More than one hundred people have kick-started new careers with Service NSW thanks to a partnership between the government agency and group training specialist, HVTC.

Since February this year, the two organisations have successfully placed 105 trainees to 65 service centres across the state. These trainees will complete a Certificate III Customer Engagement qualification over a 12-month period while working in customer service and administration roles for Service NSW.

HVTC coordinated a pilot program through the Goulburn and Parkes Service Centres, where five employees successfully completed traineeships and were subsequently employed full time.

Following its success, the program was delivered on a larger scale across the state, with HVTC tasked to recruit 100 new trainees in three months.

CEO Sharon Smith said HVTC not only met this target, but helped Service NSW achieve some of their employment goals along the way.

“Together we have provided valuable employment and training opportunities to school leavers and job seekers in many rural and regional communities with traditionally high youth unemployment rates,” Sharon said.

“This included increasing the number of Indigenous employees working at Service NSW with the recruitment of eight Indigenous trainees. We also increased the participation of workers under 25 years of age to align with Service NSW’s long-term succession planning.

“In the short-term, the trainees have provided immediate support for the roll-out of two new programs; the CTP refund program and the Active Kids program.”

Sharon added that the success of the program to date highlights the benefits of partnering with a group training organisation.

“Through the pilot program, we were able to provide a one-stop-shop for Service NSW by combining the Apprenticeship Employment Service, Registered Training Organisation and AASN Services through the one point of contact,” Sharon said.

“For Service NSW, it was a seamless process, which allowed them to invest more of their time and energy into the training and development of their new recruits.

“On behalf of HVTC I would like to thank Service NSW for the opportunity to forge this wonderful partnership, which has achieved so much in just a short period of time.”

Service Centre Directors, Cassandra Gibbons and Jennifer McNeil, commended the high quality of the trainees, whose enthusiasm and dedication have added real value to both their respective Service Centres and Service NSW as a whole.

“The partnership with HVTC has added great value to the customer service network and our customers within the community. Service NSW has offered both metropolitan and rural placements which has increased our capacity to service and meet our customer’s needs,” they said.

“The trainees have great enthusiasm, willingness to learn and are keen to contribute to the team objectives. They bring with them a fresh lens which has brought new perspectives and improved engagement across teams.

In line with their recent achievements, HVTC has been nominated as a finalist in the Excellence in Group Training category in the 2018 NSW & ACT Group Training Awards.

Hosted by the Apprentice Employment Network NSW & ACT (AEN NSW & ACT), the awards aim to recognise the outstanding achievements of apprentices, trainees, host employers and group training organisations within the vocational education and training (VET) sector.

IMAGE | Claire Barber is completing a Certificate III in Customer Engagement traineeship with host employer Service NSW Parkes.