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This paper presents and analyses results from a research project on current trends in employer training in Australia. While the formal vocational education and training (VET) system is well-researched, the everyday training that happens in workplaces is relatively under-researched in Australia. Using some of the results of an employer survey undertaken in 2015, the paper describes and analyses employer-based training across a range of industry areas. The survey included groups of questions on a range of matters, including the reasons why employers train, and how these relate to employers' perceptions of their operating environment, and the structures they have in place to manage and organize training. Detailed data are provided about three specific forms of training: in-house training and learning; the use that employers make of external providers of training; and employers' use of nationally recognised training - training from the VET system. Finally the paper reports what managers said about the barriers to providing more training. The paper analyses the findings in relation to the literature and also identified changes over time in training practices in Australian companies. Implications for training policy and practice, as well as for future research, are identified.

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This paper analyses the impact that nationally recognised training has had on the practice of human resource management in Australian organisations. Since the late 1980s, the Australian vocational education and training system has undergone major reforms. These reforms have been aimed at making training more relevant to the needs of Australian business. A key development in training reform has been the emergence of training packages, sets of occupational competency standards, qualifications and assessment guidelines covering most jobs in the economy. The research reported in this paper shows how nationally recognised training in the form of training package qualifications has been taken up by Australian employers and has begun to re-shape not only training practices but also broader approaches to human resource management. Many employers are now using the competency standards contained in training packages to underpin other human resource management practices such as recruitment and selection, performance management and management development. The use of consistent national standards to underpin these activities has led to better alignment and integration of human resource management in some organisations, as predicted by theories of bundling in the strategic human resource management literature.

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Apprenticeship has evolved over time in all countries, gradually adapting to changes in industrial processes, the economy, the labour market and education systems. However recent changes in the economy and the labour market have the potential to disrupt apprenticeship systems quite radically. Changes in apprenticeship systems themselves have partly met some of these challenges. In this chapter, the readiness of apprenticeship systems and practices to address developments in the 'new world of work' is explored: there is currently little empirical research in this area. Case study research in five Australian companies is used to indicate the potential of individual workplaces to attend to, and to incorporate, necessary changes to their apprenticeship training; and the potential role of apprenticeship intermediary organisations is discussed, as a facilitator for companies that need or would like additional support.

This chapter draws together the data from two pieces of research to present a generally optimistic view of current developments and the potential of apprenticeship to address future developments. It provides examples of good practice from employers and from intermediary organisations. It recognises the desire, and sometimes need, to change apprenticeship systems, such as the use of intermediary organisations, but also cautions against hasty developments which may later be regretted and difficult to undo.

Published introduction.

The volume from which this chapter is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 143.412. Show less

The role of learning and development specialists has changed radically in the past 20 years. Previously viewed as a necessary cost in good economic times, learning and development professionals have gradually developed an increasingly wide range of specialisms and become key organisational figures as companies increasingly value knowledge generation and innovation as key competitive advantages. This recent study has gathered data from high-level specialists and a broad national member base to build a profile of the current body of learning and development professionals.

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This paper reports on reactions of teachers employed by public and private vocational education and training (VET) providers to the introduction of competency-based training (CBT) models of course design and delivery. The researchers conducted detailed interviews across 36 VET courses and administered a questionnaire designed to reveal ‘stages of concern’ as CBT practices were introduced, under the assumption that concerns with ‘self’, ‘task’ and ‘impact’ would represent successive stages of assimilation. The findings revealed significant differences in levels of comfort with and understanding of the new practices between groups of teachers practicing under different regimes. The researchers conclude that a difficult transition is being made successfully, but that there are key inadequacies in levels of understanding, provision of staff development and management of the transition by employers. An extended literature review canvasses the issues of dissatisfaction already widely noted in the VET community, concentrating particularly on inadequacies in information flow and lack of adequate professional development programs.

