Creating jobs and linking with community – a long term plan

On Thursday 1 December, the The Hon Peter Hall MLC, Minister for Higher Education and Skills, Minister responsible for the Teaching Profession handed the keys to a new sustainable house at Selandra Rise in Clyde North to a third year apprentice and cut the ribbon launching MEGT’s Greenhouse project.

The house is one of six affordable homes built under a year-long partnership between MEGT, a not-for-profit organisation and one of Australia’s largest employers of apprentices, Stockland and Porter Davis Homes.

“What could be more fitting to mark the completion of this fantastic affordable housing project
than to be handing the keys to one of the people involved in its construction,” Mr Hall said.

Mr Hall praised the involvement of MEGT, Stockland and Porter Davis Homes, saying the project had resulted in employment for 15 trainees and apprentices in roles as varied as finance, real estate, building and construction.

The project also sets a benchmark for affordable environmental advances in housing construction for the future.

“The Victorian Coalition Government through Skills Victoria provided $100,000 in innovation funding to MEGT to build sustainable and affordable housing and to stimulate ongoing employment within the building and construction industry,” Mr Hall said.

“Each of the houses has been built according to environmental best practice through the use of solar hot water, recycled water for gardens, and the fit-out of smart wiring.

In 2010, MEGT partnered with Stocklands and Porter Davis Homes to pilot a model that would generate employment opportunities for apprentices and trainees. This model needed to be able to be scaled up or down to suit different geographic regions.

Six houses were purchased in Clyde North, Victoria on the Selandra Rise Estate. Learning from the problems of infrastructure and services disconnection faced by some other satellite estates, Stocklands planned the Selandra Rise project with community needs in mind. This was exactly the mindset that was synergistic with MEGT’s plans to create sustainable job opportunities for young people in regions right around Australia.

Fifteen apprentices and trainees have been employed by MEGT and placed with KPMG, Middendorp Electrics, Stocklands and Porter Davis Homes; with more trainees still to be employed for the real estate and financial services businesses connected to the Estate. It is the wide range of skills that makes this project scalable.

Estate building projects cycle tradespeople from house to house. That means only a handful of tradespeople are needed in building a large number of houses. It is when you combine all the industries involved in an estate, that employment for locals becomes sustainable after the houses have been built. While initial apprenticeships and traineeships come from the architects through to analysts, finance organisations and real estate agents, landscapers and the traditional building and construction companies; there are even more opportunities when the Estate is populated by retailers, libraries, sports facilities and schools. The sale of the houses in December 2011 will not therefore be the end of the employment opportunities for the community.

MEGT also assisted one of its apprentices, Michael Belli, in purchasing his first home from the estate.

In December, the project partners will sit down together and talk about the way forward. What were the learnings? What could we do better? Where should we take the model next? It’s important to Australian communities and to the Building and Construction industry that these types of schemes don’t stop with one estate and one region. It’s partnerships that will make them happen.

MEGT would like to acknowledge funding assistance from SkillsVic towards the success of this project.

Innovative building project lands apprentice a house

Minister for Higher Education and Skills Peter Hall will this morning hand the keys to a new sustainable house at Selandra Rise in Clyde North to a third year apprentice who helped build it.

The house is one of six affordable homes built under a year-long partnership between MEGT, a not-for-profit organisation and one of Australia’s largest employers of apprentices, Stockland and Porter Davis Homes.

“What could be more fitting to mark the completion of this fantastic affordable housing project than to be handing the keys to one of the people involved in its construction,” Mr Hall said.

“I congratulate Michael Belli on the purchase of his new home. Michael should feel especially proud to have had a hand in this project and the opportunity to demonstrate the future in affordable sustainable home construction.”

Mr Hall praised the involvement of MEGT, Stockland and Porter Davis Homes, saying the project had resulted in employment for 15 trainees and apprentices in roles as varied as finance, real estate, building and construction.

The project also sets a benchmark for affordable environmental advances in housing construction for the future.

“The Victorian Coalition Government through Skills Victoria provided $100,000 in innovation funding to MEGT to build sustainable and affordable housing and to stimulate ongoing employment within the building and construction industry,” Mr Hall said.

