Niel Jacobsen

Report by Niel Jacobsen
Industry Manager

The Regional Jobs Summit attracted more than 90 people from a range of enterprises and industry organisations as well as job network and training service providers.

The consensus was that the Narrabri region is well placed develop its own solutions – based on a cross-industry and community partnership approach.

The summit provided the catalyst that brought people and organisations together, that would not normally interact with each other where they discussed employment issues and explored opportunities to address skills needs on a wider scale. The summit identified a number of key issues facing the region including:
 

• Effective attraction and retention strategies is a key need
• An employer culture of handling people well, understanding their expectations and developing them - women, generation Y, mature age employees, disabled and indigenous
• How jobs within the region are promoted -the value proposition to employees must overcome negative perceptions
• Providing attractive and fulfilling jobs as one part of the solution for attracting and retaining people in rural and regional Australia
• Need to anticipate future labour demands and the capacity to up-skill people as technology and businesses scale increased
• Recognition that significant labour and skill shortages will feature as recovery kicks in

There are job vacancies in the region but a large proportion of the available labour supply is low quality and unmotivated which has forced some employers to bring in workers from overseas. There are two different types of workers with different needs

• Higher skills permanent employees in more demand but these people are difficult to find
• More plentiful, but lower skilled and part-time workers are missing out as they not registered as job seekers. This group of workers are missing out on casual/seasonal jobs because support structures are not being utilised effectively i.e. the Harvest Trail

The majority of employers training needs for staff are not being met by the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system as it is geared to providing full qualifications, not skill sets as required by industry.

There is lack of of awareness of the potential of the school-based VET system and how businesses could benefit from engaging more closely with schools – this would address some of the issues around attracting people to the local industry.

There is a need for predicative modelling with a timeline of work demands (seasonal demand calendar) and for groups of employers committing to this approach. This in turn would help identify peaks and troughs of skills demand across the region and assist workforce planning.

AgriFood perspective
From AgriFood’s perspective, the summit confirmed many findings from the Environmental Scan and the approach being taken with building workforce capability. Feedback also showed that many industries do not have clearly defined or articulated career pathways.

As rural and regional areas are in a thin training market, it is important that any strategy developed is adaptable to local needs and opportunities while at the same time, addresses the skills development needs of the enterprise and the individual and:

• build the region’s cross-industry skills base
• fosters an enterprising culture
• harmonise regional work opportunities and enterprise needs.

Post-summit meeting Narrabri – 8th July 2009
At the end of the summit there was a call for volunteers to support a local initiative. Eighteen (18) people put their names forward. AgriFood Skills convened a meeting with local representatives on Wednesday 8th July to review the outcomes of the summit and to discuss the development of a strategy. While there were many training providers at the summit, it was agreed that strong industry representation was paramount.

A number of the issues raised at the Summit were discussed at the above meeting including:

• the summit exposed a broader way of thinking about skills development particularly for employers – knowing the right questions to ask is important
• attitudinal training was identified as a pre-requisite for all job seekers before commencing further technical skills development
• importance of on-the-job training to support delivery from training providers
• 99 per cent of job seekers did not know an employer
• good services and infrastructure are vital to regional prosperity
• the summit provided an opportunity for opening up of dialogue between government/enterprises/industry associations and the continuation of this interaction is essential if the aspirations of the Summit are to be realised
• the potential of real work experience as a two-way assessment of suitability of the employee for the job and the job for the employee
• the potential of the Business Health Check Program to support local businesses.

Another aspect covered was the strength and interconnectedness of businesses and how they are beginning to acknowledge the value of each other contribution to the region’s overall prosperity.
The meeting recognised the challenges ahead and concluded that a pull-through approach was the preferred option with two clear priorities being:

• professional development for business owners and managers
• development of attraction strategies for the regions young people.

The consensus was that, if effective programs were developed for the two ends of the spectrum (employers and the potential employment pool - school students) then the up-skilling of existing workers and training of new entrants/job seekers would follow.

Supporting activities that could be undertaken in the short to medium term were the development of a skills demand calendar and to begin work on a regional employment strategy. The strategy would take into consideration the outcomes of the skills demand calendar, Harvest Trail, Group Training Company employment model and work being done by the Workplace Research Centre on regional employment strategies.

