Success Profile

Jobfind Centres Australia www.jobfindcentre.com.au E-learning minimizes the need for expensive training room facilities and reduces the fees paid to specialist instructors. We can offer well designed and educationally sound courses for a fraction of the price of traditional teaching. Julia Kennedy Training Services Coordinator

Streamlining Training Services with e-Learning to Help More Australian Job Seekers Find Work
STREAMLINE EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE
In recent years, Australia has fundamentally transformed employment assistance by creating Job Services Australia to replace government-based employment services with a network of private sector organizations providing skills training and job placement. This reflected the governments belief that private sector organizations were more likely to succeed in helping job seekers find work. Service providers operate under fixed-term contracts and face ongoing assessment under the governments Star Ratings performance-monitoring scheme. These ratings reflect each service providers relative success in achieving employment outcomes for clients. As a foundation member of Job Services Australia, Jobfind Centres Australia has always used education and skills training to boost its clients readiness for work. However, like most welfare-to-work service providers, Jobfind found some traditional instructor-led training programs costly, inflexible and slow to activate. Classroom-based instruction was conducted on a one size fits all basis, with all clients receiving the same education regardless of their prior knowledge. Another problem was the lag between when a job seeker needs assistance and when a course may be available. Normally a service provider needed to wait until it had a minimum number of clients requiring a course before it could be conducted cost-effectively. Remote communities were also disadvantaged. Often, job seekers in rural areas couldnt afford to travel long distances to attend classes on a daily basis. Jobfind needed to increase training flexibility for job seekers (especially in rural areas), and replace instructor-led training with e-learning.

Fast Facts
Industry: Public Sector Country: Australia SumTotal Product: SumTotal Learning

HOSTED LEARNING MANAGEMENT FOR ANYTIME, ANYWHERE ACCESS

Responding to these challenges, Jobfind chose to deliver e-learning using SumTotal Learning Management. Because Jobfind uses e-learning technology as a hosted service managed by SumTotal Australia & New Zealand, its upfront costs were minimal, with most charges based on actual usage. For Jobfind, this meant lower capital costs, improved flexibility, and an opportunity to minimize financial risk.

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BUSINESS CHALLENGES

Help job seekers become job-ready

sooner

Increase flexibility for job seekers in

rural areas

Replace instructor-led training with

e-learning

Driven by an easy-to-use Web browser interface, the Jobfind e-learning solution lets job seekers access training anywhere and at any time. This eliminates the need to wait for instructor-led courses to become available. Job seekers can build their skills on any Internet-connected computer, whether at a Jobfind Centre, at home, or any other location. Over 1,800 courses are available for deployment through the Learning Management environment. Compared with the one size fits all approach used in traditional classroom training, e-learning is considerably more flexible. It allows the job seeker to undertake a program that recognizes and builds on their existing skills. This enables Jobfind to assist clients who may have partial skills coverage or job seekers wishing to change their career path but who may require a skills boost. As a result, e-learning makes Jobfind more responsive to the individual clients specific needs and career objectives. We are not using computer-based learning for its own sake, said Julia Kennedy, training services Coordinator for Jobfind. Instead, we utilize e-learning as part of a blended learning model that combines different teaching techniques to develop comprehensive skills for job seekers. E-learning is particularly beneficial for job seekers in rural and regional areas where unemployment is a major social issue. Online skills development overcomes the tyranny of distance, because job seekers dont need to travel for hours to attend a course in the capital city, said Kennedy. Thats an important benefit for people in rural and regional Australia. The first advantage of e-learning is its instant setup. Using Learning Management, a Jobfind consultant can create a job-search program on the spot, allowing the client to begin immediately. This contrasts with instructor-led courses, where the service provider usually needs to line up participants before a course can start. Importantly, Learning Management also lets the Jobfind consultant supervise a clients progress to ensure the client remains on track to meet Job Search Plan targets. Integrated management tools alert consultants when clients are falling short of progress so the consultant can take appropriate remedial action. E-learning helps Jobfind efficiently manage each client as an individual, explained Kennedy. Unlike traditional classroom teaching, there is no need for clients to review material they already know. The system can administer preliminary tests to confirm knowledge and help the employment consultant assess an appropriate starting point for the client.