“Each of the houses has been built according to environmental best practice through the use of solar hot water, recycled water for gardens, and the fit-out of smart wiring.

“The Victorian Government continues to support the development of new skills through the Victorian Training Guarantee and it has been a phenomenally successful driver for promoting skills development in Victoria.

“Under the guarantee the Victorian Government has provided subsidised training to record numbers of Victorians to help them acquire the skills they need to secure employment or to improve their current skills base,” Mr Hall said.

VET marketing goes national to suit industry

Ignoring blockages from state-focused regulators, MEGT’s television campaign signals an emerging national VET market.

Have you seen the television commercial which ends with the arrival on screen of a blue work van with the yellow letters MEGT blazoned across it? The modestly designed commercial commences with some worried looking characters fretting in the office. Each of the characters is dressed in a white top with one or two words written across it – payroll, paperwork, administration or workers compensation.

To add to the stress on the employer, seated forlornly outside on the footpath, another character enters the scene with the words trainee and apprentice on his shirt.  Phew, the MEGT blue work van arrives and the employer’s troubles evaporate.  Simple message: MEGT takes the worry out of training for employers.

MEGT’s bare-bones commercial is a world apart from the sassy ones shown repeatedly during the one-day cricket season last January by two distance education universities, UNE and USQ.

One commercial featured a trendy young professional in the city linking to her professor via Skype or similar, and the other commercial offered the frustrated young professional the option of distance education as a way to break out of the box he might have built around himself.

The contrast between the MEGT and the universities’ commercials suggests some differences between VET and higher education. For instance, recruitment campaigns for many VET programs such as traineeships and apprenticeships need to be pitched as much at employers as at potential apprentices, while the vast majority of university courses are pitched solely at the prospective individual student.

If the message of the university commercials is to be bold, enrol now and catapult forward your professional career, the message of the MEGT advertisement is far more practical, says CEO David Windridge. “We have one message: MEGT makes apprenticeships, traineeships and training happen.”

The simple metaphor of an MEGT blue van arriving in time to do all the training-related work underlines the point that MEGT makes things happen, no matter what services MEGT provides. Windridge says conveying this single message is vital to his business.

“Because MEGT delivers so many different services it’s hard to actually give a clear message that covers all of those in one hit. We’re a training organisation, a group training organisation and an Australian apprenticeship centre and we’ve got other ancillary services. It is difficult to get that across.”

MEGT is also deliberate in pitching to two different target markets. The television campaign is planned by a media buying organisation and the commercials scheduled and placed to ensure the MEGT message reaches two diverse target audiences at critical times of the day: employers on the one hand, and 17 to 25 year olds on the other.

However, Windridge is aware that 17-25 year olds consume media in totally different ways to employers. “That’s why TV is not the major platform we use for that market. For the younger group we also use social media such as Facebook. We have a very big online presence.”

“TV on its own is not a worthwhile strategy. So the campaign for young people was designed quite differently to the employer campaign. And local area marketing was incorporated into the mix for it to work.”

Another difference between sectors is timing. MEGT needs to get its message across to employers in October when employers are making decisions about apprentices and other staff for the following year; universities want to influence individual customers’ buying decisions in January.

Meanwhile the similarities between these sets of commercials are arguably more significant, including the common attempt to build market share through mass media marketing and the creation of a national brand not bound by the location of the provider’s headquarters, such in Armidale for UNE, Toowoomba for USQ or Ringwood in suburban Melbourne for MEGT.

Windridge says there are two reasons MEGT is running these television commercials, the second of which may surprise. “The first reason is to build our market share. The second is to build market size as we feel a responsibility to promote apprenticeships, traineeships and vocational education in general: the health of this sector affects our livelihoods.”

When Windridge refers to livelihoods, for this not-for-profit organisation this means the livelihoods of its staff located a long way from Ringwood. “We’ve got 67 offices, 900 staff and we deliver services in every state in Australia, and we certainly see ourselves as a national provider.”

Besides looking after the welfare of his staff, Windridge is passionate about the need for VET providers to think about the national market, because industry is national in its outlook.
“A VET provider can still legitimately choose to be purely local and that’s still a valid proposition, but if you want to grow the business then you also have to have a national viewpoint as well.

