Project Management

Do you have a workforce planning project involving a number of stakeholders? It can be tricky to get effective engagement so you may want to explore this site to get some ideas, tools, templates, hints and tips on how to facilitate a workforce project.

Here’s some examples of workforce planning and workforce development projects from across Australia related to:

Clusters, Community Development, Firms, Industry Development, Major Projects, Networks, Organisations, Regional Development, Remote Development, Rural Development, Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Small Business Health Checks, Supply Chains and Value Chains.

For examples of projects in Vocational Education and Training and Contact Centre Consultancy go to WPAA.

Project	Ergon Energy Capability Framework and Administration/Scheduling Review
Clients	Ergon Energy	Period	2011
Description	Benchmarking of existing matrices with national companies Provision of recommendations on framework of new framework Assistance to project team on stakeholder engagement Design, develop and implement the Capability Framework
Relevant Skills	Data collection, profiling and analysisCoaching and mentoring Ergon Energy staff to build capability frameworks, and undertake skills profiling using Skillsbook™Stakeholder engagement, communications, project management and facilitation

Project	Workforce Planning and Development for local councils
Clients	Local Government Association SA	Period	2011
Description	Provide information/briefing session for 6 Councils and Reference Group Prepare individual workforce plans and workforce development strategies for each of the six pilot Councils
Relevant Skills	Data collection, surveying and analysisDevelopment of workforce plansCoaching and mentoring individual councils to implement workforce development strategies

Project	South Australian Contact Centre Survey
Clients	ATA and Department of Trade and Economic Development	Period	2011
Description	The objectives of the survey are to: take stock of and benchmark the contact centre sector in South Australia gaining an accurate picture of the numbers of centres, locations, size of the workforce and demographics including equity groups and current use of technology identify areas for sustainable growth and expansion in jobs, skills and export (nationally and internationally) over 1-3 years understanding staff turnover, plans for recruitment, skills profile, use of technology, opportunity for services in multi languages and for people with disabilities and the business case for establishing and running contact centres in South Australia (against other states/territories/overseas locations) to service the Asia Pacific region understand the current use of working at home options for contact centre staff and the potential for working at home agents supported by the roll out of the NBN investigate what contact centres need to enable them to uptake the benefits of the NBN and work up a transferable model for regions across South Australia
Relevant Skills	Industry research and surveyingFacilitation and project managementNeeds analysis and understanding of technology solutions including opportunities provided by National Broadband Network (NBN) roll out

Project	WorkLife Balance Innovations
Clients	SafeWork SA, Department of Premier and Cabinet	Period	2011
Description	The WorkLife Balance Innovations Project is an 18-month project designed to build a case for the adoption of innovative work practices by South Australian private sector employers. The project has been planned to work in several phases, from June 2010 to Dec 2011.Phase 1 and 2 of the project has been completed and this phase focuses on conducting four Master-class sessions. The Master-classes will take participant workplaces through the consultation, policy development, administration and evaluation required to implement WLB initiatives in their workplaces. The Roundtables have served to identify potential employers who have been invited to express interest in selection for the Master-classes. The Working Group will work with Workforce BluePrint to call for expressions of interest from employers and then select the participating workplaces. Workforce BluePrint will then conduct the Master-class series from March to October 2011 and monitor the implementation of WLB initiatives in the selected workplaces. Phase 4 will continue work with Workforce BluePrint to produce an evaluation report and case studies for publication.
Relevant Skills	Masterclasses facilitationCoaching and mentoring/one-on-one supportEvents management and network facilitationProject management

Project	Women Influencing Defence and Resources Industries (WiDRI)
Clients	Defence Teaming Centre, SACOME, RESA, Department for Further Education, Employment, Science and Training (DFEEST), Office for Women	Period	2011
Description	The purpose of the Women Influencing Defence and Resources Industries (WiDRI) program is to support the roles and responsibilities of women as directors and managers, coaches and mentors and industry advocates.This program will facilitate a collaborative approach to: engaging women from Prime Organisations (Large companies) and Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) identifying common areas of interest and need identification of key issues or barriers to women entering and remaining in the sectors developing women to effectively manage and influence decision making and business performance developing women to effectively coach and mentor reaching consensus and providing a report on future industry directions
Relevant Skills	Communities of Practice facilitationCoaching and mentoring trainingEvents management and network facilitationProject management

