Building Workforce Capability with Local Employers

The Springfield Regional Jobs Committee partnered with Workforce Evolve and the Queensland Government to deliver a Business and Workforce Capability Workshop, giving local employers practical strategies and connections to help strengthen their workforce.

Held at Komatsu Australia in Wacol, the workshop brought businesses together with workforce specialists and government representatives to explore some of the challenges employers are experiencing in attracting, recruiting, engaging and retaining the people they need.

The workshop was developed in response to what the SRJC continues to hear through its engagement with employers across the region. While larger organisations often have dedicated human resources and workforce development capability, many smaller businesses are managing recruitment, onboarding, staff development and retention without the same internal resources.

The session encouraged employers to look beyond recruitment alone and consider the entire employment journey, from attracting the right people and improving recruitment and onboarding through to retaining employees, developing existing workers and planning for future skills needs.

Employers also had direct access to information about Queensland Government workforce and skills initiatives, apprenticeships and traineeships, vocational education and training pathways, incentives and other support available to businesses.

Businesses participating on the day represented a diverse range of industries, including early childhood education, financial services, energy and skills, manufacturing, transport and engineering.

Feedback from participants was strongly positive, with employers identifying Workforce Evolve resources, job design, recruitment practices and greater awareness of government support among the valuable takeaways from the workshop.

Importantly, the connections continued beyond the event itself. Participants sought further engagement with the SRJC, Workforce Evolve and Queensland Government representatives, creating opportunities to connect individual businesses with additional programs, services and specialist support.

For the SRJC, this is an important part of our role. Workforce challenges are not solved by simply connecting employers with more candidates. Building the capability of businesses to attract, support, develop and retain their people is equally important to creating a stronger local workforce.

Thank you to Workforce Evolve, the Department of Customer Services, Open Data and Small and Family Business, the Department of Trade, Employment and Training, Komatsu Australia and all of the businesses that participated and contributed to the conversation.