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Leadership and communication

High calibre leadership and communication skills, including the ability to apply effective workforce development strategies, are important ingredients for the overall success of your business.

The key abilities that are important for effective leadership include the ability to:

Leadership styles

Managers can draw on the Six styles of leadership in their day to day interaction with staff. However, leaders modify their behaviour according to the situation.

Self awareness

Being self aware can help you to become a more effective leader. Self awareness involves knowing what is important to you, how you experience things, how you feel and how you come across to others. In managing workforce diversity, it means understanding your own culture, identity, biases and stereotypes.

Communication is at the core of what most of us do, whether we’re building a business, leading change, dealing with difficult situations, revitalising a team, coping effectively with complaints, or creating an exceptional customer service climate.

Verbal communication sets the emotional tone and builds relationships that ultimately determine the performance culture of the workplace. If verbal communication is not effective, misunderstandings occur, coordination breaks down, relationships suffer, mistakes multiply and productivity plummets.

Clarify the purpose and any conversational protocols or ground rules.
Start by finding out employees’ positions/perceptions.

Chief executive or managing director

Chief executives and managing directors provide overall leadership and direction for an organisation. They are responsible for making major decisions and managing the operations, policies and strategies of the company.

Nursing clinical director

Nursing clinical directors oversee the planning, organisation, direction and coordination of the clinical nursing services in a hospital, aged care or other healthcare facility or service. They provide nursing leadership and professional guidance to nursing staff and ensure nurses and midwives deliver safe, effective and reliable health care to patients.

Hospitality, Retail, Tourism and Events

The retail, tourism and hospitality industries are the world’s largest employers. Whether you want to be a chef at a top restaurant, open your own cafe, experience the world as a travel agent or work in retail sales or marketing, these qualifications and courses can get you started at entry level or progress your career to management and leadership roles.

Call or contact centre team leader

A call or contact centre team leader is responsible for overseeing the performance of a team of call or contact centre operators. They provide leadership, coaching and support to their team, and develop plans to achieve the call or contact centre targets. They may be responsible for managing rosters, training staff, allocating duties, and handling problems or queries that require a higher level of authority. They will also review employee performance, and report progress to the call or contact centre manager.

Member of parliament

Parliamentarians represent the people of Australia and Western Australia in federal or state parliament by making decisions on their behalf and undertaking community-oriented activities in their electorate. They attend public meetings and events, make speeches in public or to organised groups,and work to develop government policies that represent the views of their electorate. Parliamentarians also attend sittings of parliament, during which time they debate and vote on new laws and changes to existing laws. They may also be placed in charge of a ministry or government department, and take responsibility for the directions that these bodies take under their leadership.

Training and development professional

Training officers develop and conduct an organisation's training and development program. They often consult with an organisation's management and staff to identify areas where training is necessary to improve aspects such as efficiency and safety. Training officers work in industries all over Western Australia, from corporate offices in the centre of Perth through to retail chains and fast food companies with stores in towns and cities state-wide. Training usually covers areas such as occupational health and safety, operating equipment, preparing for retirement, management and leadership skills, general clerical duties and/or industrial relations. Most training officers specialise in only one or two fields, so larger organisations may employ more than one.

Training and development

The training and development of your workforce is an important part of the workforce development cycle, and is integral to the success of your business. A wide range of training options are available. Some types of training, such as induction, first aid and workplace safety, are essential, depending on your workplace.

Jobs and Skills WA Employer Incentive

The Jobs and Skills WA Employer Incentive (the incentive) provides financial assistance to Western Australian businesses who employ an apprentice or new entrant trainee and who have lodged the training contract for registration on or after 1 July 2019.

The aim of the incentive is to increase apprenticeship and traineeship commencements by providing employers with assistance to meet the costs of employing an apprentice or trainee.

Training needs analysis

Training is an investment in your business and can lead to increased productivity, enthusiastic staff, higher morale, increased profit and a positive business reputation.

Developing your existing employees

Developing your existing employees is a possible alternative to recruiting new staff. Some advantages of doing this include:

Apprenticeships and traineeships

Employing an apprentice or trainee can help you to develop the skills of your workforce and could be the smartest decision you make.

Group training organisations (GTOs) can assist. GTOs employ apprentices and trainees and hire them to other businesses, referred to as host employers, while they undertake their training. Some specialise in a particular industry, while others may cater for an entire region and cover many industries.

As the primary employer, the GTO:

The GTO registration process comprises of an initial information session with the entity seeking to consider becoming a GTO, to discuss the business planning to be undertaken and demonstrating compliance with the National Standards for Group Training Organisations 2017.

Further details are provided in our fact sheet.

For more information on group training, and a copy of the national standards and related evidence guide, please visit the Australian Apprenticeships website.

australianapprenticeships.gov.au/group-training

There is a range of financial incentives to help businesses with the cost of taking on a new employee, apprentice or trainee. Incentives are provided by the Western Australian and Commonwealth Governments.

Multiple incentives can apply, so it is important to contact the agency providing the incentive to discuss your situation.

