All aboard the learning train

TASWATER’S learning and development programs are about much more than just compliance.

TasWater senior learning and development consultant Melissa Flynn said learning and development took place across the whole company, with two major components.

“One is compliance-based training, which is for our operational staff,’’ Ms Flynn said. “It’s things like white cards, working at heights, first aid and resuscitation training.

“We also have a stream of discretionary training across the whole business as well.”

The discretionary training includes diplomas, degrees and certificates such as project management and leadership management.

TasWater employs the “70-20-10” HR rule, whereby 70 per cent of workplace learning is on the job, 20 per cent comes from interacting with colleagues, and 10 per cent is formal training.

“The 10 per cent is how the education feeds into the upskilling and on-the-job type skills,” Ms Flynn said.

She said providing formal training opportunities was a way of rewarding TasWater’s hardworking employees who aspire to perform better and “be the best that they can be”.

“You’ve got a more engaged and upskilled work force that feels valued because the business is ready to invest in them, their performance and their future, even if they decide that their future is going to be away from TasWater,” Ms Flynn said.

Starting early next year, TasWater will be undertaking a strategic workforce planning process.

“This is HR best practice and has not been done before [by TasWater] or in the water industry or waste-water industry nationally,’’ Ms Flynn said.

“It will show us what benefits we’re getting from what we’re doing at the moment and, more importantly, what we’re going to need in the future.

“It will give us a really good gap analysis of what skills we have and what we’re going to need out to 10 years.

“Then we’ll be able to sculpt our training needs analysis based on that.”

She said not many businesses had gone through a proper strategic workforce planning process.

“I believe that is what’s going to put us ahead of the pack, because we will have actually done the work to look to the future,’’ Ms Flynn said.

“In everything TasWater does there’s a strong focus on our values and our overarching safety value of zero harm.”