News & Events
Position vacant: strategic HR role in leading training providers
3 November 2008
With an ageing and highly casualised workforce, public and private training providers face their own workforce challenge in the years ahead. They must put human resource (HR) management firmly on the agenda to meet this challenge.
Research released by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) says strategically focused HR management systems are key to business success for training providers.
The study, by Andrew Smith and Geof Hawke, suggests that achieving this may mean significant regulatory and structural change.
For large public providers, such as TAFE institutes, the study recommends a loosening of centralised HR management practices. It also encourages these providers to adopt a more strategic focus on HR management by giving HR managers a place at the 'decision-making table'.
On the other hand, private training providers undergoing rapid growth are encouraged to formalise their HR management practices to ensure their successful future expansion, but not at the expense of flexibility.
NCVER Managing Director Tom Karmel, said the study assessed the degree to which HR management practices played a strategic role in the life of training organisations. He said it provided future directions for public and private providers that would enable them to plan and operate more effectively.
"This study especially challenges public providers. The idea of loosening centralised HR management practices is really quite radical as is giving HR managers a high profile in a TAFE's executive," Dr Karmel said.
To download a copy of Human resource management in Australian registered training organisations, please visit http://www.ncver.edu.au/publications/2041.html.
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