VET relationship; how we work together.”
In the third case study, Apache Energy’ s Stewart Allan, in Perth, didn’ t use the word flexibility, but implied it. In response to the question, What is best practice about Challenger Institute of Technology’ s work with Apache, he said:“ I’ d sum it up as innovative. And we look at problems together; we work closely together … The training that is required in an offshore facility and the resources industry needs to be understood, and that’ s what Challenger gives me.”
In the fourth case study, Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia CEO Jo-Ann Kellock, in Melbourne, said that Kangan Institute staff“ are definitely flexible and that’ s to their credit … Kangan has given us flexibility they’ re accessible, the training is tailored to the needs of industry, and their people are well qualified and / or very willing to learn.”
In the final case study from Albury, Murrumbidgee Local Health District CEO Susan Weisser complimented TAFE NSW Riverina Institute’ s“ flexibility and their willingness to work with us around what we need”. Riverina TAFE is willing to work with her organisation to make sure that“ the projects and things that they work on are actually tailored to and linked to our organisation and give us benefits in terms of quality and improvement projects”.
All five industry interviewees indicated that flexibility is the result of TAFE taking a customer-centric approach and being willing to develop an in-depth knowledge of the client’ s needs, collaborate strategically and continually review training products and services to suit the client.
In the Riverina case study, Weisser articulated a suite of attributes about TAFE NSW- Riverina Institute. She indicated that TAFE is innovative and willing to customise, able to monitor, review and modify services offered, provide a network of campuses and experienced trainers, is a collaborative and strategic partner that will be around for the long-term, and assists her organisation’ s goal of“ growing our own workforce locally”. Also, TAFE staff were good listeners who understand the client’ s industry, and are locally based, not fly-in, fly-out.
Reinventing service delivery While all the industry clients in the case studies use the term‘ flexibility’ to sum up TAFE institutes’ attributes and to explain their impacts on industry, the summary term‘ flexibility’ may not capture in full the ability of TAFE institutes to meet the needs of the customer.
A careful reading of the case studies in this publication shows that flexibility by TAFE institutes involves them reinventing their service delivery to create more value for their customers, demonstrating contemporary business approaches described by Ramdas, Teisberg and Tucker in the December 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review. The term‘ flexibility’ is shorthand for TAFE institutes reinventing their service delivery.
Redefining service delivery is uncommon, making these TDA case studies all the more significant, as Ramdas and colleagues note that companies that“ radically redefine the delivery of a service are relatively rare”, because it requires deep insight into clients’ needs.
Ramdas and colleagues spent four years studying innovations in health care and finance, two sectors that have substantially redefined or reinvented service delivery. This research enabled them to identify four dimensions on which service organisations can focus to improve service provision. First, service organisations change the conventional way of interacting with clients. Second, they allocate specialist tasks to staff. Third, they integrate complementary services. And fourth, they change the delivery location.
For instance, case study number four shows that Kangan Institute has worked on all four dimensions, in creating the Textile and Fashion Hub with the TFIA in a warehouse in Melbourne. It has changed the conventional way of interacting with clients( dimension 1), by making learning materials available online to all clients of the Hub, regardless of whether the clients wanted to undertake a conventional accredited training program. It has integrated complementary services( dimension 2) including the provision of hands-on learning and advising textile workers about how new technologies can be used for niche tasks. The institute is helping to create a shared learning space and community of learners, not just delivering skill-sets or full qualifications.
Kangan has also allocated specialist tasks to its staff( dimension 3) based on their specialist knowledge and interests, their commitment to the Hub environment and their willingness to learn new skills. And Kangan has changed the delivery location( dimension 4) not only from the institute to the Hub, but also the staff continually deliver learning resources direct to the office or home computer of the Hub clients, using digital learning techniques.
The TDA publication describes how all five TAFE institutes in the case studies were not only focusing on these dimensions, but also modelling them. But do policymakers and treasury officials know about or appreciate the value industry places on such responsiveness by TAFE? n
See the report Reinventing Service Delivery at www. tda. edu. au
Dr John Mitchell is a VET researcher and evaluator www. jma. com. au
www. campusreview. com. au March 2013 | 37