Rexel Holdings Australia, a wholesale distributor of electrical supplies, wants to ensure its business is able to move fast with the marketplace and recognised that to do so, their employees need to have skills they can quickly draw upon.

Rexel’s goal, according to learning and development manager Peter Edwards, is to not only develop their employees in the existing roles of branch managers and sales representatives, but also to identify and career stream their high performers for future management roles. Peter believes the funding will be able to effectively up-skill their talent pool so that when the opportunity arises the business will be able to confidently promote from within with minimal impact on performance and productivity.

Rexel was able, with the help of MEGT Institute, to gain a grant from the National Workforce Development Fund (NWDF ) to offset a significant part of the cost of the training plan they had.

The NWDF supplements the contribution a business makes towards the cost of training.

A great idea – but it takes time to work your way through the documentation and submit it in the right way. MEGT Institute general manager Sue Kent identified that her staff have access to most of the required information and all the key contacts.

“We can help businesses sort out the NWDF application paperwork for Business training courses and their submission to the relevant Industry Skills Council so that it has the best possible chance of being successful,” she says.

“We deliver workplace-based training so offering the NWDF application assistance as a free service is a natural extension to helping businesses with their skills-base,” explains Sue.

“It takes the time pressures off a business that just doesn’t have the necessary resources but can use the funding to meet the challenges of 2013.”

The funding is a partial support payment towards the cost of training. Eligible enterprises include small and medium businesses, professional associations, industry bodies, agents representing a consortia of enterprises and employment service providers.

MEGT Institute helped Rexel Holdings Australia successfully register for funding to train 60 of their staff in Business skills around Australia: 40 in Certificate IV in Frontline Management and 20 in Certificate IV in Business across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The Government will contribute 33% of the total course cost with the remaining 67% to be paid by Rexel.

The fund is based on a sliding co-contribution model providing targeted responses to identified business and enterprise need. Employers are required to co-contribute to the agreed cost of training as follows:

• Enterprises engaging 1 – 99 fulltime equivalent staff contribute 33%.
• Enterprises engaging 100 – 199 employees contribute 50%.
• Enterprises engaging >200 staff contribute 67%.

Funding is assessed and appropriated by the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education through the relevant Industry Skills Council. In their deliberations, the assessment panel considers value for money and capacity to benefit the industry.