Continuity and change: employers’ training practices and partnerships with training providers

Success factors for partnerships

The interviews indicated a number of factors which appear in successful RTO-employer partnerships. Some of the factors were specific to the delivery of training, while many can be seen as those which characterise successful business relationships more generally.

Values alignment. In successful and long term partnerships, the RTO and the employer shared a set of values that enabled the parties to communicate well and understand each other’s expectations. In general, the interviewees described the values alignment as a shared commitment to the value of training and the need to provide development opportunities for staff – both at the employer and at the RTO.

Trust. The most frequently mentioned factor in ensuring the success of partnerships was the notion of trust. The RTO could trust the employer to continue with its commitment to training over a long period, and neither cancel the program nor search for alternative providers. The employer could trust the RTO to deliver training effectively as agreed and to high quality standards. Trust was typically built up over a long period of time and was particularly a characteristic of long term partnerships.

Personal connections. The establishment of trust in the partnership was often linked to personal connections between the key players in the partnership at the employer and the RTO. In two of the cases studied, the revival of a previous partnership had taken place as a result of personal connections which had encouraged a trusting relationship from the start and led to the successful rejuvenation of previously lapsed agreements.

Communication. A key element in many of the cases was regular communication between the RTO and the employer. This communication did not generally need to be formalised (but occasionally was). In many cases it was the level and quality of frequent informal communications between the RTO and the employer that provided the bedrock of trust in which the partnership thrived.

Single point of contact. An important aspect of the successful partnership was the location of communication points in the respective organisations. Whilst frequent communication was a key aspect of successful partnerships, it was also critical that there were clear channels of communication between the two players and that, preferably, a single major point of contact was established by each partner. This enabled swift communication to take place as required and both organisations to be confident that successful training would follow.

Flexibility. One of the most important factors mentioned by employers in a successful partnership was the flexibility of the RTO. This term was used to refer to the willingness of the RTO to alter delivery methods and to customise content to suit the specific needs of the employer. In one case, an employer had terminated a previous partnership with an RTO that used on-line delivery as it was considered too inflexible, and replaced it with another RTO which used a blended delivery method and worked more closely with the employer to customise content.

Understanding of business needs. Another key characteristic sought by employers in partnering RTOs was an understanding of the business of the employer. This usually centred on the knowledge and skills of the RTO staff about the employer’s industry and their willingness to work closely with the staff at the employer to learn more about the business. As a result they could provide a service that met their needs, including being accommodating about matters such as the timing of the training delivery. Improving understanding of the business was also considered by many RTOs to be an invaluable source of development for training staff at the RTO.

Government funding. External funding was often useful as it facilitated partnerships in initial stages. However it seemed to become less important over time; in many cases, for example partnerships 5 and 6, this was a necessity as available funding had been reduced. Generally the employers affected by funding reductions tried to maintain activities through self-funding, but sometimes (e.g. 6) this provide difficult. Employers appreciated RTO efforts to find other sources of funding.

Challenges

The challenges identified by the interviewees varied considerably across the partnerships. All partners identified at least one challenge, with the exception of one partnership (2) where no challenges were identified by either partner. The timing and scheduling of training was frequently identified as a challenge by providers and employers. In particular, the following were identified, with examples:

Finding a suitable day and/or time for training (5, 9)

Ensuring staff were available to attend training (8)

Minimising disruption to work schedules (1)

Meeting deadlines for training and minimising training days (3)

For the public RTOs, meeting their partners’ training requirements was especially challenging, given the ‘nine to five’ culture of many staff and the need at times to deliver outside of normal working hours. For the public RTOs, challenges around flexibility and compliance were also identified. One TAFE identified that its partnerships required flexibility and this had required a culture shift within the organisation. In particular, the challenge was to balance being a government provider with the attendant industrial relations limitations, whilst providing training for an employer who had demands in terms of training needs, delivery site, delivery times and short timeframes.

Organisational culture was also identified by employers as an issue. Two of the employers specifically identified the reluctance within their organisations to recognise the value of training (4) and the need for change (1). Another employer (8) had faced reluctance from employees to embrace training and assessment as part of their roles, whereas for other employers the training culture was already embedded in their organisations. For these employers, the challenges identified focussed on ensuring the qualifications met the organisations requirements.

Interestingly, one employer (1) reflected the challenge was to not become too reliant on a single provider even if the relationship was good, ‘because then you end up over a barrel’. This challenge had become a reality for another employer (7) whose preferred provider, a small private RTO, had grown over the time of the partnership and was no longer as available as in the past. However, this employer had been willing and able to adjust and the employer acknowledged that the RTO had managed their expectations well.

Other challenges identified revolved around communication between the partners. In particular, one TAFE identified the challenge of ensuring the employer (1) kept them updated regarding changes in company policies and procedures. Another RTO identified the challenge of ensuring the employer updated them on new trainees to avoid surprises (5).

Given that these were relatively successful ongoing partnerships it is not surprising that limited challenges were identified. However, in the case of one partnership (1), which had been recently revived, the initial challenges of building a partnership were clearly evident. Reviving an early partnership that had broken down required a rebuilding of trust between the two organisations. In this instance the TAFE had to partner with another organisation to provide some of the training expertise required and the misgivings the employer had about the TAFE’s experience in the training area had to be addressed. The challenges and time to developing a good relationship in this instance were evident and provide an insight into the work already undertaken by the other RTOs and employers to develop and maintain their partnerships.

Evaluation of the partnership

On the whole the partnerships were viewed as successful; however, the level of actual evaluation of the partnerships and the training varied considerably. At a minimum the continuation of each of these partnerships was identified as an indicator of success. Informal forms of evaluation, in various combinations, were frequently identified by both the RTOs and the enterprises, including:

Informal feedback from participants to enterprise and/or trainer

Feedback between partners

Limited numbers of complaints from participants

High levels of completion

Training running smoothly

Meeting training requirements

Training participation judged by the trainer.

Formal evaluation was also identified in two of the cases. In one instance (6) the enterprise had reporting requirements regarding the success of the training and partnership, and the RTO utilised the ‘ASQA’ evaluation form for that purpose. In another case, feedback from trainees was gained via evaluation surveys to the RTO and the enterprise formally tracked the progress of trainees. In one instance, an enterprise (7) identified a continuous process of evaluation and review of training embedded within their day to day operations.