“We look at VET as a national product and sometimes in the world of state regulations, or state interpretations of federal regulation, it is hard to actually justify that as a national product. But I think VET has to be national in its approach because industry is national. If VET is going to meet the needs of industry, and that’s what VET’s fundamentally about, then VET also has to take a national approach.”

Windridge believes that if a training provider is interested in taking a long-term view of the world “then they have to look at some type of advertising strategy over a period of time”. He appreciates that “it’s an expensive process” to advertise on television, but says it also provides “opportunities and it’s an important part of having a long-term view as to where your business is going to go”.

Employers like the message that MEGT will “get things to work nationally”, says Windridge. “National employers use MEGT to make things easier when navigating what is ostensibly a state-based education system delivering nationally recognised qualifications.” This is MEGT’s sub-text: MEGT works nationally despite any hurdles put in its way or in the way of employers.

Windridge is not mesmerised by his high own profile commercials and is determined that MEGT have a national and local profile: “Our positioning line is: big enough to support you, small enough to know you.”

And the market will only get bigger, says Windridge. “In the not too distant future increasingly it will be a global approach [to the VET market].

National is almost a stepping stone to global. I don’t know how our regulators are going to cope with that.”

Dr John Mitchell is a Sydney-based researcher and consultant who specialises in VET workforce development and strategic leadership.

Article by:
John Mitchell ‘Inside VET’ column in Campus Review, Monday 31 October 2011

Winner – Apprentice of the Year – Tasmania

Benjamin Standen a 22 year old apprentice at Lebrina Restaurant New Town, Tasmania, is studying his Certificate III Hospitality (Commercial cookery) through the MEGT Institute.

Ben has won the 2011 Tasmanian Training Awards as Apprentice of the Year.

‘When I was 16 years old I became a father, and studying full-time without a reliable income was not an option. This is why I chose to start an apprenticeship in commercial cookery and embraced my passion for food. The fact that I could undertake study through on the job training and assessment with MEGT Institute and work fulltime enabled me to support and fulfill my obligations to my family whilst gaining a qualification. I have not looked back since.’

During his apprenticeship, Ben attended the ‘Chef’s In the City’ program in Melbourne where he realised just how far his apprenticeship could take him. He also attended Symposia of Australian Gastronomy where he learned about the needs and views of others in the workplace and to understand the cultural and religious needs of customers.

In March 2010 Ben was invited to represent MEGT Institute in the Young Chef’s Cookery Competition held at the Taste of the Huon. The competition involved cooking four main course plates for four judges within an hour, using a mystery box of ingredients revealed ten minutes prior to the start of the competition. The tent was hot, the facilities inadequate and the 200 strong crowd daunting. ‘I won 1st place in my division (2nd year apprentice),’ explains Ben,’ impressing the judges and receiving a generous prize from the Huon Agricultural Group. However the knowledge and confidence I gained from the experience far outshone the money I received. Coming back to the Huon Valley where I grew up, seeing family and friends, and showing them what I had achieved and can achieve in my apprenticeship was remarkable.’

Vocational education delivered by MEGT Institute is entirely work-related, so the combination of Ben’s course and his work experience at Lebrina Restaurant has taught him the importance of effective communication as well as food skills.

‘Communication in the workplace is imperative not only to maintain our high standards of quality, consistency and customer service,’ explains Ben, ‘but also to deal with dietary requirements, allergies and intolerances. For example we have had customers enter the restaurant with dangerous allergies to fermented products (vinegar, wine, etc) or intolerance to sodium (highly present in salt) and if all staff are not aware of the conditions, the consequences can be deadly.

‘Two events which have tested my level of self-reliance, resilience, teamwork and communication skills were a Cooking Class and Lunch for Ports Australia and a Degustation Dinner held off site in a customer’s private residence.

‘On the 28th October 2010 Ports Australia commissioned Lebrina Restaurant to conduct a cookery class and serve lunch to 18 of its staff from all over Australia. I was heavily involved in the class, and was required to not only demonstrate my cookery skills in front of the customers but also to discuss the techniques being used. Even though I was nervous, the class was a great success, and some of the Ports Australia group came back to the restaurant the following evening for dinner.

