NCVER provider training wopartnershipsrking industry togetheindustryr and VET training partnerprovidshipser training indVETustry working training VETpartnerships Working together Industry and VET provider training partnerships Victor Callan Peta Ashworth e Need more information on vocational education and training? Visit NCVER’s website <http://www.ncver.edu.au> 4 Access the latest research and statistics 4 Download reports in full or in summary 4 Purchase hard copy reports 4 Search VOCED—a free international VET research database 4 Catch the latest news on releases and events 4 Access links to related sites NCVER Working together Industry and VET provider training partnerships Victor Callan Peta Ashworth University of Queensland The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author/project team and do not necessarily reflect the views of ANTA or NCVER. © Australian National Training Authority, 2004 This work has been produced with the assistance of funding provided by the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA). It is published by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research under licence from ANTA. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reported by any process without the written approval of NCVER Ltd. Requests should be made in writing to NCVER Ltd. The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author/ project team and do not necessarily reflect the views of ANTA or NCVER. ISBN 1 920895 70 1 print edition ISBN 1 920895 71 X web edition TD/TNC 77.19 Published by NCVER ABN 87 007 967 311 Level 11, 33 King William Street, Adelaide SA 5000 PO Box 8288 Station Arcade, Adelaide SA 5000, Australia <http://www.ncver.edu.au> Contents Tables and figures 5 Executive summary 6 Background 10 Introduction 10 What are partnerships? 10 Training partnerships 11 Levels of competition and change 11 Change, learning and partnerships 12 The growth in partnerships 14 Training partnerships 16 Environmental influences on partnerships 16 The training model 18 People issues 20 A partnership model for VET 22 Research questions 23 Respondents to the survey 24 Confidentiality 24 Characteristics of respondents 24 Environmental issues—findings 26 Types of partnership 26 Location of the partnerships 28 Gross revenue 29 Track record and reputation 29 The development of partnerships 30 Levels of formality 33 Attitudinal and cultural issues 35 Training issues—findings 37 Drivers for training 37 Flexibility and customisation 40 Regional and remote area issues 42 Administrative arrangements 44 Returns on investment in the training partnership 47 People issues—findings 50 Building trust 50 Communication skills and relationship management 52 NCVER 3 Performance of the partnership—findings 54 Partnership performance 54 Learning from partnerships 55 Developing better partnerships 58 Industry concerns 58 Areas for improvement 59 Guidelines for building better partnerships 59 References 62 Appendices A: Methodology 65 B: Telephone interview questions 67 C: Lists of VET providers and industry 71 D: Background characteristics 74 E: Survey questionnaire 76 4 Working together: Industry and VET provider training partnerships Tables and figures Tables 1 Attitudinal and cultural issues 36 2 Main drivers for the industry–employer partnerships 37 3 Effectiveness of provider staff in partnering 53 4 Performance of the organisation in partnering with industry (perceived levels of satisfaction) 54 5 Performance of the industry partners (perceived levels of satisfaction) 55 6 Learning from partnerships 56 Q1 What is your title? 74 Q2 What is your level of involvement in VET industry–provider partnerships? 74 Q3 How would you classify your institution? 74 Q4 How would you classify your institution? 74 Q5 What state/territory is your institution based in? 75 Q6 In which of the following locations does your institution have VET industry–provider partnerships? 75 Q9 What percentage of your training partnerships with industry falls under each of the following categories? 75 Q13 Please give a conservative estimate of the annual gross revenue and number of VET industry-provider partnerships that you know are operating at present between your institution and industry/employers. 75 Figures 1 Partnerships—the optimum environment, training and people mix 22 NCVER 5 Executive summary Purpose of the research This research investigated the nature of a number of the larger and more commercial vocational education and training (VET) industry–provider training partnerships operating in Australia today. The project, which involved a review of the literature, a survey of training providers and interviews with 52 providers and their industry partners, addressed the following research questions: What is the nature of the training partnerships? What is the training model being used, including the extent to which training models vary in their levels of flexibility, customisation, administrative arrangements, and the formality of the training relationship? What are the people skills being required by VET providers to build and maintain these partnerships? What are partners learning and needing to improve? What are some practical guidelines that VET and other professionals can use in setting up and managing successful industry–provider training partnerships? Findings What is the nature of the training partnerships? The training partnerships: were set up and/or managed in the VET sector by senior managers, heads of school, and business development managers/partnership development managers or persons of similar title involved a core group of provider and industry staff who managed the partnership or multiple partnerships were mostly multiple smaller partnerships worth less than $200 000 gross annually, with a small percentage generating a million dollars or more in gross income annually. Overall, there was a ‘break-even’ attitude about many partnerships, in that the financial benefits were being viewed against a range of non-financial returns which made continuing the relationships worthwhile involved one industry partner and one provider in the vast majority of cases, but in a small number of cases, multiple players were involved, sometimes as consortia involved predominantly a local industry partner and provider situated within close geographic proximity to each other, although some partnerships were interstate and others were based off shore were ongoing relationships, often involving more than just direct delivery of training and, as a result, often had no defined end date. In relation to providers, the three major drivers for establishing training partnerships were to generate additional revenue, to provide staff with stronger links with industry, and to build additional capabilities in their staff. For industry and employers, the gains included an enhanced 6 Working together: Industry and VET provider training partnerships industry capacity to focus on their core business, and to deal with a skills shortage. Financial benefits included access to a range of funds which allowed support for specific training. State government support packages were often major drivers for the growth of training partnerships. Partnerships were spread fairly evenly across three types of partnering—those involving the pooling of existing resources, joint ventures combining the training capability of the partners, and partnerships based upon various enhancements to training models. Most operated under some form of formal partnership agreement. Providers wanted to expand into more partnerships involving joint ventures with various industry bodies and organisations. They believed that joint ventures allowed them to demonstrate their ability to work with a variety of partners in a commercial environment. Providers considered that there was strong support in their organisations for seeking training partnerships with industry, and developing profitable partnerships was a major objective of the VET providers. However, in a number of instances, VET providers were less clear about the strategic objectives of industry–training partnerships. Industry, for its part, identified a number of barriers to partnering. These barriers included procedures, structures and accountability mechanisms within training organisations which slowed down the establishment of partnerships, as well as their day-to- day management. What is the training model being used, including to what extent do training models vary in their levels of flexibility, customisation and administrative arrangements? The research investigated the ability of training organisations to respond to industry needs through adjustments in their approach to training. The findings demonstrated that: Training involved substantial levels of flexibility and the use of a variety of modes of delivery. Methods of delivery included the use of in-class material, self-paced material, (which was predominantly computer-based and website learning), ‘chalk-and-talk’ classroom teaching, and intensive blocks or staggered attendance programs. Other modes included multiple offerings to allow for shift workers, or ‘tag-team teaching’ with a theory-based technical and further education (TAFE) lecturer and practice-oriented business worker both delivering the same course. Experienced employees were being trained at Certificate IV in Workplace Assessment and Training level to provide further flexibility for delivery options and training schedules. High levels of customisation were