The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has endorsed an “apprentice productivity” initiative submitted by NECA and Business Group Australia (BGA) under ACCI’s Productivity Leadership Program funded by the Federal Government.

The project will examine potential gains that can be achieved by electrical contractors through a better understanding of their apprentice’s performance and their contribution to a more productive workplace.

“NECA knows through its involvement in group training companies and feedback from its members that many employers are seriously questioning the economic advantages of taking on apprentices especially where there are very high costs through enterprise bargaining agreements and even substantial increases arising from the recent decisions of Fair Work Australia on Award employees. Any reduction in the number of apprentices in training and the number of completions creates a vicious circle of shortages of licensed electricians,” says NECA chief executive Suresh Manickam.

“It is essential that the electrical contracting industry face these issues head on and find solutions that will ensure that a shortage of licensed electricians does not lead to a position where calls will be made to lower standards to enable partially trained workers to undertake electrical installation work. Making better use of apprentices through productivity gains ticks both boxes of better apprentice job satisfaction and increased productivity for the business,” Suresh adds.

The project will examine potential gains that can be achieved by electrical contractors through a better understanding of their apprentice’s performance and their contribution to more productive workplaces. BGA will research, report and promote the strategies enabling factors that can maximise the contributions of apprentices at all stages across the apprenticeship.

Initially, the internal and external factors that had the most significant impact on the apprentice’s productivity and commitment to completion will be identified. After considering these with productivity boosting options a toolkit will be produced that can be used by electrical contractors to enhance productivity. This toolkit will need to be validated and at least 30 electrical contracting businesses will participate in this part of the project. After this, BGA and NECA will conduct training for up to 300 electrical contractors focusing on the use of the toolkit and its application.

ACCI has directly engaged BGA to manage and coordinate the project and BGA will work with NECA and their member companies to support the industry’s specific initiatives.

BGA will make use of existing groups within the NECA membership that meet regularly as well as one-on-one consultations with companies using their managers, supervisors and employees.