Project	Interwork
Clients	Regional Workforce Plan for Yorke and Mid North and Client Profile Analysis	Period	2011
Description	Develop systems for a analysing case loads and client profiles in the context of regional and social demography, local industry incorporating growth and downturn analysis, community partners and other stakeholder relationships.The outputs from this project will include:- Regional workforce demand template incorporating social demographics analysis, industry and business picture drawing upon Regions at Work, DFEEST, Regional Development Australia, DEEWR, ABS and NCVER data- Job skills profiling for jobs in demand that fit with Interworks client profile- Client profile analysis linked to workforce demand - Community partnership and relationship map - Documentation of the process step-by-step - ESA plan for the location with priorities, pipeline management framework, actions, responsibilities, resources and timeframes
Relevant Skills	Regional workforce and data analysis Skills mapping and identification of priority (in demand) occupations Design of a skills profile for the region Strategic planning and advice on implementation Stakeholder engagement and relationship mapping

Project	Kangaroo Island Business and Workforce Profile
Clients	Regional Development AustraliaAdelaide Hills Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island	Period	2011
Description	To identify the current skills needs by employers in existing employees and their future workforce. The project profiled the current workforce in terms of age, gender, basis and industry of employment. The information gathered will allow the network to make better informed decisions and develop long term training projects.The project was developed in response to the network’s need to be fully informed about impending skills needs on Kangaroo Island (KI) and likely workforce changes. The network requested this information to inform its planning of training projects in an effort to pre-empt and alleviate skills shortage issues early rather than responding to urgent and immediate needs. The project collected data from businesses registered from the KIDB (now RDA DIMS database), confirming contact details of business owners, make up of business ownership, willingness to be involved in further planning, current workforce profile and employment status, skills needs, plans to employ, likely skills needs and owner training needs as well as general comments.
Relevant Skills	Survey and data analysis Skills mapping and identification of development needs Design of a skills profile including foundation, transferable and job specific skills for the island mapped to competencies Stakeholder engagement and relationship building

Project	Skills Framework for the State Aquatic Centre
Clients	City of MarionSouthern Adelaide SA Works	Period	2010
Description	To build a competency framework for the South Australian State Aquatic Centre To profile the skills needed for 41 identified job roles To identify core (common) competencies required for all staff at the State Aquatic Centre To use the job skills profiles for competency based recruitment, jobs descriptions and training needs analysis To identify the common areas for skills development and purchasing of training from Registered Training Organisations
Relevant Skills	Skills profiling and knowledge across job roles Competency framework design Stakeholder engagement and presentation skills

Project	Workforce Re-engineering Program
Clients	Enterprise ConnectEnterprise Connect clients	Period	2010
Description	Developing awareness amongst Enterprise Connect clients (40) of the direct connection of workforce development and planning and the achievement of their strategic business plans Providing 3 options for workshops aimed at introductory, basic and intermediate level understanding and implementation of good workforce management practices – Enterprise Connect clients can choose to attend the sessions that meet their requirements Supporting Enterprise Connect clients to implement good workforce management practices through one-on-one coaching and mentoring sessions (1×2 hours/participant) Providing access to practical, easy to use workforce planning, development and management tools (Resource kit provided for each participant) Facilitating a Workforce Engineers network for Enterprise Connect clients to engage in and share information (3 x 1.5 hour network meetings) Capturing the application of new knowledge and workforce productivity improvements for 5 firms via case studies Demonstrating improvements and workforce management in action via 2 demonstration projects.
Relevant Skills	SME engagement, workshop facilitation, action research, coaching and mentoring, consultancy. Management of a successful Enterprise Connect WIIN program and consistently receiving excellent feedback from participants

Project	Building Business Capability in Workforce Development
Clients	Department of Trade and Economic Development (DTED) and National Disability ServiceDTED and the Department for Further Education, Employment, Science and Training (DFEEST)	Period	2009-10
Description	Facilitate 3 workshops based on the Building Business Capability Program Provision of 3 one-on-one consultancy visits per participating organisation including workforce plan, competency framework and human resource capability development Customisation of workshops and visits to suit the Disability and Vocational Education and Training Sectors respectively, individuals and organisations involved Report outlining workforce development needs of participating organisations
Relevant Skills	Workshop facilitation, action research, consultancy.

Project	Workforce Development and Planning Toolkit for Small – Medium Sized Enterprises
Client	Department of Trade and Economic Development (DTED), SA	Period	2009
Description	This project involved the development and design of a number of workforce tools that could be used to assist SME’s in profiling their workforce, understanding workforce capability and development needs. The toolkit includes fact sheets, workforce plan template and a cost of recruitment calculator.
Relevant Skills	Tool/resource development and design, customisation for SME’s, program design, demand and supply forecasting, and evaluation.

Project	Workforce Re – Development and Re – Design
Clients	Mitsubishi Motors Australia LimitedGM HoldenDepartment of Further Education Employment Science and Training (DFEEST), SADepartment of Education and Training NSW	Period	2008 – 2009
Description	Skills profiling of retrenched and retooling workforces across manufacturing companies in South Australia and New South Wales.
Relevant Skills	Workforce skills profiling, skills recognition system design, professional development, mentoring and coaching.