The volume of collected proceedings is indexed at TD/TNC 57.76; individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 57.77 to TD/TNC 57.122. Show less

In apprenticeship systems, intermediary organisations typically assist with recruitment and/or management of apprentices. This paper compares and contrasts the two major intermediary organisation types in apprenticeship systems in England and Australia. It focuses particularly on the way in which the organisations are funded, and the effects of funding on their operations. There has been very little research on intermediary organisations, and no prior international comparison. The encouragement of third party agencies has been a feature of governments wishing to expand apprenticeship systems; hence there is a need for evidence to inform governments' decision-making. The paper is drawn from data gathered for a recent research project funded by the International Labour Organization [report available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 138.649], undertaken by desk review of documents including government-commissioned evaluation reports, analysis of intermediary organisations' web sites, and conversations with government personnel, peak bodies and other experts in the two countries, some of whom also assisted with validation. The paper draws out and analyses data specifically on Australia and England: in Australia, Group Training Organisations and Australian Apprenticeship Service Network [AASN] providers; and in England, Group Training Associations and Apprenticeship Training Agencies.

It was clear that there were considerable differences in approach and ethos, both among and within the intermediary organisation types. Some had evolved organically, often in specific industry or geographical areas, but some had sprung into being to access financial opportunities, whether funded by government or, to a lesser extent, through fee-for-service opportunities afforded by government endorsement. Such evaluations as exist have highlighted some problems associated with profit-driven intermediaries, and the research has uncovered more such problems. The Australian 'AASN' providers, for example, are particularly profit-driven. The paper presents a framework for understanding intermediary organisations based on funding sources, and warns against 'contracting out' basic functions of apprenticeship to private providers.

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This paper provides an overview of the Australian apprenticeship and traineeship system followed by a case study of a large construction company that re-conceptualised its apprenticeship system in the State of Victoria to produce future senior managers for the company. A number of features of the apprentice systems in the company combined to produce good outcomes, but the paper also identifies some areas that needed improvement.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 110.560. Show less

This paper reports on and analyses the findings of a research project in 2018 involving six companies employing apprentices and/or trainees in the State of Victoria, Australia. The project was funded by the International Labour Organization as part of that organisation's 'Tools for Quality Apprenticeships' project. While the purpose of the project was to find out what tools and processes companies have for apprenticeship management, the case studies provided much richer data. The project showed how companies are not only dealing with the perennial 'big issues' in apprenticeship - such as improving productivity while also addressing inclusivity, and using apprenticeship as a way to attract good employees - but also addressing new developments such as Industry 4.0 and movement of labour globally.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 151.801. Show less

This paper looks at apprenticeship learning and training from a new standpoint - the psychological contract. The notion of the psychological contract is commonly used in the human resource management field to understand the nature of employment relationships. It has not previously been applied to apprenticeships in any systematic manner. This paper reports on a research project that applied a pre-existing instrument to apprentices and employers and also included qualitative case studies in nine companies.

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This paper reports on some findings from a major national research project into a fairly new development in Australian vocational education and training (VET): the offering by enterprises, as training providers, of qualification-based training to their workers. The research was undertaken within enterprise registered training organisations (enterprise RTOs); these are companies or other non-educational organisations that have been accredited to offer qualifications, primarily to their own workers.

The paper uses findings from the project to explore the institutional infrastructure associated with employer decisions to become enterprise RTOs and maintain that status. Three aspects are examined. Firstly, the paper reports how enterprise RTOs interact with the national VET system, in terms of compliance with national quality and reporting requirements. Secondly, it examines the internal infrastructures set up within the companies to operate the enterprise RTO itself and to carry out training that results in a national qualification. Thirdly it explores the impact upon workers (who are also learners) of this way of delivering training. The project found that the processes required to operate as an enterprise RTO were very complex and demanding, and that the enterprise RTO was regularly required to prove its worth to the broader company. In an unanticipated finding, it emerged that during the project's life, changes in the economic and business environment affected the companies within which enterprise RTOs operated, affecting the operations and structure of the RTOs.

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