Country Energy

Country Energy, one of the three electricity distributors in NSW, has taken up the challenge of equipping its workforce with the essential skills and knowledge it needs to maintain a safe work environment and a competitive advantage into the future. Qualifications based award and progression provisions were set in place to encourage a learning environment that helps staff move from a basic competency to a full qualification.

Linking skills to pay

The aim of this initiative is to link salary increases (apart from CPI adjustments) to national qualifications and performance. This means that staff must have an appropriate qualification for the work they are performing and also meet performance targets in their work to receive a salary progression. This is in contrast to the current regime where pay rises are automatically awarded after each year of service till the top of the pay band is reached.

The right qualifications

Country Energy has always provided extensive training to its staff, however this training frequently aligned with organisational and regulatory provisions and not necessarily National Australian Quality Framework requirements. Consequently, even though staff are highly experienced and authorised by Country Energy for the work they carry out, a large proportion do not hold formal qualifications for the roles they perform.

Partnerships

Although a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) in their own right, Country Energy saw partnering with another RTO as worthwhile. Country Energy's footprint covers 95 per cent of NSW and consequently the successful applicant would need to be able to provide not only a large scope of registration but a proven ability to service rural and remote NSW. After an extensive research TAFE NSW was clearly identified as 'best fit.'

Through the partnership arrangements with TAFE NSW, Country Energy will be employing the extensive Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) provisions in the Australian Quality Training Framework to recognise the skills of existing staff. Gap-training identified as part of this process will also be provided.

To determine the current and relevant qualification required by roles within the organization, a detailed task analysis process is used. This process requires extensive consultation with unions and surveying of all staff to further validate the analysis.

Advantages

Carl Thompson, Project Manager for Competency Development Team at Country Energy, says the change is an enormous challenge but well worthwhile.

'We have a lot of well trained and experienced staff here but they are not necessarily nationally qualified,' he said. 'This new system challenges the way we have been doing things for 30 years and some people find it threatening. But, in the end, it has advantages for everyone.'

The main advantages of the change process noted by Carl are:

• The identification of training and qualification gaps in the organisation
• The opportunities for succession planning at a time when many senior staff are considering retirement
• Linking of progression to performance, not time served
• Ensuring training is targeted to identified needs
• Providing a tangible benefit to staff for increasing their skill levels and career prospects

The process

• The skills recognition process is sophisticated and multi-stepped, and begins with Carl's team providing the business unit with a proposal on implementing RPL in that area.
• Based on that report, the business unit can invite Carl's team to begin the full recognition process. Carl's team trains a representative of the business unit in their processes and seeks their advice on technical and communication processes relevant to that unit.
• Suitable communication processes for the unit are then developed. These differ depending on the demographic of the area concerned.
• All staff in the business units are represented by a focus group. With the assistance of the project team, this group develops a detailed listing of all tasks performed in the role.

Surveying staff

This is then developed into a survey which is validated by the focus group before being dispatched to all incumbents in the role, selected stakeholders and the relevant unions.

On receiving their survey, staff members respond to every task identified and are asked:

• Do you do this task?
• How often?
• What skill level is required for the task?
• How important is the task?

The survey completed by stakeholders (i.e. team leaders, managers) is identical to the incumbents survey, except for the "how often" field. It is accepted that, as stakeholders, they are aware that the task is carried out and what skill level and importance should be placed on the task. However, they may not be aware of the frequency or how often the task is performed.

Mapping jobs

The survey results are forward mapped by Carl's team to relevant national competency units. These results are then reverse mapped from the survey back to the national competencies to further ensure the accuracy of the analysis.

From this mapping, a job model for each business unit role is developed, with flexibility permitted for different people performing different tasks. Progression guidelines are also determined for each job.

The qualifications identified range from Australian Qualification Framework Certificate II to Advanced Diploma and currently span 36 qualifications and six Training Packages.

Partnership with TAFE

As an RTO in its own right, Country Energy can perform some training against identified gap training needs. However, to assist with training outside its scope Country Energy employs the provisions of its partnership arrangements with TAFE.

'TAFE has the scope of registration we need and they also have coverage across our footprint of NSW and into Queensland,' said Carl. 'We have a full-time TAFE person located inside our organisation and a "virtual team" consisting of a representative at each institute in our footprint. This ensures gap training for each team is fully targeted and works smoothly.'

Final advice

Carl says the process is working for both company and staff and is being watched closely by other utilities. Asked for a final piece of advice for other employers planning similar changes, Carl advised: 'Ensuring buy-in by stakeholders requires clear communication and consultation with all, including unions. Finally, developing processes that are fully transparent and consistent is crucial to ensure credibility and trust between the project team and its vast stakeholder group.