Skills Utilisation in the New Zealand workplace

1. Skills Utilisation in the New Zealand workplace Robert Haig Strategic Research Evaluation and Monitoring

2. What is Skills Utilisation and why are we interested in it? • Defined as ‘‘policies and practices which support people to participate effectively in the workforce and to develop and apply skills in a workplace context…” (Skills Australia 2012) • NZ has invested heavily in education and training. However, productivity performance remains low relative to OECD countries • Interest in better skills utilisation is increasing in countries like UK and Australia as focus shifts away from skills supply, towards skills demand

3. Four main interview questions explored • Main triggers for better skills utilisation • Role of management and leadership • What kind of practices and processes are successful • What are the outcomes. • The research used an interview framework recently developed by Skills Australia (AWPA)

4. How we ran the project • We interviewed 5 firms in the construction, retail, tourism, local Government, and health sectors • Face-to-face interviews at different levels from senior management down to front-line staff • The interviews were used to produce five case studies that highlighted key themes across each organisation

5. Main findings – Triggers and practices that made a difference • A variety of triggers, but a desire to retain staff was stated by all organisations • Practices and processes that made a difference: • Investment in internal training and staff mentoring arrangements • Identifying and developing ‘soft skills’ (esp for current and future managers) • Capture and reward systems for staff ideas and innovation • Flexible and ‘family friendly’ arrangements for work and further study

6. Better practices start from the top … • Role of managers and leadership was crucial: • Set out a business philosophy/vision • ‘Walk the talk’ • Lead the development of actions and oversee their introduction • A flat management structure was a common feature of the organisations interviewed • The most commonly reported benefits were: • A reduction in staff turnover • Visible recognition via special awards (e.g. Kenexa best Workplaces) to build morale and promote the organisation

7. Next steps • Case studies and research will be published at MBIE website early next year – Robert.Haig@mbie.govt.nz • Introduction to Don Stock …