ruth Wallace, Senior Lecturer VET, School of Education

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesThe essential aim of this project was to enhance Charles Darwin University teaching and support staff capacity to implement an innovative and outcomes based approach to VET delivery and management. The challenges here involve:

• working across different industry groups;

• professional and physical isolation for staff across seven locations in the Northern Territory;

• understanding and using the AQTF 2007, user choice and industry focus in a context of little external network to draw on; and,

• the changing needs of client groups and the changing profi le of Indigenous students.

The outcomes anticipated by the project included greater understanding of the needs of different and changing clienteles, staff working effectively in groups to identify and develop relationships that would enhance innovative practice nationally, identifying and implementing strategies that improve student and industry outcomes and incorporating these into delivery management, and develop an increasing the understanding among staff of change management processes.

Project Methodology and Outcomes AchievedThe project was planned around the Cummings and Worley (1997) model of change management with action learning. This involved developing readiness for change, creating a shared vision across the team, securing political support in the organisation for the project, managing the transitions in the implementation of new structures, and supporting sustained momentum for change.

Twenty-fi ve Indigenous and non-Indigenous people participated in the project, with varying levels of engagement. These twenty-fi ve participants were drawn from each of the seven locations that were the focus of the project. An initial workshop, conducted by a facilitator, focused on the AQTF 2007 and new national directions in VET. During that initial workshop three industry oriented professional learning teams were identifi ed. Each of the learning teams identifi ed a component of the AQTF 2007 that represented a signifi cant challenge for them, and they also developed a learning and dissemination plan. The teams were supported by the facilitator/critical friend to further identify opportunities for implementing their plans in practical and effective ways, and for disseminating the outcomes of those plans. Each team identifi ed an action learning project that would support the implementation of its planned professional development (e.g. delivery strategy, assessment strategy, industry engagement forum). The action learning project was the vehicle used to implement, refi ne, and assess the change as it emerged through practice.

Dissemination was provided by sharing fi ndings about best practice and change management at university forums and more broadly based Northern Territory forum opportunities.

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The chosen methodology was effective and worked well throughout the project. Project convenor Ruth Wallace has reported:

Some things that we did worked better than others, although most of it performed well enough to meet our needs. The aspects that we used that worked well in order of priority were, fi rstly, working with the team to create a shared vision aligned with a compelling reason for change. Second, rather than leading change from the front in a tumultuous time, it was important to walk beside people, be very fl exible and responsive to individual’s ideas and interest in exploring change at different times and recognising that a large proportion of the most infl uential work occurs outside meetings. This meant participants increased their ownership of the program and commitment to achieving positive outcomes. Finally, developing readiness for change and addressing resistance to change also worked well for us.

There were signifi cant cultural shifts in staff as a result of this project. There was a developing sense of empowerment to enact change within the new workbased teams, and a sense of belonging to a larger network of VET specialists who are capable of making effective decisions to support industry training needs. Going into 2008, these changes and enthusiasms have been sustained.

Ruth told us that:

Staff members have shown interest in developing new approaches for 2008 that will build on the work we have done in 2007 through this project. Rather than being responsive, staff members are working proactively and innovatively towards a future for their programs that will address many of

the defi ciencies that frustrated them in the past and align their programs more closely to industry standards.

Underpinning much of that sustained enthusiasm for change, and the outcomes from the 2007 Reframing the Future project, has been the support among staff for working in project based teams that focus on VET program design and delivery that is responsive to client needs, and also responsive to client difference and diversity. There is a multiplier effect here since the teams also cross communicate to share new ideas and stories of success or otherwise.

In individual productivity terms, enhancement has come through the sustaining of the facilitation strategies that were used in the project. These were characterised by separating control and leadership by enabling people to own their project and work with individuals or teams as needed; an open door policy by the project convenor for any participants to discuss their ideas about the project when they were ready; and ensuring professional development was a sharing by partners rather than top down advice.

From a broader perspective, the project has resulted in a higher performing VET organisation through the changes involved in AQTF2007 being viewed as a helpful tool for VET facilitators to address important issues in meeting industry requirements and supporting diverse client groups. The team culture developed has had both an organisational productivity and client responsiveness benefi t since teams are positive about change and their role within it. They can work together to identify an issue, share ideas and be innovative about addressing it; and develop and implement projects that impact priority areas. Additionally, the teams now embrace change as part of their professional development and growth, and focus on industry and student needs by choice and as part of their normal response pattern.

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A further outcome for individuals and for the organisation has been the emergence of several participants as leaders in the new management structure, and an experienced involvement in negotiating team organisation for 2008. The project convenor, Ruth Wallace, observed a number of benefi ts for management personnel that derived from the project:

An increased understanding of change management which helped them cope with the changes in their status and role, their ability to understand and work with senior managements’ implementation of the university’s strategic direction and ability to support their teams to embrace change and develop positive and forward looking strategies for 2008. Also, quite apparent has been the development of a language of change and productivity enhancement that enables the managers to articulate their ideas about the best ways to implement change.

The project has had a multiplier effect in the University in a number of ways. Staff who participated in the Reframing the Future project in 2007 are, in 2008, running workshops and mentoring other staff who were not Reframing the Future participants. There has also been a wider interest and involvement among staff in learning new software to support e-learning, and then actually engaging that new software in their pedagogy. The restructure within CDU in 2007 was something of an issue for the project at the time but, now in 2008, it is evident that the Reframing the Future project has developed new leaders for the new roles within the restructure, and the restructure has been embraced as an opportunity for the new, rather than as a threat to the old.

At a level of sustained change, during the course of the project, participants worked with experts in relevant areas resulting in the production and articulation of new approaches and pedagogies. Participants have taken these ideas and confi dence in their professional judgment to their new teams. This has established new ways of knowing and working in a broader part of the organisation and establishes a network of leaders and lecturers that can support each other in the organisation. One cultural change that is already evident here is a desire now to ‘get things right’ rather than just to get them done.

Individual client students have responded well to the changes in programs, reporting that they fi nd the programs and their delivery more effective, interesting, and more responsive. Indigenous learners have reported that they now feel they have more impact on program design that suits them better as learners. Industry clients, such as government and health providers, have also reported that they enjoy the changes; that programs and delivery are more responsive; and that processes of consultation are more transparent and more accessible to them.

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11 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Developing Strategies for Responsive Long Term Planning

113. Developing Strategies for Responsive Long Term Planning

Sponsor: Sunshine Coast Institute of TAFE, Queensland Project Convenor: Linda Schlanger, Director of Vocational Education and Training

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesThis Reframing the Future project provided Sunshine Coast Institute of TAFE (SCIT) with the opportunity to develop and begin to implement a fi ve year Educational Plan. The challenge of the project was to move from a past practice of planning only one to two semesters ahead towards a more ambitious and long term planning sequence. Success in the longer term planning model required a renewed and more in-depth review of the local region’s demographics and economic expectations, and the future market reach. Also of interest was an understanding of learner response to COAG policy and the Queensland Skills Plan, both of which include strengthening enterprise human capital and workforce capacity. The group of people within SCIT who would have the major carriage of the planning and implementation processes had previously little professional development in strategic planning and implementation.

In specifi c terms this Reframing the Future project anticipated outcomes of a structural nature as well as cultural change. In the structural change domain there is expectation that the organisational confi guration of Faculties may need adjustment to align more effectively with the changing nature of client demand; changes to the relationship between the planning functions of SCIT and the resultant operational decision making processes; and change to the roles of senior and middle management personnel.

Cultural change could be anticipated to support a shift in mindset of key personnel from a public provider to an educational business. Changes to organisational structures as a result of the Reframing the Future project will inevitably result in relationship change between individuals and between groups, resulting in a form of collateral cultural change in those relationships, and in some of the roles and responsibilities of individuals within SCIT. The project was designed to explore these issues and their possible implementation processes.

Project Methodology and Outcomes AchievedThe project was designed originally around a number of key strategies:

• Identifying external factors affecting the business, involving consultation with employer and government groups, organisations, and networks;

• Identifying key internal and external factors affecting the business, involving wide internal and external consultation and alignment with institutional plans;

• Identifying key internal factors affecting the business, involving a focus on institutional senior and middle managers;

• Identifying critical internal processes that need particular attention, involving the development of the leadership group’s skill base to enable them to embrace and drive the strategic direction to be identifi ed in the Educational Plan; building cross-institutional ownership; developing the skills and motivations necessary to drive implementation among the leadership group; identifying linkages within SCIT that need to be developed to support implementation;

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• Identifying external factors affecting the business and build cross-Institute awareness by providing at least two ‘State of the Region’ forums during the course of the project, to focus on demographic and economic change, skills shortages, and projected demand.

Project convenor Linda Schlanger commented on how she had to modify her project plans:

This project was strategic in its nature. However, I had to focus on change management considering the culture of some of the management and staff within the institute. To enable endorsement of the original concept, I needed to use part of different models, but the one that gave me the best understanding to engage the management and teams for the initial development was Wheeler Strobel’s two stage model where I worked on the stage one of (MVIP) motivation, vision, input and process. I believe that I will need to consider other models when it comes to implementation next year. I worked separately on the change management strategy with the senior management team through my change agent project.

The project convenor did the initial groundwork with the senior educational management group to develop a shared understanding of the project purpose and its expected processes, and the part that they would play in it. Following that was a forum that highlighted some of the research information that managers needed to take away and analyse with their individual teams. Each team then developed workshops with each of their teaching teams and support staff. The result was a draft created of a possible educational plan, which was sent out for discussion.

Alongside this educational plan, discussion, and process, the project also undertook four facilitated Strategic Management days when the upper slice of all managers in the organisation (not just those directly related to education delivery) came together to discuss strategic issues related to the educational plan. There was a focus here on the future directions in VET; possible changes in light of the federal election and the COAG agenda. In parallel, there was a program for direct training of Faculty administrators and the more senior administrative offi cers in Faculty administration. As a result of a two-day live away workshop mentoring groups were developed and the Faculty administrators provided with specifi c training and ongoing coaching in mentoring.

