The key to the exercise was the assessment. We didn't really mind how the knowledge was gained - we were mainly interested in the attained level of competency. The Award Restructuring process has required a great deal of discipline in documenting workplace practices and needs. Joint Working Parties, Joint Workplace Consultative Committees have had a role in this area, but for many industries the results have been disappointing. In particular, in house, industry specific training needs have not been clearly identified within any competency framework.
Any training provided has to be relevant and available on demand .
Most teaching institutions would have some difficulty with this, but in industry the link between pay and competency forces a demand from the employer for relevance and a demand from the employee for availability. Training material has of course to be competency based with a special emphasis on the need for proper assessment. In industry the number of employees requiring training in any particular subject level often tends to be fairly low. In some industries the employees tend to be geographically scattered. Travel and accommodation can become a significant percentage of the training budget.