Business Building Capacity: The Auckland Skills Development Project
Initial research has identified that some Auckland firms have serious concerns about their employees basic levels of literacy and numeracy. This is significant in the Auckland region which has 31% of New Zealand’s businesses and 32% of the country’s paid employees. (Tourism NZ, 2011).
The Committee for Auckland has established a project to ensure the business perspective is heard and to assist educational institutions to provide better outcomes. There are several efforts already underway working to address these concerns, so the Committee project will integrate with these initiatives and coordinate actions with other organisations to avoid duplication.
A key driver of the Joint Skills Project is the need for ongoing processes to identify and prepare for the future skills needs of business and society.
However important the business perspective is, an understanding of the individual’s perspective is required as well. The Committee for Auckland project is therefore integrating efforts with the CareersNZ and Fuji Xerox project to develop a Careers Blueprint.
The Careers Blueprint is meant to provide individuals with the tools and information to develop their skills and is based on the perspective of the individual. The Joint Skills Project the Committee for Auckland is leading is meant to address skill shortages encountered by businesses.
These complementary projects recognise that the success of one depends on the other, and jointly pursue a vision where businesses that value skilled employees encourage individuals to further develop skills, and therefore have a stronger skills base available to support business activities.
The Project Manager is experienced strategist and Policy Manager, Danielle Boven. Her background in business strategy lends an understanding of corporate perspective to the Joint Skills Project and her recent work in government policy research gives her the experience to work across organisations. Danielle is a committed Aucklander of 15 years and, like all our members, is enthusiastic about the future potential of the city.
We need to hear from our members - especially large employers - who wish to be considered for the steering committee or consultation interviews. Project team leader, Danielle Boven has conducted some background research and uncovered some issues, activities, and recommended solutions but we need to hear more to confirm these initial hypotheses and develop evidence to support improvement. Danielle encourages businesses to provide information to the project by contacting her directly on 021 446601 or at
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