WA industry training councils

The Department of Training and Workforce Development provides funding for the operation of nine industry training councils (ITCs) in Western Australia to:

provide a leadership role in promoting their industry;
provide high level, strategic information and advice that informs the State Training Board on the training needs and priorities of industry in WA;
market intelligence on skills supply and demand, in particular, current or emerging skills shortages and recommends training strategies to support industry's skills development needs; and
prepare industry workforce development plans.

ITCs provide a valuable contribution towards the preparation of the State's training profile and the vocational and education and training system funding priorities, and receive a wide range of input from key stakeholder representatives including peak employer, employee, and industry organisations.

Australian Industry Skills Councils

The Australian Industry Skills Council (AISC) was established by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Industry and Skills Council in May 2015 to give industry a formal, expanded role in policy direction and decision-making for the vocational education and training sector.

The AISC is supported by Industry Reference Committees (IRCs) and Skills Service Organisations (SSOs).

Further information is available here: aisc.net.au/content/about-aisc.

Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia (Inc) (CCIWA) is a not-for-profit, member driven organisation that provides information, professional services and support for business.

Visit the CCIWA website for a full range of training and services available to support your business.

Small Business Development Corporation

The Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC) is a Western Australian State Government agency focused on the development of the small business sector. It strives to:

improve the skills and knowledge base of the small business sector;
take a leading role in influencing the policy and regulatory environment for small business;
facilitate regional small business development;
drive small business growth;
stimulate a culture of enterprise, and celebrate the success of small business; and
sustain a culture of achievement and leadership in small business development.

For additional information about how the SBDC may be able to assist your business go to smallbusiness.wa.gov.au.

WA Business Assist

WA Business Assist is a not for profit organisation who can help small to medium sized businesses with their workforce training and development through a range of workshops and courses.

Where you can go for help

These organisations all provide support and guidance to businesses.

Benefits of induction

There are two key benefits your business can gain from good induction processes:

How long should induction take?

A thorough induction may take anywhere from several hours to several days to complete. You can spread the induction over a couple of days or weeks if there is no risk to the person in regard to occupational hazards.

School leavers

School leavers typically have limited work experience and tend to be unfamiliar with the demands and habits of a workplace. They may need more support, greater detail regarding their responsibilities and obligations and may need a greater level of supervision for the first few months.

Employees with a disability or cultural difference

Australian and State government legislation prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, ethnic/social minorities, people with caring responsibilities, and those from a non-English speaking background.

It is important to address your duty of care in the induction process. Each person has a duty to ensure their action, or failure to take action, does not harm others. It is part of the occupational health and safety responsibilities and obligations for employers and employees. It is the employer’s responsibility to ensure that employees are safe in the workplace.

New employees are most at risk of being injured, primarily due to a lack of experience or familiarity with your workplace and processes. Ensure that you or experienced staff members provide proper training and supervise the new employee until you are confident that they are competent enough to be left unattended or unsupervised.

Your local Jobs and Skills Centre is a one stop shop for assistance with training and development for your workforce.

Workforce planning: Useful information and resources

You work hard to meet your business goals, and investing time into planning and developing your workforce can be a challenge. Having the right information, tools and resources to support the process is the first step to success.

Here you will find useful information, templates, links and resources to assist you to better plan, attract, develop and retain a skilled workforce that can help you reach those business goals now and into the future.

Your local Jobs and Skills Centre can also provide advice and assistance with maximising the potential of your workforce.

"The staff at the Jobs and Skills Centre really understand our requirements as an Indigenous owned business.

They have not only introduced us to other Indigenous businesses but have also matched us with suitable trainees and employees."

Gavin with Kieran from the Jobs and Skills Centre

Find your local Jobs and Skills Centre

Call your nearest Jobs and Skills Centre

Workplace health check

This quick self-check looks at the challenges and opportunities facing your industry area, your business and your workforce, to help identify key areas of focus for your planning.

Take the workplace health check

Five easy steps to workforce planning

Breaking the planning process down into five steps helps to focus on your current and future needs, and to get your ideas into an action plan.

Find out more about the five steps

Maximising your workforce

Targeted strategies and processes around key areas such as recruitment, training, retention and motivation of staff, and leadership and communication are important elements of your workforce planning.

Find out more about maximising your workforce

Workplace regulations

Here you can find information and resources to help keep you up to date with your employment obligations such as employment conditions, industrial relations both in WA and nationally, and health and safety.

Find out more about workplace regulations

Brochure 1–Getting the right people, in the right place, at the right time

Brochure 9–Investing in the experience of mature-age workers

Workforce planning

Workforce planning health check

Workforce action plan

Current workforce skills

Attraction and recruitment

Job analysis

Management and motivation

Ways to motivate and reward your employees

Business case studies

City of Melville—Workfo

Management and motivation case studies

Employee performance management evaluation review appraisals are explained in this short YouTube video.