On the 16th April 2011 Lebrina Restaurant held a degustation dinner involving seven courses at a private residence for a client and 15 of their guests. Going into an unknown kitchen at 5pm to serve dinner at 7pm was challenging and stressful. To move seven courses of prepared ingredients, as well as crockery, cutlery, cooking utensils and a myriad of other items to the venue took perfect communication and organisation, and were key to the dinner’s success.

‘Through both the Cookery class and the offsite Degustation dinner I found in myself a level of leadership I did not realise I possessed. The leadership gained through the daily work in my apprenticeship, I will take with me through my entire career, whether it be in Hospitality or otherwise.’

Ben fits in his passion for food with the joy and responsibility of raising his daughter, Kate. ‘Working in an Apprenticeship with on the job training has given me the flexibility to do that,’ he says.

My message to other apprentices, and those interested in an apprenticeship is clear; don’t hold back, work hard everyday both at work and outside of it. If you are passionate about what you want, and work hard everyday to get it, you will. Your apprenticeship can take you there.

Illawarra community recognition

Ian Nicholls has made his mark on the Illawarra community and has achieved local recognition. He has been presented with the Rotary Vocational Service Award

The Award recognises Ian’s commitment to vocational education and training the the community through his co-ordination of the Illawarra Mercury Apprenticeship Drive. The Drive achieved more than 500 placements of locals into jobs. Ian’s role was as the Illawarra Industry Apprenticeship Project Officer.

MEGT is proud of the community involvement of its staff and their dedication to improving employment options for others.

He’s an award winner and the zoo wants to keep him there

From left Kerri Mewett from Kangan Institute, Mark Dobbie - the apprentice and Prue Leighton from MEGT

Winner – Lance Bernard Memorial Award

Well deserved winner of the Lance Barnard Memorial Award for her focus on a life in business and volunteering is also on GTA’s Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Leaders program.

It’s often hard for a young person to decide on their career while they are still at school. Not so for Toni-Lee Hills who was always determined to work in a business environment.

Her determination has been recognised – as the winner for the Lance Barnard Memorial Award in the 2011 Tasmanian State Training Awards and being accepted into the Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Leaders program for Group Training Australia.

Toni-Lee has received recognition in the past as well: receiving the Glenorchy Young Citizen Award in 2010 for her work as a volunteer through Glenorchy City Council and a Certificate of Excellence in VET Business and Business Studies while at Claremont College and Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.

One of the key stages in her pathway to a career came when she stepped away from the pressure of going straight from college to university in order to do a Business Degree and instead gained employment through MEGT Group Training as a Business Trainee.

Toni-Lee was placed with the Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania, where she gained her workplace experience and on-the-job training at the same time she was paid for her work. Toni-Lee successfully achieved Certificate III in Business with MEGT Institute in February 2011 and was offered ongoing employment with RACT Insurance.

Sarah Burnett, one of MEGT Institute’s trainers and assessors comments that throughout the training,  “I often received feedback from RACT on how Toni-Lee was progressing in developing professional communication skills and developing effective relationships with the broader RACT network and clients.”

Scott McGrath, Senior Industry Employment Consultant with MEGT Group Training was so impressed by Toni-Lee, he nominated her for the prestigious Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Leaders program and Toni-Lee will head off in August to Canberra for a series of seminars. “At MEGT we are extremely proud to be able to work alongside Toni-Lee – organising her traineeship through our Australian Apprenticeships Centre, organising her work placement through our Group Training Organisation and her business studies through MEGT Institute. We feel as though we have walked beside her for this very important part of her journey and look forward to seeing just how far she will go in life.”

WINNING ACCOLADES FOR HER FOCUS ON A LIFE IN BUSINESS

It’s often hard for a young person to decide on their career while they are still at school. Not so for
Toni Lee Hills who was always determined to work in a business environment.

Her determination has been recognised – as a finalist in the Trainee of the Year category of the
2011 Tasmanian State Training Awards and being accepted into the Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Leaders program for Group Training Australia.

Toni has received recognition in the past as well: receiving the Glenorchy Young Citizen Award in 2010 for her work as a volunteer through Glenorchy City Council and a Certificate of Excellence in VET Business and Business Studies while at Claremont College and Rotary Youth Leadership Awards.

