Victorian Governments Skills for Growth Program: A Guide to the Small and Medium Business Workforce Development and Strategic Planning Program
Skills for Growth is the Victoria Government’s workforce development and strategic planning initiative that is designed to provide small and medium businesses based in Victoria with access to workforce planning and training experts and employee training specialists – for free The program’s objective is to help the owners of small and medium businesses attain higher levels of success by identifying the key objectives and goals of their businesses and assessing and addressing skills shortages in thier workforce.
Some of the key benefits of the Skills for Growth program include:
- Superior business performance and productivity
- Increased workforce efficiency and effectiveness
- Greater capacity to innovate
- Broader range of employee skills
- Reduced overall costs
Ultimately, all of the benefits listed above are meant to show up on the business’ bottom line in the form of increased profits.
Background of the Skills for Growth Program
Because the Government of Victoria recognised the fact that small and medium businesses are the key driver of the state’s economy – they make up about ninety nine percent of all businesses and employ around one milliion people – they decided to create and fund – to the tine of $52 million – the Skills for Growth program in an effort to ensure their continued competitiveness and growth.
Skills for Growth launched in April of 2009 with 25 Service Providers – working in partnership with independent workforce planning and training Specialists – approved to provide accredited training services to eligible businesses.
Skills for Growth Program Structure
Once a business registers for Skills for Growth and chooses a Service Provider that will best meet its needs, the Service Provider assigns a workforce planning and training Specialist to get the process underway.
Workforce planning and training Specialists are required to have completed a Training and Assessment (TAA) course as well as well as an accredited course on Assess Informal Learning (AIL). Completion of a number of key units from Certificate IV is a prerequisite for AIL.
The Skills for Growth program basically goes through two phases.
Phase 1
In the first phase, a workforce planning and training Specialist conducts an onsite business review that concludes with the creation of a detailed plan for the development of the workforce. Among other things, a workforce development plan identifies opportunities for skill development and provides recommendations for training.
Following is a high-level overview of the key steps to phase one:
- The completion of a business review that plots out the business’ strategic direction and identifies key business needs
- The assessment of the skill and developmental needs of the business’ employees as they tie in with the business’ overall strategy
- Developing a Workforce Training and Action Plan that maps out business needs and workforce skills needs and that provides referrals to key training programs and developmental opportunities
There are no costs associated with participating in the first phase.
Phase 2
In Phase Two, business owners/managers must first decide whether or not to proceed with the recommendations made by the workforce planning and training Specialist.
Following is a high-level overview of the key steps to phase two:
- The facilitation of the placement of staff into training courses with accredited training organisations
- Completing a follow-up review following the completion of training (or following at least three months of training) and a Skills for Growth report which business owners/managers must review (and approve)
Phase two must be funded by the participating businesses, whose staff may be eligible for the Victorian Training Guarantee, which offers substantial subsidies for placements in recognised vocational training courses. Some of the basic eligibility considerations are: age, residency status, educational background, and citizenship.
It usually takes about four weeks to complete the Skills for Growth program. The followup review is generally completed after about six months.
Skills for Growth Program Eligibility
The Skills for Growth program is open to all small and medium sized businesses that are based in Victoria. In order to qualify, a business must::
- Employ between 1 and 200 people
- Have been in operation for at least 12 months
- Be financially viable (effective trading history and ability to meet debts when they fall due)
Clearly, the standards are set to encourage as many Victorian businesses to participate in the program as possible.
Key Statistics on the Skills for Growth Program
As of the end of January 2010, the Skills for Growth program had hit the following milestones:
- 1,648 businesses had signed up for Skills for Growth
- 667 workforce action plans had been approved by businesses
- 17,934 training plans for employees had been approved by businesses
- 10,488 approved training plans were eligible for the Victorian Training Guarantee
Those numbers show that the Skills for Growth program uptake has been strong. Businesses have also been getting strong results from teh Skills for Growth program, which you can read more about on Business Victoria’s website.
If you own or manage a Victoria-based business – and your business ticks the other “eligibility boxes” – you should really consider checking out the Skills for Growth program.
