Potential solutions to common challenges
The following offers potential solutions to some of the most common challenges in planning for and developing place-based approaches.
Challenge
Limited awareness of career pathways among students, job seekers and career advisors.
Potential Solution
Collaborate with stakeholders such as local schools, training providers, universities, recruitment providers, government departments including the Queensland Department of Employment, Small Business and Training (DESBT) and the Queensland Department Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (DATSIP) to facilitate career events and /or job expos.
The most successful job events have genuine jobs available for job seekers with employers invited to talk about the jobs and interact with potential candidates. It is also beneficial to provide resume assistance at the event. Having an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Employment Facilitator to guide and support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job seekers through the process can also be advantageous.
See:
Engaging school students
Engaging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
Engaging disadvantaged job seekers
Logan Bayside Health Network
Career pathway resources
Challenge
Disengaged youth and / or youth who leave their communities in search of better job opportunities elsewhere, or to attend university only to graduate and find there are no suitable local jobs to match their qualifications so they move to urban centres.
Potential Solution
Partner with local schools to encourage families to be more engaged in education and careers. Consider holding joint information nights to inform parents and students of education to employment opportunities, so that they become more aware of the benefits of education and the potential jobs available within their local community.
See:
AllevE8
Logan Bayside Health Network
Improve local and regional employment opportunities by working with regional economic development authorities to leverage regional economic advantages and improve regional branding to attract more industry, better economic development, create more liveable communities, and increase population growth. Improved regional economic development will assist to create more employment opportunities for youth.
Challenge
Limited ability to commit personnel resources to manage or deliver a Grow Your Own (GYO) program.
Potential Solution
Create a collaborate partnership approach with stakeholders such as schools; training providers; universities; local council; local chamber of commerce; other employers with similar needs; jobactives; community groups; and Regional Development Australia committees to reduce the time and cost burden. For example, jobactives can assist by providing free end-to-end recruitment services saving employers time and money. It is important to ensure that there is a clear governance structure to identify individual responsibilities and to agree on a common, measurable objective.
See:
The Sweetest Job project
Logan Bayside Health Network
CentacareCQ
Challenge
Limited knowledge of available funding sources that could potentially assist with employment and training costs.
Limited resources and / or knowledge to create funding applications.
Potential Solution
Leverage the knowledge of those in the community who do have the capacity and the knowledge such as jobactives, regional Back to Work Officers, regional DESBT and DATSIP officers, local training providers, community groups and Regional Development Australia committees. To be sustainable, it is important to ensure that GYO programs budget effectively and do not solely rely on external funding.
Challenge
Limited capacity and knowledge to undertake workforce planning.
Potential Solution
It is critical for organisations to allocate a budget to ensure that key staff are trained to undertake strategic workforce planning as a core part of the business planning process.
Challenge
Limited access to training providers and costly training.
Potential Solution
Partner with other employers with similar skill needs to create a cohort training model to achieve economies of scale that make the training more cost efficient for the participants and more financially viable for a training provider to deliver.
Schools should also investigate partnering with other schools in their region to create cohort training models.
Investigate options to deliver the training online.
Challenge
Limited capacity to provide support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job seekers, trainees and interns and employees.
Potential Solution
Work with Community Elders and local community groups with strong connections to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander residents to gain a better understanding of workforce challenges and culturally-appropriate support mechanisms.
Investigate opportunities to obtain funding from the Australian and Queensland Government to provide support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. There are several programs that not only help employers access Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job seekers but also provide personalised assistance to help build their skills and enable them to participate in work activities to their maximum capacity.
See:
Catholic Education Northern Territory Growing Our Own Program
Funding for recruitment
Funding for training
Investigate opportunities to link in with CareerTrackers, a non-profit organisation that provides support for Indigenous university students during their studies and links them with private sector employers to participate in paid internships. CareerTrackers can provide employers with advice on approaches to better suit and support Indigenous employees. They also provide interns with pre-employment leadership development training and post-employment professional assistance, such as executive mentoring and peer encouragement.
See:
CareerTrackers Indigenous Internship Program
Consider conducting cultural competency and awareness training for staff who could become mentors.
Challenge
Workforce attraction and development programs are motivated by available government funding rather than being led by industry, resulting in an over or under supply of appropriately skilled workers.
Potential Solution
Involve employers from the outset when designing a workforce attraction or development initiative such as a school-based Health Hub, an education to employment program or Skilling Queenslanders for Work project. This will ensure that projects meet the skill requirements of local employers and there are genuine employment opportunities for job seekers. Enabling employers to contribute to shaping their future workforce will support better outcomes for all involved.