Qld small business owners get a shot in the arm with free workforce planning course

Queensland small and medium business owners that are struggling to find staff will have the opportunity to complete a free seven-week course to help them take on the task of workforce planning.

The part-time Workforce Planning Course, which will be held at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s (UniSC) Moreton Bay and Sunshine Coast campuses this year, is designed to help business owners and managers to fully understand their workforce.

Course participants have the option of attending classes in person or online, allowing small businesses owners with jam-packed schedules and not enough hours in the day to also partake in the course. 

The Workforce Planning Course is a result of a partnership between the Queensland Government, UniSC, and Jobs Queensland’s Workforce Planning Connect resources.

Dr Wayne Graham, a senior lecturer in management at UniSC who will be running the Workforce Planning Course, said the course will help business owners develop a plan that is tailored to their workplace. 

“The course plays a vital part in assisting with the implementation of the recently published Queensland Workforce Strategy which recommended the development and delivery of micro-credential courses with industry for industry and aimed at assisting organisations create their own workforce plan,” Dr Graham told SmartCompany.

“Business owners participating in the Workforce Planning Course will develop their own workforce plan, which includes components such as stakeholder planning and analysis, creating a workforce profile and identifying workforce supply-and-demand dynamics.”

Queensland Minister for Employment and Small Business and Minister for Training and Skills Development Di Farmer said small businesses already spend significant time and resources trying to fill labour shortages and the costs can keep adding up.

“Small businesses owners have to be everything — HR, IT, and marketing — so having a course that can help them with employment issues is critical in helping them to get on with their job” Minister Farmer said in a statement.

Jobs Queensland chair Donna Bonney added that the short course was developed in collaboration with both the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland, and small businesses have been involved in the testing of the resources. 

The Workforce Planning course builds on the state’s Business Planning Course, also developed by the UniSC with Queensland government support.

Approximately 370 business owners have registered for the Business Planning Course since it was first offered in 2020, and more than 80 have already signed up for 2023.

UniSC Vice Chancellor and President Professor Helen Bartlett said the university developed the Business Planning Course in collaboration with industry when COVID hit to help guide businesses through particularly tough times.

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“It has been increasingly popular each year, so I’m sure there will be strong interest in the new Workforce Planning Course, as businesses aim to attract the workforce they need for success,” Professor Bartlett said.

Lume Electrical business owner and manager Sara Hennessy is planning to complete the Workforce Planning Course, after gaining great value from the Business Planning Course.

“I came away with a road map to build a business that will be sustainable and the steps we need to take to get where we want to be in five years,” she said in a statement.