ISCs help employers make the most of Government funding
Industry Skills Councils (ISC) are working together to
help employers find effective ways to skill their workforce,” says Sharon
Coates
, CEO of Innovation
and Business Skills Australia.
“ISC collaboration is a powerful way to
tackle skill development issues that apply across all industries,” says Ms
Coates. One major issue that affects all industries is the level of language,
literacy and numeracy skill in the workforce. According to a recent report
commissioned by the Ai Group, ‘many adults fall short of functional levels of
literacy and numeracy which are now essential for just about all jobs.’
The report, Skilling the Existing Workforce Background Report, identifies
key issues associated with workforce skilling. It goes on to claim that
employers believe literacy issues are not limited to the skilling of low skilled
workers, but that they also apply to moderately and well-skilled staff.
“Productivity, workforce flexibility and quality processes are of
critical importance to the business bottom line. Workplace training that
integrates language, literacy and numeracy skill development has the potential
to deliver significant business benefits, but only if the training is
effectively tailored for the needs of the business and it employees,” says Ms
Coates.
For more than a decade the Australian Government’s Workplace English
Language and Literacy (WELL) Programme has provided funding to employers for
tailor-made workplace training that does integrate language, literacy and
numeracy skill development. However, many employers are still unaware of the
opportunity it offers for making beneficial and lasting change to workforce
capability.
Businesses have used the WELL training programme to support productivity
and efficiency initiatives, improve health and safety in the workplace, foster
workforce confidence and responsibility and introduce new processes and quality
systems.
Examples included in a new booklet compiled by ISCs include a supermarket
franchisee who used the programme to build the staff capability and commitment
necessary to expand from 3 to 7 stores; the electronics manufacturing firm that
supported rapid business expansion by capturing and extending the loyalty and
industry experience of assembly line employees; the printing company improving
productivity by enabling better communication between all levels of the
organisation.
Click here for a copy of the ISC Booklet (932 kb)