These Strategic Management days and their parallel activities were a crucial part of the change management process and its outcomes have been critical for achieving the cultural shift in the organisation. In 2008, this training in mentoring and coaching has continued to be rolled out across the organisation. In addition to the mentoring and coaching program, the Institute has planned the development of a Teacher Help Desk. Through that facility teachers will be able to access advice and assistance with problems they are experiencing with any aspect of pedagogy, assessment, learner management, and so on. The Help Desk will also have a role in assisting in the development of ‘champion’ teachers to further develop their skills.

The project has been important in that it has allowed the Institute to “blue sky” and identify a vision toward future educational delivery across many areas and levels, from senior management through to the Faculties. It has given a forecast of the required infrastructure and support services that will enable the institute to progress towards fulfi lling the national training program agenda. Linda Schlanger summarised this by saying:

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As an institute we can focus our strategic direction towards a dynamic competitive environment and empower the management and staff to pursue the commitment and direction for the future. The project and its processes have promoted a culture of innovation and forward thinking.

The productivity of SCIT staff has been considerably enhanced by the strategic alignment of effort to client outcome, and the expectation is that client satisfaction will be enhanced also through this more effective alignment. It has been important to make that change towards individual staff and the organisation being much more client driven than supply driven. The process for identifying client requirements sets up an ongoing dialogue between SCIT personnel and the clienteles, and provides offers for a greater external focus among staff. Additionally, the outcomes have required a change of the social and functional relationships and structures between individuals and teams and will enable the institute to develop the cross-Institute linkages required to provide client responsive programs.

In very specifi c terms the Reframing the Future project has positioned the Institute with a clear direction and an alignment of future needs to enable strong achievement towards the COAG agenda and the Queensland Skills Plan. These achievements are being won through greater responsiveness to individual learners, to existing enterprises and to new ones being established in a fast growing part of Australia. Also contributing to those achievements is the stronger participation in and from the community of the Sunshine Coast. The understandings built through the project of organisational development and change and a focus on capacity building will sustain the project, and future iterations of the 5 Year Educational Plan. At the same time there has been recognition of some limitations of a 5 year plan, as Linda Schlanger told us:

…although the educational plan has been developed for the fi ve year period, it became very apparent during the course of the project that where once fi ve years may have been a short period of time, now VET has to respond in much shorter time frames. Although the fi ve year plan will provide us with plenty of guidance and goal to pursue, we will need to be a very agile organisation alongside that if we are to satisfactorily meet client demands and needs. However, the cultural and structural changes we have been able to reach out of the Reframing project have provided us with the right skills and mindsets to be agile.

The project has provided Institute management, project managers and facilitators with the capabilities to lead change as it is needed going forward. Sustaining these changes will be pursued through the inclusion of change management and strategic management skills training in the regular SCIT management development programs.

Speaking about change management Linda told us insightfully:

Change management is just two words for some people. You have to break theories, strategies and ideas down into steps and processes that they can understand and do, and then it comes alive to them. That’s the way you achieve an outcome. While this is happening you develop among yourselves a language of change management and strategic management and then, all of a sudden, you fi nd you are all talking about the same thing.

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14 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Enhancing Service Paradigms

4. Enhancing Service Paradigms 11

Sponsor: Challenger TAFE, Western AustraliaProject Facilitator: Margaret Gannaway, Director, IT and Business Skills Centre

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesChallenger TAFE has developed a model of RTO service delivery based on four Paradigms. Paradigm 1 is about teaching in class on campus; Paradigm 2 is on-the-job training support such as with traineeships; Paradigm 3 is training for and within enterprises; and Paradigm 4 is concentrated on industry and community workforce planning and development.

Development of skills and effort in Paradigms 3 and 4 were the drivers of this Reframing the Future project. The project was focused around the need to move more delivery into these two Paradigms, and to develop the capability and capacity of teaching staff to support this move, as well as to review and change procedures as required to support it. Specifi c challenges here include developing lecturer understanding and commitment to Paradigms 3 and 4, providing necessary PD, and maintaining an enthusiasm for engagement with these two Paradigms.

As project convenor, Margaret Gannaway succinctly put it:

As a major training provider we felt the need to further expand staff skills so they could be effective consultants who provide a more comprehensive workforce development service.

Outcomes anticipated for the project were, in broad terms, the structural and cultural changes needed to support the two Paradigms and the achievement of the characteristics of a high-performing organisation, including an improved client focus.

In more specifi c terms the project sought to increase delivery in Paradigms 3 and 4 by engaging with clients to meet their workforce development needs through fl exible, customised and responsive training services; to revise and improve institutional processes and systems to support Paradigms 3 and 4; to develop an effective strategy for upskilling lecturing staff as required to operate as workplace learning facilitators and workforce developers; to develop an integrated team approach to working with industry and the community that makes more effective use of the skills of team members; and to develop the change management skills of lecturers and managers to enable them to lead the implementation strategy across Challenger TAFE.

Project Methodology and Outcomes AchievedTo create the readiness for change (Cummings and Worley, 1997) a one-day workshop was held with senior and middle management and lecturing staff to discuss the four Paradigm model, look at what is being done “differently” across Australia by other RTOs and showcase some of the innovative work already being done by individuals within the college. John Mitchell facilitated the workshop which proved to be, as Margaret Gannaway put it, …’a very good way to kick start the project’. This workshop created the vision for changing from a strong institution based delivery model to focus more on the workforce development needs of industry and the community as outlined in Paradigms 3 and 4. By having senior management at this workshop it also reinforced their support for the change and outlined the importance of the Workforce Development projects that would be undertaken and how the knowledge gained from these projects would be used to improve the College’s systems and procedures.

The guiding theoretical base for the activity components of this project was derived from Markides three principles of strategic thinking – the need to analyse

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current position; on the basis of the analysis to start ‘doing’ even if there is uncertainty; modify and adjust as you progress.

The analysis of the current position phase was developed through a SWOT analysis undertaken by participants in a workshop environment, with a focus on skills for operating successfully in Paradigms 3 and 4. At this stage the lecturers also developed with their program managers and directors an outline of their project goals and an action plan for achieving them.

The second phase, of starting to ‘do’ was planned to involve lecturers starting work on their project to engage with industry, and to identify professional development needs. Two workshops were planned during this phase to provide support for the teachers and an opportunity to share experiences, although there was planned opportunity for further workshops as needed.

The third phase, monitoring and modifying as needed, was planned as an ongoing encouragement for lecturers and managers to constantly review their plans, actions, and modify them as necessary, then monitor again and so on. A fi nal workshop in the project was planned to review the outcomes and identify the fi ndings that related to the need for change in institutional processes and systems. All sections from the College (training delivery and non-delivery) were invited to the workshop and lecturers provided an insight into their experiences from the project.

A time was also made available during the workshops for the General Manager of Training Research and Development at Challenger to meet with the lecturers and hear at fi rst-hand their concerns, clarify the issues and, wherever possible, suggest solutions. The workshops were an opportunity to remove lecturers from

their day-to-day environment and enabled good opportunities to motivate group discussion, challenge ideas and strategies and thereby stimulate critical refl ection and self-evaluation. All the workshops were facilitated to encourage the lecturers to freely communicate and exchange ideas, analyse and evaluate their proposed strategies, challenge assumptions, and broaden their perspectives.

Another strategy used when it became evident that some lecturers were not making progress with their projects was to call on the services of a lecturer who had experience mentoring new staff. This lecturer was given time to make direct contact with the project lecturers and provide them with additional support. The Project convenor also made regular reports to the Directors of Training and if there were any concerns regarding the projects the issues could be discussed and appropriate action taken to remedy them.

Margaret Gannaway, project convenor, was insightful in describing some of the project outcomes in this way:

If culture is defi ned as “the way we do things around here”, like Deal & Kennedy do, then the culture of the staff that have taken part in this project has changed. The managers and lecturers that have taken part in this project represent the new breed that do not see themselves as “institution” bound or “classroom” bound. They have the capability and capacity to operate as workplace learning facilitators and workforce developers who engage with industry on their terms and provide products and services that are customised and client focused. The culture in the College is changing from being reactive to proactive as training areas look for new and innovative ways to engage with industry and the community.

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In the main, Challenger TAFE’s structure has so far been based around an institution-based delivery (Paradigm 1), rather than around Paradigms 3 and 4. The change towards greater delivery through Paradigms 3 and 4 has been informed and supported by the knowledge gained from this project. Lecturing staff mainly enjoyed the challenges faced in the Reframing the Future project and report themselves as better equipped and more confi dent to operate in Paradigms 3 and 4.

The new knowledge from the experiences through the project has been presented to all other sections across the College that support training. A workshop which was attended by all sections of the College was held in November 2007 to identify and discuss what needed to be done to move forward. As a result of this the College has sponsored new projects in 2008 to improve IT infrastructure and systems, establish a more effi cient system for the development of learning resources and focus on the development of a “can do” internal and external customer service structure and culture. That development involves modifying the job roles of some staff, altering College procedures and upgrading/expanding IT systems to better support this service driven model. The major change in service to clients from the IT projects is to provide Challenger staff working out in enterprises with the resources needed to support the workforce development consultancy service, by being able to access learning materials and other College resources on-site, as well stay in communication through email. A second project is focused on providing greater fl exibility in use of learning management systems by adding Moodle to the already existing WebCT service operating out of WestOne.

Movement towards workforce development and productivity objectives have been enhanced through the development of much closer relationships with industry and the community. These closer relationships have enabled the promotion of

a total workforce planning and development service as the product/service that the College is able to supply in a fl exible and customised manner.

Through this project the profi le of the four Paradigm model of service delivery has been raised right across the College and the language of the model is now part of normal conversations. This is important since it has raised consciousness about Paradigms 3 and 4 as important and legitimate, and not only seen as competing with other more traditional Paradigms. The project has not decreased the commitment of the College to other delivery Paradigms, but there has been a market-driven reduction in them as clients want more customised and workplace learning, and as the resources boom in WA reduces the attraction of being a full-time student on-campus. The change management project has encouraged the development of innovative and targeted services. Staff are more focused on being customer focused and on why, how, and where they can be innovative.