Project	National VET Workforce Development Strategy
Client	National Quality Council via TVET Australia	Period	2008-9
Description	Develop a national Vocational Education and Training (VET) Workforce Development Strategy which reflects: COAG directions and national priorities and complements existing programs undertaken by states and territories; and Good practice in VET workforce development. The key outcomes of this project are: A national VET Workforce Development Strategy for 2009 and beyond, which reflects COAG directions and national priorities, complements existing programs undertaken by states and territories and reflects good practice in VET Workforce Development; and Informed advice on strategic priorities for the 2009 VET Professional Capability Building Program.
Relevant Skills	Forum facilitation, project management, workforce gap analysis.

Project	Workforce Development Plan
Client	Norske Skog	Period	2008-9
Description	This project involved the development of a workforce plan for a pulp and paper manufacturer in Tasmania. Working together with the Human Resource team we have undertaken a workforce demographics analysis, are building a competency framework for workforce skills measurement and workforce gap analysis from a demand/supply and skills perspective.
Relevant Skills	Workforce demographics analysis, facilitation of forums, project management, workforce plan design, gap analysis, coaching/mentoring.

Project	Workforce Capability Framework
Client	Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO)	Period	2008-9
Description	This project aims to review current Key Performance Indicators, workforce capability, core skills, strengths, and development needs for the TIO resulting in a KPI and Competency Framework that effectively measures the TIO’s business performance.
Relevant Skills	Facilitation of forums, project management, competency framework design, skills gap analysis, coaching/mentoring.

Project	Centre of the Future Plan
Client	International Centre of Graphic Technology, RMIT	Period	2008-9
Description	Outcomes for this work include: Defining the ‘Centre of the Future’ in line with a new strategic plan and vision for the centre from 2008 – 2011 including workforce skills profile required Competitor analysis Defining of new and repositioning of existing products and services to be offered by the centre based upon student and industry demand and the Centre’s new strategic plan Concise report outlining the activities and outcomes developed.
Relevant Skills	Facilitation of forums, project management, client interviews, coaching/mentoring.

Project	Workforce Development Tools and Program Design
Client	Northern Territory Council of Social Services (NTCOSS)	Period	2007-8
Description	This project involved the development and design of a number of workforce tools that could be used to assist community services and health organisations in profiling their workforce, understanding workforce capability and development needs.The facilitation of workforce development workshops covered the use of the tools, learning and development and workforce plan design.
Relevant Skills	Tool/resource development and design, customisation for the community services and health sectors, program design, and evaluation.

Project	SME Capability Development – Defence Sector
Clients	Defence Teaming Centre in conjunction with DFEEST & DEEWR	Period	2007
Description	This project involved 4 components: Develop a systemic approach to workforce planning which explicitly integrates flexibilities to meet the needs of employers and individuals. Identify and develop strategies which address the growing need for a motivated, flexible and skilled workforce within the Defence Industry and, in particular SME’s, in conjunction with Component 2 – the SME capability-building component of the project. Develop strategies and models that will empower skilled workers to be effectively redeployed to expanding/restructuring defence companies through mentoring, skills mapping, retraining and upskilling as appropriate. Develop Industry-specific workforce models, strategies and action plans to meet the demands within the defence sector without compromising other relevant industry sectors.
Relevant Skills	Project management, research and analysis, consultation with SME’s and profiling, development of workforce planning models and workforce development approaches, liaison with state and Commonwealth governments, provision of recommendations and report writing.

Project	Workforce Skills Needs Analysis
Client	Charles Darwin University	Period	2007
Description	The training needs analysis project involved working with small groups of staff across the University appointed to new leadership and customer support roles. This included designing and conducting individual interviews, focus groups and using the Competency Navigator™ tool to capture strengths and development opportunities in relation to the skills required for these new roles. The final report included design of a professional development program including training priorities
Relevant Skills	Training needs analysis, learning and development methodologies, program design, evaluation report writing, and provision of advice to executive.

Project	Civil Workforce Development Project
Client	Construction Industry Training Board	Period	2006-2007
Description	The objectives of this project in the context of the civil construction sector in South Australia were to:- Formalise workforce development- Develop enterprise based assessors- Undertake skills recognition - Build relationships with Registered Training Organisations (RTO’s) - Develop recruitment tools - Broaden awareness about workforce development & planning
Relevant Skills	Understanding of the labour market environment, liaison with industry bodies and small to large contractors, profiling of plan operators and interviews with business owners and HR managers.