One of the key stages in her pathway to a career came when she stepped away from the pressure of going straight from college to university in order to do a Business Degree and instead gained employment through MEGT Group Training as a Business Trainee.

Toni was placed with the Royal Automobile Club of Tasmania, where she gained her workplace experience and on-the-job training at the same time she was paid for her work. Toni successfully achieved Certificate III in Business with MEGT Institute in February 2011 and was offered ongoing employment with RACT Insurance.

Sarah Burnett, one of MEGT Institute’s trainers and assessors comments that throughout the training,
“I often received feedback from RACT on how Toni was progressing in developing professional communication skills and developing effective relationships with the broader RACT network and clients.”

Scott McGrath, Senior Industry Employment Consultant with MEGT Group Training was so impressed by Toni, he nominated her for the prestigious Today’s Skills, Tomorrow’s Leaders program and Toni will head off in August to Canberra for a series of seminars. “At MEGT we are extremely proud to be able to work alongside Toni – organising her traineeship through our Australian Apprenticeships Centre, organising her work placement through our Group Training Organisation and her business studies through MEGT Institute. We feel as though we have walked beside her for this very important part of her journey and look forward to seeing just how far she will go in life.”

The Tasmanian State Training Awards winners will be announced at a gala presentation dinner on 19th August.

Genna Umback – School-based Apprentice

Genna Umback won the HTN Cooking Competition on 26 May held at Wollongong TAFE.

Genna came 1st in the 1st year Apprentice section competing with 12 other Apprentices from various Hospitality Establishments who are working as full time 1st year Apprentices and are working 5 days per week versus Genna who is working 1 day per week and attending school and is only in Year 10.

Genna displayed a Professionalism beyond her years and represented Bega TAFE and Bega High School in an extremely tough competition. To say we are proud is an understatement as I was there when it was announced and the Bega contingent were ecstatic with her win.

Deirdre Jory,
Head Teacher, Tourism & Hospitality
TVET Coordinator
TAFE NSW – Illawarra Institute, Bega Campus

MEGT (Australia) | Australian Apprenticeships

Boning up on their skills

Kristina St Vincent – HR Manager, BE Campbell, Martin Ratcliff – Area Manager, MEGT Australian Apprenticeships Centre, Merci Lotho – Principle and Training Manager of Wetherill Park Training.

BE Campbell is primarily a pork processor and has recently extended their business to include lamb processing and value-added meals products for stir frys, kebabs, meat balls and special gourmet cuts including beef and chicken. These innovations are important to assure continued success for their business. But they have also value-added skills for their staff.

The establishment of their own Registered Training Organisation, delivering accredited training to their staff was essential because the TAFEs have only been able to provide butchery training and BE Campbell needed qualifications for their boning room. The Wetherill Park Training Company is coming up to its 10th anniversary this year and now delivers Certificate II Meat Processing – Abattoir and Certificate III Meat Processing Boning, Certificate III Meat Processing General and Certificate IV Meat Processing Leadership for their Sydney staff and are also investigating introducing Certificate III Slaughtering for their Abattoir in Young, NSW.

The results of inhouse training are being seen in an increase in the retention rate for trainees. This is very good news for job seekers in the region and in this industry.

Kristina St Vincent the HR Manager believes bringing unskilled young people into their business, investing in them and career streaming them, contributes strongly to the wellbeing of the whole community.

‘We have workers here who joined the business at 16 with no skills,’ explains Ms St Vincent. ‘They have gone through our traineeships program and are now running an area as a supervisor. They are our greatest success story.’

Martin Ratcliff, Area Manager for their local MEGT Australian Apprenticeships Centre has worked alongside BE Campbell’s training company for the whole 10 year journey, administering their government requirements and watching how the quality of their specialised training affects the teamwork and morale of the business. He says that their nominations for state and regional Minister’s Awards for Excellence fills him with as much pride as the trainees themselves.

Merci Lotho, Principle and Training Manager of Wetherill Park Training, BE Campbell’s training company, explains that to provide a good quality service to their organisation they need strong support networks and that is why their relationship works so well with MEGT. ‘No matter what challenges we face, MEGT is there for us.’

Australian Apprenticeships are an Australian government initiative.

MEGT (Australia) | Australian Apprenticeships