For 2008 there are plans in place to ensure that the College continues to grow and expand the client-driven business as a major commitment to workforce development and to participation. These plans are in place and examples of them having effect on workforce productivity for clients are beginning to be evident. With Paradigm 3, for example, feedback from the Community Services Aged Care industry has shown that the model of training in the workplace that follows some upfront College-based instruction has resulted in students completing their course more quickly, and in employers being able to assess students in training at their workplace and select for eventual staff jobs. A second example has been with Paradigm 4 in the Peel region south of Fremantle. Challenger staff have been working with community agencies (such as Community First) to identify training and qualifi cations needed to develop the capacity and workforce participation of the community and the individuals within it, and then delivering the required training into the Peel region.

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Internal workforce productivity has been enhanced through the effective use of skills across a team, rather than based around individuals and, as Margaret Gannaway says:

The opportunity to have professional conversations with lecturers and managers from across the seven training centres has been highlighted as an extremely positive experience. The facilitated workshops promoted a team-based approach which enabled the participants to report on their fi ndings, raise their issues, discuss problems, and debate possible solutions. The participants are confi dent in their ability to support others within their areas to change their approach to training and assessment as they have a much better understanding of what can be done, what is diffi cult but possible, how to get help and that they will be supported by management in their endeavours.

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18 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Developing a VET Culture in a Community Services Organisation

5. Developing a VET Culture in a Community Services Organisation 11

Sponsor: Berry Street, VictoriaProject Convenor: Jenny Newcombe, Senior Internal Consultant Education and Training

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesBerry Street was founded in the 1870s as a home for unmarried mothers and their babies. Its core business remains caring for children in the child protection system, and is focused in four regions – northern and southern metropolitan, Gippsland and Hume. There are 350 staff across the organisation, and the RTO forms only a very small part of the operation.

Berry Street received RTO status in February 2006 and when it commenced the Reframing the Future project it was in the early stages of development as a training provider for young clients and in the community services industry. This project was designed to develop the skills and processes necessary to yield a strategic vision and an agreed framework for decision-making within the relatively unfamiliar (to Berry Street at the time) context of the national training system, and within the scope of registration of the RTO. Jenny Newcombe, the project convenor and Senior Education Project offi cer put this challenge as:

We are trying to bring a VET culture into a community services organisation.

These developments were designed to underpin working towards becoming an effective RTO. The driver for wanting to move into RTO business has come from a series of commitments to the education of vulnerable young people and to provide pathways for these young people into VET studies and to work.

More specifi cally, several outcomes were anticipated for this project. First, using the already existing culture of quality and continuous improvement to develop the new RTO business as an enterprise; enhancement of staff knowledge of the national training system and the AQTF 2007; development of strategic management and leadership skills across the organisation; alignment of the organisational business plan with the AQTF and industry requirements; and the development of a shared framework and process for decision-making about future RTO business, including scope of registration and service delivery.

Project Methodology and Outcomes AchievedThe project involved bringing all senior and education managers (15 people in total) together to participate in an action learning approach and a set of facilitated workshops. Through these shared activities Berry Street Victoria would develop a shared identity and culture with regard to RTO practice within VET programs. For Berry Street Victoria these are important outcomes to pursue since the clientele is relatively young, often vulnerable, and often from areas of disadvantage.

Berry Street Victoria had already established itself as a learning organisation and was accustomed to using action research as a tool for change and development, such that there was already a shared commitment to that method, and experience with it that would be valuable moving into the new project. In the Reframing the Future project the addition of the application of a refl ective practice model to the workplace learning was a feature, using a developmental action inquiry approach involving self-study, face-to-face second person study, and organisation-wide study.

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The fi nal project report for this Reframing the Future project has been particularly insightful about the theoretical model used for guiding the project. The organisational change model used to initially plan and guide the project was the Amado and Ambrose (2001) Transitional Approach to Change Management model. A principle feature of this model is “…the design and provision of conditions that enable the transition process to take place at both the psychological and social levels and facilitate its progress” (Amado and Ambrose 2001:15). In this model there are several types of conditions that assist with the transition, each relevant to different aspects of the process:

• Open-system perspective

• A collaborative management style

• Providing a ‘holding environment’

• Problem toleration

• Potential space and playing

• Facilitating transitional learning: project design and double task

• Developmental potential

• The role of ‘transitional objects’ or situations in facilitating transformation

• Transitional space and containment.

The project convenor, Jenny Newcombe, said this about the performance of the model throughout the project:

Aspects of this approach worked well and others didn’t. There was at times a tension between what workshop participants wanted and needed to

do with the available time and what the project convenor and facilitator needed to do. Hence, it was not always possible to provide the conditions and create the space for people to be able to undertake a transition. So, we had to be very fl exible and adapt to the needs of our participants in a respectful way. At times, it seemed chaotic and there was a small degree of discomfort. In fact, it is fair to say that all participants felt some degree of discomfort at different times with the change management process. However, the change process that we have begun with this project will continue past the life of the project.

It was important in the Berry Street Victoria cultural context to position the project carefully as not so much focused on change, but on strategic planning and development. The reason for that was a sense on the project convenor’s part that to be focusing on the need to change could be unpopular with some people.

There were three workshops convened through an external facilitator, with the most useful of these being simply the telling of ‘their story’ by other industry partners who had similarly gone through the processes of becoming an RTO, and the way in which that development impacted on the staff, management and other stakeholders. The reason for the success of that style of workshop was the opportunity for participants to recognise common issues, engage with them, and develop a confi dence from others in how to deal with them.

Actual project outcomes have been substantial and have exceeded the original expectations.

As a relatively new and small RTO, Berry Street was able to develop much further along the path to becoming a high performing VET organisation than was

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envisaged at the beginning of the project. As a result of this Reframing the Future project (in conjunction with a Berry Street Reframing the Future Community of Practice), the organisation achieved the delivery of a great deal more training activity throughout 2007, compared to 2006. In one region all of Berry Street education staff have achieved the Certifi cate IV TAA. Senior staff have an enhanced knowledge of the VET sector, even those managers whose work is not directly related to the RTO business. There were more young people enrolled in accredited training for 2007 and more plans for delivering accredited training in 2008. Also identifi ed is the niche for Berry Street in the market and this has involved developing new partnerships with other RTOs, so that it can be easily identifi ed when it is appropriate to deliver training directly or partner with others for the delivery. Actions and strategies resulting from the Reframing the Future project have been embedded in the Berry Street Business Plan as well as in the Berry Street Strategic Plan for Education & Training 2007–2010. Similarly, the business of the RTO component of Berry Street has been brought further in towards the centre of consideration, strategic planning, and the culture of Berry Street.

The theme of development of a language for discussion of VET was also an important outcome for this project. Jenny commented in interview:

The language of VET is quite inaccessible, and the project has introduced much of this language and its meanings into our organisation, and into our conversations. This means that people have new concepts and understandings, and can see new service possibilities.

The project outcomes focused on three groups of clients – the young people served by the RTO; the Berry Street staff; and the community services sector more broadly.

For young people there have been very signifi cant productivity and participation outcomes, with an increase from two to twenty young people enrolled in accredited VET programs; the commencement of eight young Indigenous students in Gippsland, and the expansion of scope of registration to include the CGEA. Plans are in place to introduce VET in Schools studies at the Noble Park school site. These are important changes for staff as well, since training was earlier only run out of the Shepparton site, but is now more embedded across other sites run by Berry Street Victoria. For the community services sector more broadly the RTO at Shepparton is now conducting the Certifi cate III in Community Services Protective Care.

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21 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Effectively Supporting Remote Trainers

6. Effectively Supporting Remote Trainers 11

Sponsor: Wide Bay Institute of TAFE, QueenslandProject Convenor: Anne Carlin, Program Director

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesWide Bay Institute of TAFE (WBIT) delivers training in a number of locations across Australia, to a variety of different corporate clients. This is an increasing line of business and has been attended by an increasing number of teachers and trainers being employed remote from WBIT to deliver these programs. These teachers and trainers are also remote from the support and other services offered by WBIT.

Additionally, an increasing number of the people who work with WBIT as industry trainers and assessors are part time or casual workers, or contractors, typically working independently from the WBIT.

The need for this Reframing the Future project is to assist WBIT to adapt and develop existing policies and procedures to recognise these changes in the workforce, and to be able to support the individuals involved. Quality procedures will be an outcome of the project to meet operational needs and AQTF requirements.

Program Directors will have, through the project, developed their skills and strategies needed to manage and support this widely geographically dispersed workforce through enhanced communication strategies; and organisational culture will be modifi ed to be more effectively inclusive of remote workers, and to provide among those workers a greater sense of belonging with WBIT.

Project Methodology and Outcomes AchievedAnne Carlin, project convenor, told us that:

The project is loosely based on the Cummings and Worley model, having identifi able components of creating readiness for change; creating a vision and articulating the need for change; developing political support for change; managing the transition; and sustaining momentum.

In quite specifi c terms, the project methodology was designed to identify and adapt WBIT policies and procedures to suit the needs of remote staff; to develop structured communication processes to provide more effective information and knowledge to them in a timely fashion; and through professional development provide the remote staff with needed tools, knowledge, and strategies.

The activities of the project involved fi rst a survey of remote personnel to identify their needs and state of professional ‘health and well being’ during the project and at its completion.

A three-day workshop also brought the group together to help develop the identifi ed skills and knowledge, and to enable the formation of effective networks with other WBIT staff relevant to each of them. The vision for the project was communicated consistently by Program Directors leading up to the face-to-face three-day conference held in October. All aspects of the Agenda for the conference were designed to share the vision and empower the participants to engage and embrace the vision. More trusting relationships between the remote delivery staff and their managers were developed though the conference.

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The project also provided each person with an email address that would provide them with the same information connectedness as other WBIT staff and a communication hub that would enable communication between the members of the group and other WBIT staff and management. Induction procedures and electronic access to all forms was planned, along with professional development to assist teaching skills development. During the project remote delivery staff identifi ed whether they felt they would benefi t from having a mentor and where appropriate they were provided with mentors.

