GCCA | Graduate Careers Council of Australia

Graduate Careers Australia

ergo - Number 88 September 2002

Careers Education Programs As Strategic Workplace Change Initiatives

Educating employees to plan and manage their own career provides many benefits for individuals and for organisations. Firstly, career education programs encourage employees to become proactive and self-directed, identify career goals, create career development plans, identify organisational learning opportunities and work toward achieving career goals. Secondly it is highly likely that organisational productivity would increase if individuals are proactively enhancing their portfolio of knowledge, skills, abilities and experience.

Queensland Police is a large and dynamic organisation, comprising approximately 8,000 police and 3,500 civilian employees. Queensland Police has implemented a range of career education programs as a strategic workforce change management initiative. Career education programs are providing tools and information to employees to assist them to make informed decisions about their future career and to achieve their career goals. Career education programs include establishing a Career Planning Unit, developing and implementing a comprehensive online Career Planning and Management System (CPMS) and establishing and training networks of Mentors and Career Planning Officers (CPOs) to provide personalised services which complement the online system. Evidence supports an emerging trend of proactive employees, creating career development plans, identifying organisational learning opportunities and enhancing knowledge and skills. All this must result in a better skilled, productive and more job satisfied workforce.

The Queensland Police Service Career Planning Unit provides a wide range of client services. The Unit provides career planning and counselling sessions for individuals and facilitates a range of workshops and presentations about Career Planning, Mentoring and Job Seeking Skills. The Unit is aligned to other education, training and development programs within the organisation and provides consultancy services, resources and training materials. The Unit also assists with a range of strategic initiatives. Human resource management policy for career planning and management within the organisation has been developed and implemented. A number of best practice models and systems have resulted; for example, a multi skilling model and a separations processes which enables strategic human resource management data collection. The Unit has conducted research projects and received national endorsement for best practice ‘Mentoring’ and ‘Career Planning’ models developed. The Unit has provided advice and assistance to many other public sector organisations to implement career education programs.

The online CPMS has been deemed “world’s leading edge” by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently, and won the 2000 Queensland Training Award. The CPMS website is a ‘one stop shop’ for career information which receives 7,500 hits per month. Queensland Police employees, located anywhere in the State of Queensland, can access the online CPMS to:

• research a career of interest and there are over 160
• complete a Career Planning Process which a customised version of the Graduate Careers Council of Australia’s Your Career and You, and create a comprehensive self profile
• audit skills in accordance with National competencies and common key selection criteria
• identify a Mentor
• consult a trained and qualified Career Planning Officer (CPO)
• explore education, training and development options internal and external to the organisation
• find out about relevant human resource management policy relevant to career consider learning opportunities available to all employees
• learn how to write effective job applications and how to perform at a job interview
• access pre-retirement information
• consider options before resigning from Queensland Police

To complement the CPMS online system, Queensland Police has implemented a formal Mentoring Program. There are almost 350 Mentors available online. Mentors are being consulted about many things, including career planning, for general support and guidance, skills development, advice about study options and assistance with job seeking skills. Mentoring is about creating learning environments and enhancing workforce capability. In order to provide access and equity to all employees across the state, Queensland Police has mainstreamed its formal Mentoring Program. Mentoring principles and guidelines are written into organisational human resource management policy. The Career Planning Unit provides resources, tools, training packages and personal support if required for employees participating in the mentoring program. As a result employees are becoming proactive and self-directed in determining their own mentoring needs and in organising their own mentoring partnerships. A network of 195 trained and qualified Career Planning Officers (CPOs) has also been established to provide personalised services to employees. CPOs are located throughout the State and perform this function in addition to their normal core duties. CPOs are trained to assist employes to identify where they are, where they want to be, and create a career development plan to achieve their career goals. CPOs help employees to identify organisational learning opportunities such as multi-skilling, managing projects, involvement in committees, which are relevant to career goals. Details of all CPOs are listed on the CPMS.

Queensland Police is determined to be a professional police service dedicated to excellence and career education is a positive human resource strategy which supports its employees.