It was agreed that a local person with an established presence and strong connections around the region should be engaged to promote and progress the strategy. A term of two-years was discussed as was the range contributors to support such as role. Contributors being AgriFood, Northern Inland Regional Development Board, Department of State and Regional Development, Narrabri Shire Council and the Narrabri Chamber of Commerce.

A prospectus based on this document could then be sent to the supporters for their consideration.

The meeting concluded that it would not be necessary to establish an incorporated body but form a group known as the North West Advisory Group under the auspice of AgriFood Skills Australia. The benefit of this approach is two-fold – it provides a legal entity through which to manage funding from contributors and maintains a level of independence of the Group with channels to national organisations and government departments.

AgriFood Skills Australia would be approached to become the conduit for funding the activities of the Group and its Executive Officer.

Based on discussions at the meeting on Wednesday, a scope of activities and Guiding Principles are currently being drafted. Attached is list of Advisory Group member organisations that ensures good cross-sector representation.

Furthermore, it was agreed that the initiative should target the Narrabri Shire initially but maintain close engagement with neighbouring council regions particularly Moree, Gunnedah Gwydir and the Councils in the New England. Those at the meeting felt that when the strategy is trialled and underway and the benefits become apparent then the other LGAs will become involved making it a true regional approach.

In order to maintain the enthusiasm generated at the summit there is strong support that the Advisory Group be formed and the executive officer appointed as soon as possible. There is broad agreement that, in order to expedite the appointment of the executive officer, it be done be by consensus of the Advisory Group and the funding supporters.

AgriFood Skills Australia was requested to oversee the establishment of a group to be known as the North West Advisory Group. The benefit of this approach is two-fold – AgriFood Skills provides a legal entity through which to manage funding and as a national organisation, maintains a level of independence of the group with channels other national bodies and government departments. The membership of the North West Advisory Group is as follows:

• Narrabri Shire Council
• Busy Bee Auto Electrics
• Narrabri Chamber of Commerce
• Auscott
• NSW Farmers Association
• TESA Mining
• Cotton Research and Development Corporation
• NSW Department of State and Regional Development
• Northern Inland Regional Development Board
• AgriFood Skills Australia

In addition, the group would be supported by a special adviser – Mike Rafferty, Workplace Research Centre and Skills DMC (Industry Skills Council) as required.
The group requested that AgriFood Skills Australia provide a number of items considered critical to get activities underway:
1. synopsis of the Summit and key findings
2. outline of the post-summit meeting held 8th July
3. key principles for the operation of the group
4. operational budget for the engagement of an executive officer.

Key principles of cooperation
The summit provided the catalyst that brought people and organisations together, that would not normally interact to discuss employment issues and explore opportunities to address skills needs on a wider scale.

The consensus was that Narrabri and the adjoining regions are well placed to identify skills needs and develop solution through a cross-industry and community partnership approach. Therefore it is anticipated that the North West Advisory Group will be at the forefront of exploring the many aspects that shape a regional development strategy including:
 

• business operation - key products and services, target markets
• business environment - competitive pressures and inter-enterprise relationships
• government support and the regulatory framework
• capital investment and the technology in use
• employment relations and the operation of labour markets
• work organisation and job design
• the capacity of education and training network and its ability to meet industry and worker needs.

Following are the key principles of cooperation which underpin the operation of the North West Advisory Group:

• The group will work together to leverage, pool and mobilise the different competencies, capacities and resources of each other which will lead to enhanced decision making, joint problem solving and greater operational efficiency
• the relationship between members is based on mutual trust and respect through the investment of time and resources, shared learning and mutual understanding
• create greater public awareness by having members speak out in support of the values, goals and activities of the group
• The group is encouraged to use this as a valuable opportunity to experiment with new approaches to address the challenges which in turn could lead to further innovation beyond the immediate objectives
• The group is encouraged to identify the changing boundaries, roles and responsibilities of Government, industry and representative bodies and explore new types of cooperative initiatives, multi-stakeholder dialogue and consultation structures
• Agreed activities to be progressed will be sufficiently resourced to ensure success and ultimately benefit the stakeholders of the region

A review and quality improvement approach will be adopted to improve collaboration and to learn from the experiences of the joint collaboration. This process is to be reviewed bi-annually by the members of the North West Advisory Group and AgriFood Skills Australia.

Consensus will be the decision making process for the group i.e. it may not be a decision that all parties agree to entirely but each member can live with it and are willing to support the group.