When it came to operationalising the project, the project convenor ultimately felt that Kotter’s model was more appropriate in the context, and was able to follow that model successfully, implementing all eight steps.

The Reframing the Future project has resulted in increased expertise and support of remote delivery staff that will ensure the delivery of training to clients across Australia will be more fl exible and more readily meet their needs. Supporting the performance of the remotely based instructors, Program Directors, who are the managers of delivery staff, have developed skills and strategies to manage a widely dispersed workforce through enhanced communication strategies. This is evidenced by each of the Directors having defi nite procedures in place, including attendance at WBIT of remote staff once a year to meet, and to attend the WBIT Annual Teaching and Learning Conference. That outcome has been sustained into 2008 with attendance of remote trainers at the January conference.

The enhancement to workforce productivity here is clear in intent and, in 2008, has been evaluated in terms of quality output and greater effi ciencies in the design and delivery of remote programs. Greater effi ciencies have been achieved as an outcome of the project, with an increase in the Student Contact Hours

benchmarks achieved by trainers. This result has had some challenge to it more recently with a change in training policy of a major client. However, the change management processes developed through the 2007 Reframing the Future project will be used to develop effective responses to that client’s policy changes.

A goal of the project was to also ensure the training delivery met not only the needs of clients and students but also the quality standards of the AQTF 2007 and the concept of continuous improvement. The capacity of remote delivery staff to understand the AQTF 2007 and its requirements and to participate actively in the Institute’s implementation of new training packages in their industries was enhanced though the project.

Existing policies and procedures have been adapted to meet the needs of the changing workforce. Operational staff are empowered to seek workable solutions to the problems of external delivery staff through a greater understanding of their concerns and issues. Quality procedures have been developed to meet the dispersed workforce needs and AQTF requirements. New sign-up packs have been developed for students, along with revised student evaluation forms that more effectively refl ect the issues and experiences of students who have been learning at the locations remote from WBIT. For the remote trainers, there have been enhancements to the WBIT learning management system that enable them to access the same resources and information systems as any member of staff internal to WBIT.

WBIT’s responsiveness to current and emerging skill needs and workforce development requirements is enhanced. Enterprises using WBIT as a training resource have commented favourably on the enhanced delivery methods, learning guides, and assessment tools.

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In speaking about the impact on workforce development and client productivity outcomes, Anne Carlin said:

Signifi cant relationships with Industry have been established and maintained to ensure that their needs are met and that they are explicitly involved in the development, delivery, and assessment of training. This co-confi guration of training indicates a much greater likelihood that the training outcomes are of greatest relevance to workplace needs. The evidence so far indicates that clients are fi nding this to be so.

As a consequence of the Reframing the Future project, individual managers have been empowered to manage remote trainers in a way that would ensure the capacity of the organisation to deliver training to meet the requirements of the AQTF 2007 and Industry clients. Managers feel better able to manage teams that are remote from the Institute. Additionally, Institute changes to processes and procedures to meet the needs of remote trainers have meant that remote delivery staff are feeling more valued and accepted and this has had a positive effect on the capacity of the managers to interact with and manage the teams effectively. Other managers, whose areas impacted on the delivery and administration of training by remote trainers, became involved in the project to support remote trainers in their delivery of quality training and assessment and in undertaking the administrative processes required to comply with the AQTF. Accordingly, managers of non-delivery areas understand the importance and signifi cance of the role that remote delivery staff play in achieving the Institute’s strategic and business goals.

There are a number of strategies being implemented to keep the change moving. The most signifi cant relate to changed Institute management and administrative processes. A staff member has been designated, on a part time basis, to specifi cally manage the communication processes with the largest Vocational Training Area (Retail) group of remote and local trainers. That person also manages the online communication hub that has been developed as part of the project. That staff member will also be responsible for managing the process to continue to build the capacity of this Vocational Training Area delivery staff through professional development activities that will enhance their delivery strategies and their assessment tools and practices. This has been welcomed both by managers and Vocational Training Area staff.

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24 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Entrepreneurialism, Innovation and the ‘Agile’ Structure

7. Entrepreneurialism, Innovation and the ‘Agile’ Structure 11

Sponsor: BRACE Education Training and Employment, VictoriaProject Convenor: Dorothy Lucardie, Executive Manager, BRACE

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesThis project was partly in response to the development of strategic directions by the BRACE Board of Directors. Those strategic directions indicated a need to develop a better customer service delivery focus through development of a culture of entrepreneurship among the Board and BRACE staff. That entrepreneurship would be expressed through characteristics of customer focus, demand driven products and services, and with a focus on outcomes that meet the needs of clients and other stakeholders.

BRACE is the second largest education and training provider in Ballarat after the University of Ballarat, and also provides employment services and support of the NEIS scheme. Services are provided throughout western Victoria, and NEIS support is also provided into South Australia. There are 48 qualifi cations provided in the BRACE scope, from across a range of industry sectors. Clients include adults returning to study with a view to seeking employment, learners involved with the Ballarat Learning Community. Learners in these two categories of client typically have some barriers caused through different forms of educational disadvantage. A third set of clients are business and industry, where BRACE pursues a ‘whole of business’ approach that provides recruitment and training, with delivery modes suitable to the business.

Outcomes anticipated from the project included structural and cultural change and improved client focus. In specifi c terms, for project participants this would mean the development of the skills needed to implement sustainable

cultural change, including heightened skills in strategic planning and change management.

For BRACE the specifi c anticipated outcomes included the investigation and development of new business opportunities, an understanding of the competitive difference that characterises BRACE in the Ballarat area, and an enthusiasm among staff for change and new opportunity. A further anticipated outcome for staff was to develop a confi dence that risk taking is acceptable and that safety nets are in place to support risk taking.

For clients the anticipated outcomes were client-focused delivery of programs, and outcomes that meet client needs as a consequence of program participation.

Program Methodology and Actual OutcomesSome work was done by the BRACE Executive Manager, Dorothy Lucardie, prior to the project to prepare people for it. Each individual manager was interviewed to elicit and discuss that person’s vision for BRACE, and these were collated for similarity and for differences that would be generative of a diversity in discussion, planning and eventual response. From there, the program was built around workshops for management and coordinator staff to develop skills in strategic thinking and planning. The workshops were conducted by outside speakers and facilitators. Action learning was also planned with the refl ective cycle built in strongly to process new learning and develop that new learning to different outcomes. A further method involved the identifi cation and development of a change management model that would work effectively within the BRACE environment. Dorothy Lucardie commented that:

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…the fi rst speaker was absolutely crucial, and inspired the managers to become involved and to engage with the project in a sustained way. And once we moved from the entrepreneurial focus to the focus on innovation staff were enthusiastic to be involved too.

Early in the project it emerged that the development of an innovative culture was going to be a more fruitful pursuit than the originally planned entrepreneurial culture. The move towards innovation was the result of a sense that this would be a more effective way to develop actual mechanisms that would provide a context for new ideas to be trialled and implemented within a risk management framework. Innovation was also seen to be a more participative activity than entrepreneurialism, with participation including Board members as well as staff working together. The developing culture also emphasised communication to facilitate the fl ow of ideas within the organisation, and their discussion and evaluation. The project has been successful in the development of cultural changes that focused on innovation, participation, and communication.

An interesting concept developed at BRACE through the project is that of an ‘agile’ structure – a structure that facilitated new experiences and allowed for rapid response to a changing external environment. This agile structure was underpinned by an analysis of tasks and skills throughout the BRACE workforce, and the strategic multiskilling of staff that would enable fl exibility in the deployment of personnel and skill to different priorities and requirements as these changed. Part of this multiskilling strategy involved departmental managers working together to identify linkages and other synergies across functional areas that would enable change and value adding to products and services for customers. An example of this in action was provided in an interview with the Executive Manager of BRACE, Dorothy Lucardie, when she said:

Right at the moment there are some proposed changes to employment services, and the government paper is out now for discussion. Prior to our Reframing the Future project our managers would have most likely seen this as yet another rather inconvenient change to be engaged with and implemented. But I was delighted that the outcomes of our project were very obvious to me when the reaction to the proposals was one of seeing opportunities in them and looking forward to implementing them to the advantage of BRACE and its clients.

As planned, the project developed a model of change management by starting with the Cummings and Worley (1997) model to create a readiness to change, developing a shared vision and staff support; and then used the ideas of developmental transitions drawn from Mitchell and Young (2001). What is important here is the capacity within BRACE and the project convenor and participants to draw eclectically from models developed in the literature to yield a ‘home grown’ combinatory model that met the organisation’s specifi c needs for sustainable change within a particular environment.

BRACE is of the view that the project has developed internal capability among staff through greater organisational responsiveness to clients as evidenced by greater fl exibility in meeting client needs, in delivery practices and industry liaison. Internal processes have also become more participative in terms of planning, discussion of progress towards goals, and the encouragement of new ideas. The stronger and broader participation in the development of strategic goals, together with broader discussion of progress has yielded better monitoring of processes and their effectiveness, and greater capacity to make modifi cations on a basis of shared understanding of client needs and the ways in which BRACE is meeting these.

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Outcomes for management personnel included the development of opportunities and mechanisms for people to identify and share common problems, the value of refl ection and shared effort, and confi dence in managing change through the development of the skills required to do that. Management capacity to respond across the spectrum of clients has also been enhanced as a result of processes put in place during the project.

For BRACE as an organisation there has been success in developing skills for sustainable change in culture, increased motivation and sense of purpose among staff, and an identifi able ‘ideas incubator’ that nurtures new ideas and fosters innovation. The ideas incubator works by encouraging people to submit any idea to the Executive Manager who then places the idea for discussion among managers, without reference to the proponent’s name. A manager is then identifi ed to look at the broader advantages of the idea and bring that back to the management group. If the idea is still seen as valuable a closer study of actual implementation is made.

BRACE’s policy is that

…an idea never goes off the table.

Ideas are recycled and re-investigated at different times since, although perhaps not implemented at one time, may be at another. Related to this is the observation made by the project participants that they have created a language to support and encourage ideas and facilitate their discussion, rather than a language that suppresses them.