Workforce development (A–D)

Aboriginal employment

Apprenticeship Office

Workforce development (E–R)

Employee entitlements

Workforce development (S–Z)

Skills development and training

Workforce planning

Australian Apprenticeship Support Network

Workforce regulations

Bullying and violence in the workplace

Employer obligations

Templates

Planning templates and tools at Business.gov.au

Marketing planning

The information presented in this section of the website was developed by the Department of Training and Workforce Development in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Western Australia (Inc), the Small Business Development Corporation, the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, and representatives from the Western Australian industry training councils.

Five easy steps to workforce planning

Workforce planning is a process, and as with any other process it is helpful to look at it as a series of steps ~ each with an output that leads towards successful completion.

The five step planning cycle presented here can support and guide you through the process of developing your own Workforce action plan to help you meet your changing workforce needs.

Workforce planning is a process, and as with any other process it is helpful to look at it as a series of steps ~ each with an output that leads towards successful completion.

The five step planning cycle presented here can support and guide you through the process of developing your own Workforce action plan to help you meet your changing workforce needs.

Step 1 — Business context and environment

Workforce planning needs to be directly linked to your business goals, and so the first step is to think about your own business context. Ask yourself the following questions:

What are my business goals and vision?
Where is my business heading? Is it growing, downsizing, transitioning, shifting skills, introducing new technology or is it in a maintenance mode?
What are the economic conditions that impact on my industry sector and markets and does this impact on my business?
Who are my customers/clients?
What is going on internally in my business and how will this impact on my workforce requirements?
What are the short, medium and long term goals for my business and what workforce skills and capability will I need to achieve these business goals?

Having a good understanding of the current environment and context of the industry your business is operating in, as well as your goals for the future of your business, will help you to plan your workforce needs and develop strategies to turn your goals into business success.

For information about your industry context, and to access industry training plans, contact your industry training advisory body.

Regional workforce development plans can also provide useful information.

For information on programs and services that can help your business, visit business.gov.au

Step 2 — Current workforce profile

What do you know about your current workforce?

For example, do you know the age, qualifications, skills, knowledge, experience, strengths, weaknesses, or any workforce issues of your staff? Perhaps your current staff have hidden potential that your business could use, or perhaps some staff may be underemployed and have the potential for training to up-skill them and transition them into new roles. Do you know what your employees’ plans are for the future, and know their expectations? Who do you expect may leave in the near or distant future?

You can gain a clear picture of your workforce’s strengths and development needs by doing a skills stocktake, analysing the patterns in your workforce data and discussing with your employees what their views are on issues, concerns or areas for improvement.

Refer to and complete the Current workforce profile and the Current workforce skills template. This simple exercise will give you a good base to work from when considering what your future workforce requirements may be and working out what might be missing.

Step 3 — Future workforce requirements

Based upon your business goals and vision, think about where your business is likely to be in two or three years time. Think about what is likely to shift and change. Think about your future products and services, markets, partnerships, stage of your business cycle and what your workforce needs may be. Consider all the possible scenarios that may emerge in the future. Now estimate what may happen to your workforce over the next few years. During this step it is also helpful to consider the following factors:

the age of your employees and their retirement plans;
the increasing diversity of the population;
skill shortages;
the different workplace expectations across the generations;
personal circumstance; and
that an employee’s development needs may change as a job role changes.

Once you have an idea about where your business will be in the next two to three years, and possibly in the longer term, think about what your ideal or desired workforce should look like and what skills they will need for your business in the future.
To help you with this step, refer to and complete the Future workforce skills template.

Step 4 — Analysing and filling the gap

Now you can take what you know about your current workforce and what you want your future workforce to look like and compare the two. This process is referred to as a Gap analysis. This will give you a clear idea about what the gaps are between the skills, staff numbers, job roles and experience of your current workforce and the workforce you will require to achieve your future workforce goals. Once you have this information you can start to build a workforce action plan to manage these gaps and achieve your goals.

Developing your workforce action plan

When developing your Workforce action plan, think about the areas that need to be changed, managed and developed. Then prioritise these into actions, responsibilities and timeframes (short, medium and long term) across the following key focus areas, which are all explored in Developing your workforce

Attraction and recruitment

Think about different ways to attract the right people, from the widest possible sources. This may involve redefining your job structures and recruitment and selection methods. It may also mean looking at a more diverse pool of potential employees.

Employee training and development

Think about ways to get people working most productively for you. For example, do you have an induction program and training processes to develop your own talented people? Think about how you can plan for succession. Regularly review how you train and develop your staff.

Employee management, motivation and reward

Think about ways to build a positive culture and workplace where people will want to work.

Employee retention

Think about different things you could put into place to keep your talented, valued employees working for you, even during a downturn.

Leadership and communication

Think about how you can lead and communicate with your employees more effectively. Good leadership and communication skills are at the core of building a positive workplace.

Step 5 — Review and evaluate your workforce action plan

Once you have developed and started to implement your workforce action plan, it is important to think about how you will know if your plan is working.

By reviewing and evaluating your workforce action plan you can begin to build a road map for any future action that may be required. Ask yourself:

Is my action plan producing the workforce results that I need?
Do I need to take any different or further action?