‘Working life stage’ approach can help industries transform

GOVERNMENT and industry have a social and fiscal responsibility to develop our workforce.

GOVERNMENT and industry have a social and fiscal responsibility to develop our workforce.

Certainly, the Australian government has been trying.

In recent years it has given dedicated, long-serving industry leaders the responsibility — and hundreds of millions of dollars — to skill, re-skill and upskill their people.

At the same time, industry and academics have produced comprehensive reports telling us — consistently — that industries are in transformation with different skills required in the future than those we have now, and that universities and industry must speak to each other more often about how to address this.

The problem is that we know this already and we understand that it puts us at a major disadvantage in global labour markets.

We also know some industries (such as manufacturing, retail, community services, health, aged care, disability and the volunteer sector) and some states are feeling the pain of transformation more than others.

My concern is that we are not asking the right questions — or at least not asking them in the right order.

As a nation, we should focus on strategic workforce planning (evidence-based risk assessment) before workforce development (risk mitigation) strategies are ­explored. And the workforce must be an active contributor to this process.

The Australian paid and volunteer workforce needs answers to the following questions.

● What business scenarios should be considered in their local area, region and state?

● What is government and ­industry’s backup plan should these scenarios fail?

● Where are the jobs (paid and volunteer) now?

● What will the skills of the ­future be: technical, trade, professional, a mix of all?

● What does the Australian workforce need by way of skills, qualifications and experience to be job and volunteer ready?

● How can they contribute to the labour market — permanent, part-time, contract, supply chain, contingent, seasonal employment and voluntary work?

● How transferable are their skills?

● What is Australia’s approach to regional workforce planning and development?

● How is Australia positioning its labour market to compete?

● Will industry and government enable us to work in a way that best suits us?

The traditional focus on ­workforce diversity around age, gender, culture and impairment, among others, is potentially ­discriminatory and a distraction to better workforce analytics such as understanding the “working life stage” of the Australian workforce.

If we were able to tell an Australian labour market story in which people matched their “working life stage” to their ­labour market availability and ­intentions, we may be better able to ­assist our industries in their transition, in identifying jobs of the ­future and in increasing workforce productivity.

A “working life stage” approach gathers labour market data on the new entry, early, mid-career and end-career workforces, as well as the transition workforce (graduates, trainees, retirees, seasonal, contingent and volunteers).

Industries, businesses and org­anisations that are succeeding globally are applying quality ­strategic workforce planning, and so should we.

Julie Sloan is the chief executive of Workforce Planning Global.