Measures of sustainable outcomes include the establishment of the ideas incubator as part of the key business activities adopted by the Board of Management at the conclusion of the project in 2007; the inclusion of innovation in Board and CEO business plans for 2008-2010; a climate survey among staff that shows increased communication and improved scores on customer evaluation forms, with an expected increase in client participation.

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27 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Building an Indigenous Training Network

8. Building an Indigenous Training Network 11

Sponsor: Jobs Australia, nationalProject Facilitator: Dennis Batty, Business Development and Training Coordinator

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesJobs Australia is the peak body for not for profi t employment services organisations and RTOs.

Changes to government policy have created new challenges for the ways RTOs engage with Indigenous clients and the ways in which Indigenous RTOs will need to operate. Policy and program changes that impact most substantially are those relating to regional councils, shared responsibility agreements, community development employment programs, structured training and employment programs, skills vouchers, working with diversity, and the AQTF 2007.

An important change driving this project was that many Indigenous organisations were CDP funded and, with the removal of that funding, there was an urgent need for these organisations to become economically sustainable.

In response to these substantial impacts, this Reframing the Future project was designed to bring together Indigenous organisations delivering non-accredited training, short courses, or VET to develop strategies to best manage these changes, and to develop a common framework for these organisations to manage ongoing change going forward. A central goal of this project was to develop a greater awareness of the need for fl exible change management strategies to enable effi cient and effective meeting of government policy requirements, and to improve service delivery to clients. This goal will be served well by the establishment of new

networks and partnerships among organisations that deliver VET to support the implementation of change management, improvement of client outcomes, and to increase funding opportunities.

Anticipated outcomes, in more specifi c terms, included structural and cultural modifi cations in the participating organisations that will better support change and attitudes to change; a more fl exible and open approach to fl exible change management; better client outcomes; better funding opportunities; and increased participation in VET by Indigenous clients.

Project Methodology and Outcomes AchievedThe project was developed around a modifi ed Kotter (1995, 2002) model. Three stages were identifi ed as forming a framework and guidance for the project. Stage 1 involved establishing a sense of urgency about the need for change, the development of a shared vision, and development of empowerment required for action. Stage 2 involved the communication of change and the generation of some short term wins. Within this stage there was an exploration of several change management models with a view to identifying and selecting one, or developing an eclectic approach that would draw on these models and be more contextually based. The fi nal Stage of the project was the development of a guiding network and embedding change within the culture of that network.

These Stages were supported by two workshops – one based in Darwin and one in Broome. These two locations were chosen since they have the largest collections of sustainable Indigenous enterprises. The Darwin workshop was focused towards Indigenous organisations aspiring to become RTOs, or to partner with existing RTOs, but for which training had not previously been part of their service delivery profi le.

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The Broome workshop was targeted at existing VET providers who needed to change and adjust the way they engage with Indigenous clients to achieve outcomes and source funding for programs.

Project convenor Dennis Batty told us in interview:

The modifi ed Kotter model worked well enough throughout the project. What worked particularly well was the fl exibility to be able to move back to Stage one and re-establish a vision and strategic goals after we had explored a variety of change management models at stage two and created a common understanding of how participating organisations were leaving change management to government rather than implementing strategies themselves. This meant that progress through the model was slower but provided greater opportunities for exploration and eventual ownership of strategies by the participants.

This project has been successful in developing cultural and structural change, and has also been able to develop some very detailed plans for the way the project outcomes can be administered. The Indigenous Training Network required membership organisations to be Indigenous, and to be directly delivering training to Indigenous clients. The network has been agreed upon as an outcome of the project, and the structure and culture developed as a result of feedback from the project workshops. The culture of Indigenous networks is different and works very much more on a basis of the development of trust.

Dennis Batty told us that

Network membership will be free of charge to any Indigenous RTO, Indigenous organisations partnering to deliver VET or any Indigenous community developing or undertaking a strategic programmed approach to VET delivery within their community. Jobs Australia has already, as a result of the project, recruited an Indigenous staff member to facilitate this network, and will be recruiting a second one.

A major outcome of the Reframing the Future project has been the considerably enhanced responsiveness of Jobs Australia to the changing needs of its membership, and considerably enhanced understanding of their needs if they are to service clients in the improved ways envisaged by the project. Importantly there is the enhanced understanding of the ways in which Indigenous networks build and operate, and can be sustained.

In commenting on the central role of Jobs Australia in the development and support of the network, Dennis Batty said:

The major strategic focus for Jobs Australia itself, as distinct from the participant organisations in this project, is to provide leadership to these organisations in developing a network, recruiting and training highly competent staff, developing awareness of the unique needs of Indigenous Australians within the wider VET community, and representing the views and needs of Indigenous VET providers to government and the requirements of government to these organisations.

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As part of the development and sustained support of this network, Jobs Australia has committed to the delivery of seven fully funded TAA40104 Certifi cate IV in Training and Assessment courses to managers and personnel of Indigenous training organisations; to Indigenous organisations delivering VET under partnering arrangements with RTO’s; and to Indigenous community members working with RTOs or TAFE to develop training plans and strategies for their community. These courses will be delivered across Australia to Indigenous Training Network members, commencing in August 2008.

As another project outcome, Jobs Australia has committed to conducting fourteen fully funded professional development workshops for Indigenous Training Network members across Australia throughout 2008. These workshops will cover areas including AQTF compliance, recruiting staff, developing and validating assessment tools, tender and report writing, and change management. The expectations developed from the project have been exceeded with fi fteen such workshops having already been conducted in 2008 up to May, with more planned for the remainder of the year.

Jobs Australia also committed to conducting fourteen fully funded Indigenous Training Network meetings across Australia during 2008 to ensure members are able to meet face-to-face and continue to discuss issues that are current and relevant to Indigenous organisations involved in VET. As with the professional development the targets from the Reframing the Future project have already been exceeded in 2008, with excellent attendances at the meetings (e.g. 30 attended in Perth, while the meeting conducted in Adelaide drew people from as far afi eld as Ceduna).

The network information needs will also be serviced through Jobs Australia which, as a national RTO, is able to disseminate up-to-date information, assist network

members to be compliant with the relevant legislation and familiar with COAG priorities and aims. The network includes several large successful Indigenous RTO’s (including two operating nationally) which share resources (including experienced Indigenous trainers and managers) and offer partnering to smaller Indigenous RTO’s, Indigenous organisations and communities.

Dennis told us in interview that:

Current planning is to develop some regionalised ‘hubs’ where a large local Indigenous RTO will mentor the development of smaller organisations in their area. The fi rst of these is developing in south-west WA, with the expectation more will develop in the near future. For example, one is being planned right now for Broome.

Membership of the ‘Indigenous Training Network’ will also include membership of Jobs Australia’s ‘Australian Training Network’ (ATN) with 100 members Australia wide and access to all of the resources, members meetings and professional development offered to ATN members.

Jobs Australia will offer an accredited course in ‘Mentoring Indigenous Trainees’ to all members on a fee for service basis during 2008. This course focuses on strategies for the retention of Indigenous participants in VET. Jobs Australia is offering this course in conjunction with ‘Indigenous Success Australia’ an Indigenous RTO and the course copyright owner. Jobs Australia National Conference (attended by 400 member organisations) presented a high level of Indigenous content to members exposing many to the unique problems facing Indigenous clients for the fi rst time.

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Major benefi ts from the project, as identifi ed in a survey of participants was the enormous exposure to a variety of Indigenous enterprises and developing an understanding of them; developing and embracing an understanding and commitment to change management models that could be modifi ed for circumstance; and a recognition that change to improve client outcomes could and should come from the Indigenous organisations and the network rather than to be commanded by government.

Dennis was impressed by the result of the Reframing the Future project:

Many of these organisations had never been exposed to change management, and it opened their eyes to the fact that they can manage change and its impact on their business, their staff and their clients. Before the project some of them had no idea you could do that, and without the project some of them would no longer be in existence. In workforce productivity and participation terms this has been an outstanding success in this project.

Jobs Australia particularly valued the fact that the project provided a greater understanding of the unique problems facing Indigenous VET providers; an opportunity to facilitate a network that will enable Indigenous VET providers to more effectively develop strategies to manage their unique challenges and a greater involvement with Indigenous organisations for the development and delivery of resources designed to meet the unique needs of Indigenous clients.

The project has been successful in implementing and sustaining the structural and cultural changes, and the essential underpinning network. Additionally, in terms of workforce participation and human capital formation, there is evidence of improving outcomes for Indigenous clients and increasing their participation in VET, as evidenced by data from the Australian Training Network. Additionally, there is plenty of evidence that funding opportunities for participating organisations have been enhanced with a better uptake of public training contracts by Indigenous organisations, particularly at this stage in WA and the NT.

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31 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Change to Better Support Apprenticeship Training

9. Change to Better Support Apprenticeship Training 11

Sponsor: TAFE NSW – Riverina Institute, Tumut CampusProject Convenor: Mark Grove, Institute Business Strategist and Head of Tumut Campus

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesWith nineteen campuses of different sizes, the TAFE NSW – Riverina Institute services an area of south-western NSW that extends from Coomealla in the far west to Tumut at the base of the Snowy Mountains in the east and as far as Young in the north.

This project was designed to facilitate change in the Institute that would enable it to respond more effectively to a changing VET environment, to current requirements in traineeships and apprenticeships, to more effectively align with COAG directions in the national reform agenda, and to the consequent directions set by the Institute to support those reforms.

More specifi cally the project was planned to focus on cultural change required among teaching staff to respond to industry needs through fl exibility in delivery, competency based traineeship/apprenticeship completion (rather than time-based), relevant and responsive learning materials development, and AQTF contractual and compliance requirements. The project also sought to create a sense of urgency for change among teaching staff.

The outcomes sought by the project included development of teaching staff capacity to manage change in a dynamic environment; development of capacity of staff to deliver enhanced models of workplace learning; develop greater understanding of industry requirements in terms of training outcomes, delivery

format, and assessment. Also sought through the project was better intelligence on specifi c areas of demand in traineeships within the Institute’s service area. The 2007 Reframing the Future project was able to build on the 2006 project, which had focused on developing a better understanding of workplace delivery across Institute staff, including non-teaching personnel. The project convenor, Mark Groves has a strong belief that:

Awareness precedes change, and credibility comes from a teacher who has done it talking to one who is yet to do it.

