Workforce capability

Encourage professional learning and personal growth.

Help your employees deliver organisational goals by creating a learning culture.

• Do you encourage employees to reflect on their performance?
• How can you uncover individual strengths and build learning into everyday job tasks?
• Do you train managers to supervise and communicate with staff?

What you can do

Explore your team’s capabilities through training, coaching and professional development. Recruit to fill known role gaps and support your team’s culture.

1. Recruitment

Make recruitment and promotion processes fair and transparent.

• Appoint and promote based on merit and performance
• Have a formal induction process and train managers to implement it
• Create a peer support program for new starters

2. Training

Offer training to support both individual and team competency.

• Make sure employees have the knowledge, skills and abilities to do their jobs
• Offer regular training on policies such as Diversity and Inclusion, Risk Management, and Code of Conduct
• Train leaders and managers in effective communication

3. Development

Allow your employees to drive their own learning and development. Empower people to make decisions.

• Give time to employees to talk through career goals and development pathways
• Offer opportunities to act at a higher level or in other roles
• Give employees time to acquire and consolidate skills

4. Performance

Make regular performance feedback two-way and expected.

• Create a performance and development template
• Have regular performance reviews with open and constructive feedback
• Make sure work demands are achievable

Resources

Please note: These are only suggested resources. Organisations should consider their own needs when selecting resources to use.

Recruitment

• Fair Work Ombudsman: Hiring employees – Rights and responsibilities of hiring a new employee. 
• Australian Human Rights Commission: A step-by-step guide to preventing discrimination in recruitment – User-friendly step-by-step guide on recruitment. 
• Australian Government: Australian employment conditions – Information and resources about employment conditions in Australia. 
• Queensland Government: Staff onboarding and inductions – Step-by-step guides on employee onboarding, inductions and inductions for existing staff. 
• Fair Work Ombudsman: Induction Checklist– Word document checklist to help you in inducting your new employee.

Training

• Australian Government: Staff development and training – Information on how to manage employees’ professional development and understand the ways to help advance their skills and knowledge.
• Training: 5 Steps to Conducting an Effective Training Needs Analysis – Training Needs Analysis is a process that enables you to accurately identify upskilling opportunities.
• Comcare: Comcare training –  Comcare offers a range of education and training on topics related to the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHS Act) and Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRC Act).  
• Queensland Government: Staff training, development and mentoring – Information on developing a training and development program, your training obligations and developing employees through mentoring, coaching and shadowing. 
• Queensland Government: HR policies and procedures – Information on why you need workplace policies and procedures, and how to develop, implement and review HR policies and procedures.
  

Development

• Australian Government – Department of Employment and Workplace Relations: Core Skills for Work Developmental Framework – The Core Skills for Work Developmental Framework and a range of tools and resources for trainers, educators, employers and individuals.
• Australian Government – Jobs and Skills Australia: Work – advice on Australia’s labour market. 
• Australian Government – Department of Employment and Workplace Relations: Training staff – Information on National Training Packages and upskilling employees. 
• Australian Government – Business: Staff development and training – Information on how to manage employees’ professional development and understand the ways to help advance their skills and knowledge.
• National Skills Commission: Emerging and trending skills in Australia – Information on emerging and trending skills in Australia. 

Performance

• Comcare: Enhancing Performance information and video – An introduction to performance development and management. 
• Comcare: Enhancing Performance factsheet –  Factsheet on good work design: enhancing performance. 
• Victorian Government: Review staff performance – Information on how to conduct a performance review and set-up an ongoing review system. 
• Fair Work Ombudsman: Managing performance – Information on managing performance including tools and resources. 
• Queensland Government: Business – Managing staff performance – How to prepare staff for performance reviews and how to deal with underperformance.