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RECENT APPROACHES TO

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT

The Australian Workforce Futures

Strategy and the NSW IDEAS

project

Caroline Alcorso, IFA Conference

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The focus for today

► Key issues in workforce skills

development

► The issues

► Aged services

► Ways forward

► Workforce Futures

► IDEAS project

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Skills policy is flowing into many fields

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How is Australia travelling?

Strong resilience in the face of the GFC and renewed growth but… Global competitiveness: Australia ranks 21st on innovation; just 37% of organisations are active ‘innovators’. Management performance is in OECD ‘second tier’ with long tail of poor performers Productivity: Average annual labour productivity growth has fallen from 2.1% in the 1990s, to around 1.4% in the 2000s; decline in multi-factor productivity growth since 2004

Vocational qualifications: VET enrolments flat-lining since early 2000s; completion rates low

Skill shortages: concentrated in certain sectors and regions; persistent and re-emerge with growth

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> 1.5 million Australians under & unemployed

> 1 million not in the workforce but want to

work

Relatively low participation rate for women of

child bearing age and prime working age men

compared to OECD

Certain groups face profound barriers, eg

Indigenous Australians (48% employment in

2006)

Workforce participation challenge

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What about aged services?

Identified issues include:

Workforce shortages – recruitment challenges

Coping with changing care needs

Job dissatisfaction causing retention problems

Management capacity stretched

Concerns about training quality

Workplace learning constraints

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Strong forecast employment growth

Employment growth: the health and social assistance industry, Australia

Industry

Current

employment

Past growth:

five years to

November 2009

Future growth:

five years to

2014-15

‘000

% of

total ‘000 % ‘000 %

Health care and social

assistance 1204.5 11.1 229.5 23.5 211.5 17.6

All employed

10,844.4

100.0

1,069.1

10.9

1,027.2

9.5

Population: Employed people.

Source: DEEWR analysis of trend data Feb 2010, ABS Cat no. 629.0.55.003

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Growth in lower skilled jobs projected

Average occupation employment growth pa, 2010 to 2025, in three scenarios

Occupation

Open doors

%

Low-trust

globalisation

%

Flags

%

Medical practitioners

Midwifery and nursing

professionals

Health and welfare support

workers

Child carers

Personal carers and assistants

All occupation average

2.3

2.7

2.7

3.3

3.1

2.1

1.7

2.1

2.2

2.7

2.6

1.5

0.5

0.8

1.2

1.8

1.6

0.9

Source: Access Economics (2009) Economic modelling of skills demand, Table D4 (ASCO);

conversion to ANZSCO by CEET (2009). Three-digit ANZSCO job titles are used in this analysis.

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Those policies and practices which support

people to participate effectively in the

workforce and to

develop and apply skills in a workplace

context

and where learning translates into

positive outcomes for enterprises, the

wider community and individuals

throughout their working lives.

Workforce development – a broad definition

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The ‘more is better’ approach facing challenges

New recognition that acquiring

skills is not enough:

“The ability to use particular skills

and knowledge in the production

process, not merely acquiring

them, is what really matters for

productivity and income.”

Australian Treasury Perspectives on Australia’s Productivity Prospects

Treasury Working Paper, September 2006

From an economic

perspective

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Under-employment of skilled people

People with a non-school qualification employed at a lower

level

Source: ABS, Survey of education and work 2001 and 2007, unpublished data using ASCO coding, Cat

no.6227.0. The bars are percentages, with actual numbers of students in ‘000s also noted.

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Skill development depends on the workplace and business context

o first order issues are around

competitiveness/profitability

o second order issues around

how work is organised

o workplace learning typically a

third order issue.

(Keep and Mayhew)

Understand the

organisation

perspective

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SHAPE OF A NEW PARADIGM…..

Previous ways Emerging ways

Focus on the individual Work group focus – collective learning

Qualifications needed for entry level

Lifelong learning; all forms learning and skill acquisition

Making the E&T system work better

Linkages across skills ecosystem

Match and targets Recognition of complexity; active labour market strategies

Supply skills to the workplace Tackle workplace policies and processes

Industry leadership

Employer engagement and collective action

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Skills Australia’s Australian Workforce Development Strategy

► Skills planning

► Workforce participation

► Realising the productive potential of skills

and knowledge at the workplace

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Workforce Futures the recommended approach

Australia has the workforce for a productive,

sustainable and inclusive future. Australian

enterprises effectively develop and use the skills of

their workforce.

Meeting Australia’s

future skills and

workforce demands

Raising workforce

participation

Improving adult

language, literacy and

numeracy skills

Better using skills to

increase productivity

Enhancing the capability

of the tertiary education

sector

Creating a shared

agenda on Workforce

Futures

Governments, industry, education providers, individuals

Skills

planning

Skills

utilisation

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Strategy and indicators at a glance

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National level

Understanding global and

national trends

Establish frameworks, build

capacity

Collaboration across policy

silos

Workforce development at different levels

Enterprise level

Work organisation and job

design favours complex skills

Leadership and culture

supports skill development

and use

Competitive advantage

through innovation

Industry level

Creating sustainable

industry workforce

Anticipating trends and

skill impacts

Collaboration on common

challenges

Individual level

Learning opportunities

suit changing needs

Flexible career paths

Ability to use and

enhance skills at work

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NSW IDEAS PROJECT 2007-10

Previous ways Emerging ways

Focus on the individual Workplace focus – collective learning √ trial an embedded learning model with educator in residence

Qualifications needed for entry level

Lifelong learning; all forms learning and skill acquisition √ provide access to inspirational learning

Making the E&T system work better √ links organisations to RTOs; influences funding

Linkages across skills ecosystem √ partly – links to universities

Match and targets Recognition of complexity; active labour market strategies

√ employment program and casual labour pool introduced

Supply skills to the workplace Tackle workplace policies and processes - the demand side No but NB role redesign projects in aged services

Industry leadership Employer engagement and collective action √ collective purchasing; labour pool; beyond role industry association

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Health workforce innovation and reform - a model for aged services?

Shared labour pools to encourage job security

Models for whole of organisation learning

Job redesign and role adjustments

Collective approach to training quality

Support for organisation change strategies

Increased management capacity for workforce management