It was important in the project that better and more effective relationships were formed between Riverina Institute staff and the Australian Apprenticeship Centres, both at teacher and manager levels. The Australian Apprenticeship Centres are the source of traineeship and apprenticeship business for the Institute, such that the relationship is important in sourcing the work and carrying out the work satisfactorily. Part of the project involved the development of these three-way relationships between the Institute, and AAC and an enterprise requiring training work to be undertaken in the workplace.

Project Methodology and Outcomes AchievedThe project was designed to focus on change management in particular, since the Institute had already well developed strategic and business planning processes. However, there has been some reluctance on the part of all staff to embrace the changes required as outcomes of those planning processes.

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The theoretical model underpinning the planning for this project was Golsby-Smith’s (2005) steps for strategic conversations. Ten meetings with stakeholder groups were planned to assist in gaining better understanding of stakeholder needs and to build better relationships. There was an ambitious list of stakeholders, including Australian Apprenticeship Centres (5), employer/industry groups (10), teaching staff (5), commercial business and administrative staff (10) and a planned 60 participants in a fi nal project forum.

The meetings with stakeholder groups formed an environmental scan of areas of traineeship demand. A further strategy in the methodology was the provision of professional development opportunities for teaching staff to visit other providers to share ideas, and to report back to a wider Institute community at a fi nal forum for the project. The showcasing of innovative delivery strategies from forum participants was also planned.

The project was based around the use of selected steps from Kotter’s (1995, 2002) eight step process for change (communicating the vision, planning for and creating short term wins, consolidating improvements and maintaining the momentum, and institutionalising the new approaches) along with two of the strategic change activities described by Cummings and Worley (1997) (managing transition from current to desired state; sustaining momentum to completion). This was an ambitious project with an ambitious and well developed eclectic underpinning rationale.

The project was timely with regards to the principles established in Skilling Australia because it specifi cally addressed the need for workplace delivery, which is one of the solutions to providing fl exible and accelerated delivery of Australian Apprenticeships. In a time of diminishing resources it also investigated

how delivery costs can be partly shifted to industry, as well as demonstrating how experienced workers can be given recognition for new qualifi cations that are being created to cover industries where workers have not had access to AQF qualifi cations.

Some of the culture shift sought through the project was achieved through the opportunity to engage non-educational employees from Institute service divisions in the delivery projects such that they developed a strong understanding and sense of involvement in the needs of a more fl exible approach to the implementation of operational policies and procedures.

Part of the project involved Institute people talking to several large enterprises that were not their clients on the issue of how the Institute was perceived, and what had stopped the enterprise from becoming a client. Interestingly, this part of the project revealed to Mark Grove that:

They thought the TAFE was that place that students go to, rather than as an organisation that would come to them.

Mark Grove also reports that:

For those directly engaged in this project it has demonstrated that there are already many pockets of best practice within our organisation. The project enabled participants to see how these delivery systems function in practice both at the teacher-student and enterprise level, as well as providing networking opportunities and the chance to establish communications with people who could act as a future resource for help and advice.

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The fi nal project forum attracted participation from 73 people, including Institute staff, people from a local university provider, from Australian Apprenticeship Centres and from employers. The forum was an essential showcasing by teaching staff of the work they had been able to do in workplaces. In a highly distributed rural RTO this had the added importance of affording an opportunity for people who are geographically a long way apart to come together to showcase, share, and discuss experiences and learnings.

The project, and its inclusion of other stakeholders such as the Australian Apprenticeship Centres, resulted in Institute staff being challenged in the views they had developed about appropriate delivery to those clients and the ways in which fl exible delivery and workplace learning could enhance client learning experiences and outcomes. Although no restructuring occurred at the Institute as a consequence of the project, there has been a resultant move towards the concentration of certain qualifi cations into different Centres to gain effi ciencies in delivery and in costs.

The project did not fi nd the Cummings and Worley (1997) or the Kotter (1995, 2002) theoretical models particularly useful in practice. Instead, it drew most on the Golsby-Smith (2005) strategic conversations model since it was useful in identifying and framing questions relevant to identifying the needs of clients in training formats and delivery. In turn, being able to identify the needs of client groups involved in the project and to offer ‘tangible benefi t to their business through participation in the project’ was extremely useful in securing and maintaining their involvement in the project.

Specifi c operational outcomes of the project were reported. They were:

Provision of a wider range of qualifi cations

• A better understanding of the service delivery needs of Australian Apprenticeship Centres as a key partner

• Improved understanding of the workplace training needs of employers

• Direct feedback from employers about the quality of our existing services, as required under AQTF 2007

• Sharing fl exible delivery strategies between teachers with the intention of applying them more widely to new and existing qualifi cations

• Improved knowledge about the strategies our competitors (both public and private) are using to improve their market share

• Improved understanding about the ways that recognition can be incorporated into workplace delivered qualifi cations

Other outcomes that were identifi ed for management personnel related to development of skills in change management, improved relationships with internal and external stakeholders, and the opportunity to develop a strategic approach to the servicing of Australian Apprenticeship Centres. The Institute also contributed through the project by showcasing examples of best practice that enhanced reputation, identifying practices in other RTOs that could be usefully employed and an incentive to discussions of future capability building.

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Finally, the Reframing the Future project allowed the Institute management to crystallise its thinking and policy expectations around the funding of on-campus delivery and fl exible workplace delivery. These delivery methods are funded differently in NSW, with on-campus funding being higher, and yet there are no costs of travel to workplaces as there are in the fl exible workplace delivery model – something that really matters in a widely distributed region such as the Riverina. Through TAFE NSW the Institute was able to make a clear submission to government on this, and in 2009 both delivery methods will be funded at the same higher rate. As Mark Grove says:

We don’t claim that it was only the Reframing the Future project or our submission that made all this happen, but we do think that the project enabled us to contribute to a very coherent and evidence-based submission on delivery method funding differentials that, along with other inputs, we believe had an effect on decision making.

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35 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Change Supporting the Screen Industries

10. Change Supporting the Screen Industries 11

Sponsor: Film and Television Institute of Western AustraliaProject Facilitator: Graeme Watson, Professional Development and Training Manager

Project Aims and Planned OutcomesProfessional workers in the West Australian screen industry generally do not hold formal qualifi cations and place little value on such qualifi cations. That results in challenges to the employment and the valuing of new graduates who have completed qualifi cations through the national training system.

As a closely related matter, the opportunities for RPL have been very limited, and this project aimed to improve the availability and uptake of RPL through the Film and Television Institute (FTI) and other appropriate RTOs. That would be expected to lead to greater involvement in, and understanding of, the national training system and an improved environment for new FTI graduates, and better understanding of the different levels of qualifi cations.

Specifi c outcomes anticipated from this project included the development of a better understanding across the screen industry in WA of RPL, its processes and its benefi ts, and greater understanding of the benefi ts of participation in the national training system. As a result the industry will develop an improved appreciation of new graduates, their skills and knowledge, and the processes they have completed; and an anticipated increase in the level of RPL being used over a 6 to 18 month period following the project.

Underpinning these specifi c anticipated outcomes, a crucial part of the project was the development among FTI staff of skills in change management processes, building on a previous recent successful strategic planning process that has developed FTI staff as ‘change ready’.

Project Methodology and Outcomes AchievedThis project was ambitious and wide reaching across the screen industry throughout WA. Three organisations partnered for the project – FTI, Central TAFE, and the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney. Accordingly, the methodology is ambitious and complex and involved several phases and strategies. An appreciative inquiry model was used to guide the project, conceptualising the stages as discover, dream, design, deliver and sustain.

A Working Group was set up across staff of the FTI to facilitate the process, and including other stakeholders from training providers, employers, industry groups and previous FTI clients. Seminars and online opportunities were conducted to enable all stakeholder groups to contribute. There was systematic regular inclusion of the project processes and change management in FTI meetings and consultative processes, together with updates on the project and its outcomes to industry-wide organisations such as the Australian Film Commission. Also planned was the possibility of an internet based education program to improve general understanding of RPL and VET. The use of a facilitator familiar with the industry throughout the project assisted in maintaining focus and progress at a reasonable pace against schedule.

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Appreciative Inquiry worked well as an underpinning model for strategic planning and change, enabling the identifi cation and exposure of the reasoning that underlies long held views in the industry and, more specifi cally, areas where RPL pathways would be most useful and sustainable. The inclusivity of the Appreciative Inquiry model also worked well, giving voice to each of the groups and stakeholders involved, and to the individuals within those groups. The model also worked well in terms of the speed with which changes and their underlying drivers could be revealed and worked on since, as the team observed, speed is crucial if responsiveness is to be provided. The team felt that the Appreciative Inquiry model was not at its best in facilitating the delivery of outcomes and that some strengthening of the model is required to provide more reliable outcomes.

The project developed and maintained a strong focus on industry clients who would benefi t directly from improved understandings of, and participation in, RPL processes; and indirectly as others came to better understand and appreciate the value of the national training system. Team members also suggested other business approaches that may open new markets and client groups for RPL. Feedback from other stakeholders that an FTI strength has always been recognised as responsiveness to new ideas and change encouraged staff to not only embrace change but to look for opportunities for change.

The strategy for developing more RPL business in 2008 will see the RTO providing for a more diverse range of clients, with more fl exible delivery options and will see an increase in workforce participation and human capital formation as more clients progress from low level qualifi cations to Diploma and Advanced Diploma level qualifi cations. As it has turned out in 2008, the RPL implementation as envisaged has changed due to a new Screen and Media Training Package. However, the implementation of the new package at FTI now embraces RPL in a way that

wouldn’t have happened prior to the project. Further evidence of project outcomes has been in the way that client organisations now approach FTI, with a stronger understanding of the possible services that the RTO can provide, including RPL services. These approaches from industry have increased enormously from 2007 to 2008, and project convenor Graeme Watson suggested in interview that;

This increase in the enquiries, which I believe is around tenfold on last year, we believe come from a combination of factors. First, there were relationships and understandings built up during the project last year, there is a stronger understanding of what we at FTI can do for clients, and there has developed a more common language between us that facilitates these enquiries and our understanding of them. Additionally, some of the increase will be due to economic growth in WA as well.

