The Commonwealth Government’s freeze on indexation of financial assistance grants continues to place pressure on budgeting in the wake of cost shifting. And with the responsibility for billion dollar asset management, Victorian councils are facing enormous financial strain. With responsibility for employing over 50,000 people across the state, Victorian councils are in a state of considerable flux as they transition the way they operate to work smarter with less in response to these pressures. As councils look to identify efficiencies, within the rubric of knowledge and skills, learning and development will be critical to the health of all Victorian councils.

Improve intellectual capital to ensure quality of outputs and services

Not only are there direct links to employee productivity, investment in learning and development is one of the chief methods of improving and maintaining intellectual capital. This can have a direct impact on the quality of the council’s value outputs and services. Henry Ford commented ‘[t]he only thing worse than training your employees and having them leave is not training them and having them stay.’ In an environment where communities are encouraged by the State government through the Know Your Council website to access an enormous amount of data to critically compare and evaluate the services provided by their local council, the cost of untrained or poorly trained employees can significantly impact the public’s perception of the support and services being provided.

Learning and development is critical to the longevity of personal, career and organisational development. By increasing focus on learning and development, councils can minimise organisational risks, maximise employee potential and increase employee engagement and productivity. Separately, there are the anecdotal benefits of a happy and healthy workforce of cognitively engaged workers.

With mid mid-year performance reviews fast approaching, it is critical, as best-practice employers, councils turn their minds to the opportunities they want to present their employees. We recommend Councils adopt a development planning approach which is a pragmatic, balanced and holistic approach to learning and development.

Broaden the construct – More than classroom training

As practitioners, we need to pay more than mere lip service to broadening the construct of learning and development beyond classroom training. Separate to the knowledge acquired through formal university education and a handful of exceptionally well delivered Victorian Chamber courses, the most beneficial learning and development I have achieved has been through stretch projects and mentoring. Learning and development should focus on identifying the skills gaps and filling them with quality learning and development opportunities tailored to the skills development required.

Maximise investment – Training needs analysis

Investment in learning and development should be justified by a formal training needs analysis. We encourage councils to move away from the traditional scattergun approach to identifying learning and development priorities. Best practice provision of learning and development is to conduct a training needs analysis to balance the genuine needs of individuals, ensuring training is targeted and relevant. It also enables councils to maximise their investment by identifying common development needs across council leading to economies of scale.

Training needs analysis identify the skills, knowledge, and experiences an employee needs to maximise their performance in their current role and prepare them for their next.  We encourage managers to actively engage with employees in development planning, which identifies more than classroom training, for instance, stretch projects and mentoring.  

Support employees by removing operational barriers

As someone who continues to manage the pressures of full-time work and part-time studies, operational barriers can place considerable pressure on pursuing further formal education. To overcome these challenges, proactively build in formal development plans and regular catch-ups with employees pursuing further formal education. Use these catch-ups to monitor workload and stress levels. Understand pressure points and offer your employees support should they require it. Sit down with employees at the beginning of the semester and identify when exams and assessments are due to ensure any leave arrangements are applied for early to accommodate peak demands for their intellectual capacity and that council business operations are not unnecessarily impacted. These measures will reduce unexpected personal leave, low productivity and mitigate employee stress. You’re also investing in your employees which will hopefully contribute towards retention.

By broadening the construct of what learning and development is, to encompass more than classroom learning, councils can better identify the learning and development needs of employees. With a better understanding of what employees need to develop holistically, which should be achieved through targeted training needs analysis, councils can realise economies of scale in the provision of training opportunities, and invest smarter to achieve more with less.

Contact your dedicated Workplace Relations Constant – Local Government, Lisa Alcock to discuss learning and development and training needs analysis further.

Lisa Alcock – Workplace Relations Consultant – Local Government
03 8662 5139
LAlcock@victorianchamber.com.au