macroeconomic pressures ( including inflationary pressures ), and increasing policy rates .
CHALLENGES AND LEARNINGS The workforce-sharing initiative has proven to be successful in addressing issues caused by the two-speed economy , with several benefits being identified for the business community . However , several challenges were experienced across all stages of the initiative . While some of the challenges are commonly faced within economic development initiatives , others were unique to this strategy .
Effective communication and messaging were the dominant challenges . This challenge predominantly stemmed from the uniqueness of the initiative as it was the first time this technology has been used in this context . Considerable attention was required to ensure businesses understood the workforce-sharing initiative and the opportunities for them . In addition , the City had to encourage the business mindset to think differently about workforce planning and access to business opportunities . These challenges were managed through a marketing campaign , led by a local marketing agency that produced and delivered a marketing strategy . The key messages of the marketing strategy were informed through business consultation . Marketing assets included animated videos , ad rolls , advertorials , table-top collateral , and targeted advertisements .
Another key challenge identified was the need to provide continued support for businesses before and during the use of the workforce-sharing initiative . The City already understood this challenge and addressed this through the provision of engagement resources , such as dedicated City Business Officers and a concierge service .
At the 6-month review of the initiative , an emerging challenge was the loss of contract opportunities whereby contracts have been posted to the workforcesharing initiative , but a suitable match is not identified with the existing businesses registered . A number of these are due to a short turn-around window or very specific skill requirements . This challenge was addressed by reviewing the marketing campaign and key messages to increase business registrations and emphasise the value of contract opportunities .
In addition to the challenges , there were many learnings throughout the implementation which have been insightful for other economic development initiatives . Overall , there were four ( 4 ) key learnings that are important to share :
1 . The initiative needs to be driven by business , while the local government ’ s role should focus on supporting and facilitating . Thus , advice given to other economic development professionals would be to focus on building business capability for using and engaging with the workforcesharing initiative .
As the workforce-sharing initiative is an evolving economic development tool , addressing the challenges and learnings is ongoing as a journey of continuous improvement . The constant growth and evaluation of the workforce-sharing initiative has aided its success thus far .
2 . The marketing strategy needs to be ongoing to continue to raise awareness . The duration of the initial 3-month marketing communication campaign was not long enough to adequately establish awareness of the workforce-sharing initiative and its benefits within the business community . Additionally , business registrations to the workforce-sharing initiative directly correlated with marketing activity .
3 . Businesses need regular contact post initial registration , to avoid “ set and forget ”. Incorporating a “ Welcome ” series of communication was an effective strategy . For example , a week after registering , businesses will receive a “ You ’ ve registered your business , what ’ s next ?” style of follow up communication .
4 . Adjusting terminology to suit the business community was an important learning . Technical terms such as ‘ talentsharing ’ have now been updated to ‘ workforce-sharing ’. Additionally , some terminologies needed simpler clarification , such as ‘ contract seekers ’ and ‘ support seekers ’.
As the workforce-sharing initiative is an evolving economic development tool , addressing the challenges and learnings is ongoing as a journey of continuous improvement . The constant growth and evaluation of the workforce-sharing initiative has aided its success thus far . Local governments looking to apply this initiative in future applications should take note of these considerations :
• Significant attention needs to be given to the initial planning stages of the initiative and ensure the objectives are meeting the needs of the business community .
• Collaboration was paramount to the successful ideation , implementation , and adoption . Stakeholders ( including industry , business , and government ) were engaged at all stages of the project . A constant feedback loop is important to encourage user-centric design and improvement .
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DR ALEXANDRA ( ALI ) BEC Dr Alexandra Bec is currently a Senior Economic Research Analyst with more than 10 years ’ experience in research and analytics . She has experience working in academic , industry , and local government on strategic research projects . Ali ’ s areas of expertise include socio-economic and industry development , investment evaluation , and economic policy .
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