RPL services are now recognised by the FTI as an identifi able line of business.

The project has had signifi cant impact on FTI workforce productivity by introducing some different ways of organising staff in project groups rather than by departments. Another major effi ciency and encouragement to participate in training has been directly associated with the increase in RPL profi le and accessibility. From an internal FTI staff capability viewpoint though, the project convenor believes that probably the most important change has been in the ways that communication between staff themselves, and between staff and other stakeholders, has developed further as a result of the project.

External to FTI, client productivity and human capital development has also increased through the imaginative use of services. One example here, according to Graeme Watson is:

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Some enterprises we serve now want staff to develop camera skills. An interesting application here is that of a mining company which now fi lms equipment breakdown and sends the fi lm to urban based experts for fault diagnosis and advice on repair. But it’s not just these clients – there has been a multiplication of the benefi ts of the project through the sharing of ideas between the three partners, and also as we talk about those ideas more broadly in the industry.

There were identifi able benefi ts for FTI managers as outcomes of the project in that there developed a stronger appreciation that a clearer understanding of theoretical frameworks allows for better project planning; and since the project included three otherwise competing RTOs, there was positive opportunity for collaboration and the sharing of ideas. Finally, the project provided an opportunity for management staff to test and modify the assumptions and beliefs about the client groups served by the RTOs.

More broadly for the three participating RTOs, the project provided opportunity to identify and understand future business opportunities and select markets; and developed a strong understanding among staff and management that staff within the RTO are the most equipped and experienced to manage change. Finally, the project provided an opportunity for all team members to engage with strategic planning, and to recognise and value how their individual contribution leads to the success of the greater organisation.

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38 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Responsive Library Services

11. Responsive Library Services 11

Sponsor: TAFE Queensland Strategic Library and Information Collaborative Committee (SLICC)Project Convenor: Carolyn Collins, Gold Coast Institute of TAFE

Project AimsThis project was a partnership between the TAFE Queensland Strategic Library and Information Collaborative Committee (SLICC) and the Professional Practices Unit in TAFE Queensland. SLICC is the committee formed of each of the library managers from the Institutes of TAFE throughout Queensland, The project focus was the change management skills of the library managers in the eleven individual TAFE institutes.

The project gave opportunity to TAFE Queensland Library Managers to develop the skills required to create and implement new strategic directions to meet the changing TAFE teaching and learner engagement models from those traditionally pursued towards an increasing emphasis on blended and distributed delivery. These latter forms of teaching and learning form a signifi cant part of the Queensland Skills Plan released in March 2006.

The outcomes anticipated for the project were to increase the capacity of SLICC and individual library managers to manage the necessary changes for the library and information services to support new ways of teaching and learning; to increase the SLICC client focus and the fl exibility of access to the library and information services and products for all learners; and the development across TAFE Queensland libraries of a management model that supports a high-performing VET system.

Carolyn Collins, the project convenor, described some of the expected management outcomes as:

In specifi c terms the project aimed to develop a change and transition plan for SLICC with each manager developing their own personal plan within the broader transitional plan; to develop a sustainable operational structure for TAFE Queensland libraries, including support and implementation strategies.

Project Methodology and Outcomes AchievedThe project had a number of theoretical bases, with each being targeted towards a different component of the project. The change management model developed by Bridges (2003) was used to develop greater understanding among participants in transition through change. That model assists people through three states of change – the current position we are in now; developing the transition strategies and arrangements; and visioning the future outcomes.

Kotter’s 8 Step Model was used to frame the self-evaluation and group evaluation. The model was embraced by a number of participants as a useful checklist to work with, and as an acknowledgment that change is seldom as structured as the model might suppose.

Also useful to the project was Margaret Wheatley’s writing on organisations as living ecosystems. The relevance of thinking about organisations as ecosystems was not lost on participants, with one of them commenting on:

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SLICC’s apparent intolerance of “messiness” around the edges as we work to better position ourselves as a leadership group. We are all having our separate leadership experiences whilst simultaneously trying to work within the change processes enveloping the SLICC group as a whole and … at other levels in TAFE Queensland.

The project activities included a combination of action learning, coaching and refl ective practice – facilitated throughout the project by an external change management consultant. Through three workshops conducted by the external facilitator a change and transition plan was developed for SLICC and a personal plan for each manager. These plans formed part of the process as well as part of the outcomes. A self-evaluation tool was developed in the fi rst workshop and then used by each participant to evaluate the learning they undertook during the course of the project. Telephone coaching was also provided to each manager by the external facilitator between the face-to-face workshops. During the course of the project feedback on its progress was sought from key stakeholders in TAFE Queensland, such as senior management in the IT and Product Services Group, and the Educational Director in each Institute across the State.

The project had some signifi cant outcomes in the development of a culture that will be more responsive to the needs of the national training system and the Queensland Skills Plan. This culture change manifested itself in several different ways. First, it is evident that there has been a shift among library managers such that there is a greater preparedness to looking outwards from the confi nes of a library and its immediate business and operations, towards greater consultation with strategic groups and individuals external to SLICC. The SLICC has drawn up a Terms of Reference for their group, developed an operational plan, and a shared services model, and post-Reframing the Future project the group has

been implementing these. One of SLICC’s aims is to have the group recognised and embedded in the policy and planning fabric of TAFEQ. The drafts have been accepted by the Education Directors Group and provided to the Educational Leaders Group (the group of TAFE Institute Directors). The Leaders Group has asked SLICC to become involved in the development of the Queensland Learning Services model, but recognition of the group’s status is still, as Carolyn Collins said ‘a work in progress’.

Carolyn went on to say:

This Reframing project was brilliant as a catalyst. The objective was to have us poised and ready on the springboard. It set us up with the skill set and the confi dence so that after the project we have been able to develop some detailed plans in line with delivering the Queensland Skills Plan. We are implementing a more effi cient and responsive library and information service.

The greater willingness for consultation between the library and other policy and operational groups within TAFEQ (such as the Teaching and Learning Network, the Educational Directors Group and the Educational Leaders Group) has resulted in greater capacity for the libraries to plan and prepare themselves to serve and support a clientele more likely to be learning through blended and distributed delivery methods. This is consistent with what is likely to emerge from the Learning Services Model.

There was also evidence in the project that library managers were now more likely to include larger sections of library staff in planning the wider Learning, Libraries and Resources Network across Queensland through the formation of working groups with membership drawn from across the network. At a colleague-to-colleague level greater

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collaborative work processes and commitment developed and was undertaken – with leadership demonstrated by a range of individuals in the planning and completion of identifi ed actions. At the same time, there has developed among SLICC personnel, a greater acceptance and acknowledgement of the thinking and opinions of others with compromise adopted for the achievement of the common goals.

Carolyn Collins told us:

The most important and greatest shift we have seen as a result of the project has been in how we identify ourselves with the broadening learning and resources focus being developed to support new ways of training delivery and of learning, and the commitment we have to supporting the information needs of people engaged in these new ways. The productivity outcomes for our libraries and our staff are considerable, including greater responsiveness to client requirements.

Through the project, the library managers developed an identity for the group, a sense of unity, shared vision, and cohesion. Additionally, there is enhanced awareness of the essential services, wide skills and knowledge provided by Learning, Libraries and Resources network staff to support blended and fl exible teaching and learning.

This greater sense of unity and commitment to service delivery through change was evident when one participant noted:

There have been some considerable advances made in the capability of the group to both think and act strategically as a team and considering the distance it has come in such a relatively short period of time I hold great hope that even more will be achieved once they are able to move through this awkward transition phase and more fully embrace the leadership opportunities that await.

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41 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Conclusions

Conclusions 11

Looking across the projects reviewed here, and the interviews with the project convenors, there are a number of important conclusions that can be drawn. These conclusions provide insights into how Reframing the Future projects are assisting RTOs to build the capabilities to contribute to meeting national priorities of workforce productivity and participation, and developing the responsiveness of the training sector to the needs of individual clients and enterprises.

Internal Workforce ProductivityEnhancement of the productivity of staff internal to RTOs was a clear and evidenced outcome from all projects reviewed here, both as a result of structural change and of culture change. The ways in which workforce productivity was increased varied considerably both within and between projects, and included:

• The fl atter organisation of personnel and their work in teams or project groupings added to productivity improvements and resulted in time saving, compared with a previously more hierarchical and formally structured organisation of staff and their work.

• Communication enhancements through the same project and/or team orientations to work and through more effective and ongoing dialogue between RTO staff and clients.

• Sharing ideas worked more effectively in the team environments where there was an expectation of a pooling of ideas, expertise, skills and effort. Additionally, though, projects were typifi ed by some form of regular forum developed as part of the project and continued after the project had concluded. These were broadly open to relevant staff across the RTO such that ideas and practices were shared across teams as well as within them.

• Accuracy and responsiveness – relationships with clients were being developed as more ongoing and with more effective use of language that enabled mutual understanding to be developed more quickly and more meaningfully. The capacity of RTO staff to access information and learning resources electronically while operating in workplaces also added to responsiveness and the accuracy of response.

External Workforce Development and ParticipationAll projects were able to point to positive outcomes for their clients, sometimes with quantitative information and always with qualitative information. Individual clients and client organisations had been better served through greater responsiveness, through a broadening of programs or services available, or through a more targeted focusing of those programs and services, and through the development of more meaningful and enduring relationships that went as far as partnering.

Most projects were able to point to defi nite quantitative changes in client throughput, participation, or program and service delivery enhancement. Although product and service delivery changes could quite accurately be attributed to project outcomes, in the case of increased client throughput and participation it was not possible to be defi nite about how much of the observed effect was due to the Reframing the Future project outcomes, and how much may have been caused by other infl uences. It is always the case that there are multiple causes of outcomes.