Streamline operations and keep

upfront costs minimal SOLUTION

Jobfind Centres Australia chose

SumTotal Learning Management hosted by SumTotal to deliver Webbased e-learning programs

RESULTS

Placed 83 clients and readied 500 job

seekers in three months

Lowers capital costs and minimizes

financial risks

Reduces the cost of administering

employment-assistance programs performance metrics

Streamlines operations and boosts Achieves better outcomes for job

seekers

Improves staff satisfaction and

retention

BOOSTS EMPLOYMENT AND REDUCES COSTS

In the first three months after deploying the solution, Jobfind placed 83 clients into work and boosted the job-readiness of a further 500 job seekers. Significantly, all 83 clients were long-term, unemployed and out of work for more than 12 months. Thats an extremely encouraging start, said Kennedy. Delivering results for job seekers is what counts. We expect e-learning to have a strong, positive impact on our next Star Ratings assessment. E-learning is also helping Jobfind expand the range of training programs it provides. The company currently offers over 200 courses, ranging from basic business and computer skills to motivation, interview skills and advanced computer applications. Jobfind also uses e-learning to develop skills for call center operations, customer service, retail sales, occupational safety, financial services, insurance and accounting.

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About SumTotal
SumTotal Systems, Inc. is the global leader strategic Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions that provide organizations with a new level of visibility to help make more informed business decisions and accelerate growth. Recognized by industry analysts as the most complete solution, SumTotal provides full employee lifecycle management, including a core system of record, from a single provider for improved business intelligence. The company offers customers of all sizes and industries the most flexibility and choice with multiple purchase, configuration, and deployment options. We have increased the performance of the worlds largest organizations including Sony Electronics (NYSE: SNE), AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN [ADR]; London: AZN), Amway (KUL:AMWAY), Seagate (NYSE: STX), Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), and Google (NASDAQ:GOOG). For more information, or to request a demo, please call +1 (866) 768-6825 (US / Canada), +1 (352) 264-2800 (international) or visit www.sumtotalsystems.com

E-learning allows job seekers to begin learning new skills and enhance their existing knowledge within minutes, said Kennedy. The Learning Management software helps our consultants assess the clients knowledge and create a personalized program during the client interview. This instant response encourages better outcomes for job seekers and Jobfind. Automatic reporting of e-learning activity has greatly simplified Jobfinds claims for government funding to cover expenses incurred by job seekers who dont own a computer. Moreover, e-learning enables Jobfind consultants to develop new skills, reducing the burden of routine administration. Many client-supervision functions are fully automated by SumTotal Learning Management. This allows consultants to handle a larger caseload while focusing on helping clients towards job-readiness rather than paperwork. The result is better client outcomes and improved staff satisfaction and retention. According to Julia Kennedy, online training offers compelling value for money because it is cheaper to provide and administer. E-learning minimizes the need for expensive training room facilities and reduces the fees paid to specialist instructors, she explained. We can offer well-designed and educationally sound courses for a fraction of the price of traditional teaching. E-learning enables providers like Jobfind to bolster skills and get more job seekers into workthe critical metric of success for companies offering employment assistance.

About Jobfind Centres Australia

Established in 1998 as a foundation member of the Australian Governments Job Services Australia, Jobfind Centres Australia is a leading recruitment provider of entry-level staff. With 130 metropolitan, regional and remote locations, Jobfind has matched over 330,000 candidates with employers around Australia. Jobfind Centres Australia is a division of the Angus Knight group, a privately owned Australian organization that owns leading brands in vocational education and training, and in national workforce development.

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