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Collaboration with Industry and Individual EnterprisesA number of projects were clearly focused on the establishment of new ways of collaborating with external organisations, or on the enhancement of these collaborative efforts through the development of RTO staff skill to initiate and sustain such relationships. Some projects were concerned most with the development of skills and processes to enhance this service (e.g. Riverina Institute, Gordon Institute), and others were focused on a reconceptualisation of these services (e.g. Challenger TAFE, Sunshine Coast TAFE, Jobs Australia, Berry Street Victoria).

Projects reviewed in this report were satisfi ed with the outcomes of these enhancements to collaboration, and had developed systems and further professional development plans to ensure that the achievements from the Reframing the Future project were sustained beyond the project and multiplied beyond the project participants.

Agile Structures and CultureThe notion of the contemporary VET organisation having an ‘agile structure’ came through as a conclusion drawn in a number of projects. An agile structure here was characterised as one that could change with relative ease to meet new demands, and that could be fl eet of foot in responding in an effective and relevant way to client demand. An agile structure was seen as providing for better response to individual learners, or cohorts of individual learners, as their needs and circumstances changed; or to enterprises and communities as the need was identifi ed. Most often the agility was believed to be enhanced by a cultural and structural shift in the organisation that results in team-based or project-based

orientations, where teams could be put together to respond as different projects were demanded. The evidence provided by both small and large RTOs in the study was that their Reframing the Future projects had introduced them to the idea of an agile structure, or had actually been of assistance in developing one.

The development of partnerships as part of the project plans, or that developed as part of the project, also added to the capacity of organisations to develop agile and responsive structures, since the ‘structure’ and the resources at its disposal were no longer confi ned to the one RTO.

Language and CultureA theme that developed through a number of the projects, and explored further through interviews, was the development of a common language between stakeholders as an outcome of the processes involved in the projects. This formation of a usefully common language was evident in two forms. First, it was apparent that the interactions between staff working through strategic change processes within the same RTO enabled them to develop ways of talking about change, strategic planning and development, and the development of RTO business. These interactions produced an increased sophistication in their capacity to discuss organisational change and training as client-driven business.

The second form in which this common language development became evident was between RTO staff and the clients they served – most particularly at enterprise level. This language development increased the capacity of each to understand the other with a stronger sense of ‘meeting minds’ that resulted in greater accuracy in response. There is evidence in the training literature that different conceptions of learning exist between enterprises and training providers that get in the way

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of accurately understanding each other. The evidence from the present review of Reframing the Future indicates that the projects had contributed to better mutual understanding through the development of this common language of training and human resource development.

As Dickie (1999) has argued, without a common language we can’t share a vision and we can’t be sure of common understandings.

Change Management ProcessesThe evidence from the projects reviewed here suggests that RTOs have, in collection across the projects, developed some sophisticated understandings of change management theories, and have developed skills in choosing between these theories to select the one believed to be most appropriate in the particular circumstances. There was also plenty of evidence that projects had been able to be quite eclectic in the use of theory, and to join more than one together to yield a process that worked for them, and to improvise where necessary.

A common driver for change was the need, particularly in large established public providers, to have staff move from what Challenger TAFE called its Paradigm 1 (on-campus classroom based instruction) to their Paradigms 3 and 4 which necessitate considerable consultation and interaction with enterprises and communities to identify needs and then to service those needs.

Innovation Multiplier EffectReframing the Future projects reviewed here had a multiplier effect within the RTO itself, and sometimes with client groups. This multiplier effect was sometimes

shown in the capturing of interest in the RTO of people who were not participants in the project; or the capturing of interest among client groups. As one project convenor based in a rural area reported that the project activity had resulted in a broader community understanding that TAFE was not ‘just that building on the hill where people go for classes’, but an organisation that was prepared to go out to its clients. The multiplier effect was also evident in the subsequent activities pursued in an RTO to support a project outcome, as was the case with Challenger in its development of Moodle based learning resources.

Another form of the innovation multiplier effect was evident in that projects generally achieved more in terms of internal change and workforce productivity than was anticipated in the project plan. There were several ways in which this exceeding of expectation was evident. Some projects impacted positively on a larger number of RTO staff and clients than had been planned, such as in the Riverina Institute or Gordon Institute examples; some projects reported a greater resultant commitment among staff and management than had been expected (e.g. Berry Street Victoria, Sunshine Coast, SLICC); while others reported greater client outcomes than they had expected (e.g. Film and Television Institute, Jobs Australia, BRACE).

Additionally, a further innovation multiplier effect evident from the projects is that developing better relationships with organisations and enterprises outside the RTO serves to develop them better inside the RTO as well, such that each strengthens the other.

EmpowermentEmpowerment of staff to make decisions on the spot out in the workplace was a sought after outcome in most projects, so that RTO staff could apply their skills

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and knowledge to a workplace development task without necessary reference back to somebody else in the RTO. There were several examples of this in the project reviews, such as with the Challenger example, the Riverina example, and the BRACE example. What was happening in these projects was a managed shift in managerial responsibility and process, consistent with Heslin’s (1999) view that empowerment that provides capacity for effective action by staff requires a shift in managerial resources from monitoring and controlling to learning how to effectively guide them. Clearly, such a change requires inclusion both of management and of staff in the change management processes, and professional development to develop the skills, expectations and accountabilities to support the change in a sustained way.

Projects were generally successful in achieving their empowerment goals.

Observations of Projects in Action Several interviewees made the point that inside their RTO their staff had less enthusiasm towards the use of the term ‘change management’ than the term ‘strategic management’. The argument here was that staff were more likely to question and challenge a need for change, and to even be occasionally insulted by the feeling that they were doing things poorly such that they would have to change. On the other hand, strategic management was more likely to be seen to be a positive and forward looking activity that any organisation would sensibly undertake. The argument here also posited that whether the project was cast as change management or as strategic management was more about the language being used than it was about the objectives being sought, since effective strategic planning and management was seen to be legitimately followed by relevant change.

A second observation was that there were projects where unforeseen events endangered the project in potentially quite substantial ways. The starkest example of this was the Gordon Institute where the project could have collapsed through the inability to source the original project target group. Where that happened it was evident that some clever and effective trouble shooting strategies were put in place to recover the project as it progressed. The risk management strategies demanded in project action plans help here in developing a mindset around risk and its management as part of good business practice, providing an experience through the project that was valuable even if not particularly comfortable at the time.

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45 INSIGHTS FROM STRATEGIC AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN REGISTERED TRAINING ORGANISATIONS – Appendix 1

APPENDIX 1: References Used in This Report 11

Amado, G. and Ambrose, A. (2001) The transitional approach to change, London & New York: Karnac Books.

Bridges, W. (2003) Managing transitions : making the most of change, London : Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Cummings, T.G. & Worley, C.G. (1997) Organisation development and change, Minneapolis/St. Paul : West Pub. Co.

Cusumano, M.A. & Markides, C.C. (2001) Strategic thinking for the next economy, Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dickie, M. (1999) Lifelong learning for all, Adult Learning Australia, vol. 4, August, pp.6-20

Golsby_Smith, T (2005) Strategic Conversations, accessed at http://www.icvet.tafensw.edu.au/resources/strategic_conversations.htm

Heslin, P.A. (1999) Boosting empowerment by developing self-effi cacy, Asia Pacifi c Journal of Human Resources, vol.37. no.1, pp.52-64.

Kotter, J. (1995) Leading Change, Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press

Kotter, J. (2002) The Heart of Change, Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.

Mitchell, J.G. & Young, S. (2001) High-skilled High-performing VET, Melbourne: Australian National Training Authority.

Wheatley, M. J. (1992) Leadership and the new science : learning about organisation from an orderly universe, San Francisco : Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

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APPENDIX 2: Strategic Framework of Reframing the Future

The Strategic and Change Management Sub-program was one of seven Sub-programs conducted in 2007. The other Sub-programs were:

• Skills Development for VET Practitioners

• National Training Change Agents

• Communities of Practice

• Industry Training Networks

• Assessor Networks and Teaching and Learning networks

• Applying Information and Research.

There were two overarching aims of the Reframing the Future projects for 2007.

The fi rst of these was associated with building internal capability within RTOs to improve the productivity of the RTO workforce, including managers, with a view to becoming more responsive to client needs. Clients here might be industry, individual enterprises, communities, or individual learners.

Through achievement of the fi rst aim, the second overarching aim of the projects was to enhance the consequent impacts on the development of human capital, workforce productivity and workforce participation external to the RTO, among the clients that it serves.

These aims were developed from the COAG aims developed and promulgated in 2006, and continue to be consistent with the new Federal Government’s priorities as expressed through the Second Reading of the Skills Australia Bill 2008.

The achievement of the overarching aims, through the projects reported on here, may be expressed in terms of any or all of the following, as noted by Mitchell and McKenna (Productivity and Participation Enhanced by VET, DEEWR, Canberra, 2008):

• VET improves workforce productivity

• VET improves workforce participation

• VET enhances human capital

• VET works collaboratively with industry and other stakeholders

• VET improves the productivity of its own workforce.

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APPENDIX 3: About the Author

Dr Peter Smith is the Principal of E&T Thinking, an education and training consultancy located in Geelong, Victoria. Prior to commencing E&T Thinking Peter Smith was Associate Professor of Professional Education and Training at Deakin University – a position he moved to after many years in senior TAFE positions, and in HR in the mining industry.

Peter has been a substantial contributor to VET teaching and learning practice, and a consistent researcher in the fi eld. He has conducted many projects and practitioner workshops in VET, and has written several books and many journal articles in the fi eld.

He can be contacted on [email protected]

Funded under the Reframing the Future Program as a Strategic National Initiative of the Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education administered by the Commonwealth of Australia through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Commonwealth of Australia.

© Commonwealth of Australia 2008

This work is Copyright. It may be reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source and it is not used for commercial use or sale. All rights are reserved. Reproduction for purposes other than those indicated above requires the prior written permission from the Commonwealth. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and copyright should be addressed to the Branch Manager, Technology and Information Services Branch, Industry Skills Development Group, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, GPO Box 9880 Canberra City, ACT, 2601.

ISBN: 9781865061801.

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