Sustainability Report 2005-2006
Department of the Environment and Water Resources, 2007
Social Performance
Case Study
Action Learning drives skill development in the Graduate Programme
The Graduate Programme forms an integral part of planning for future needs of the department. The programme recruits high-performing graduates and provides them with targeted learning and development to assist them to reach their full potential in as short a time as possible.
One of the highlights of this programme is a field trip each year in August/September. The department’s approach to Action Learning meant that the graduates manage the whole project themselves from design to implementation.
Preparations for the planning of the 2005 field trip started early in the graduate year, with the group attending various team-building and communication workshops, which provided them with the necessary skills to begin planning the field trip. The group submitted three choices of destination to senior management, with Tasmania being selected as the chosen destination.
The field trip comprises a full five days of site visits, planned and coordinated by the graduates, to develop skills in the following areas:
- planning, organising and implementing the trip itinerary and site visits
- liaising with industry, state and local government and non-government organisations
- assessing on-the-ground implementation of Commonwealth policies and programmes
- understanding the department’s role and function, especially as applied to practical situations
- team project work including managing a budget.
Time management was an important lesson: firstly, the ‘planning phase’ of the trip gave the graduates practical experience in what is reasonably achievable in the time given and with the available resources, and demonstrated the importance of building contingencies into a plan. Secondly, in the ‘action phase’ the graduates learnt the need to prioritise and to actively manage their time so that they were able to meet all of their commitments and ensure that each of the site visits provided an interesting and valuable learning experience.
Sites visited during the trip included Hydro Tasmania, the Military Museum (Anglesea Barracks), the Risdon Cove Indigenous Protected Area, the Styx Valley, the Boyer Paper Mill, the Orange Bellied Parrot/Tasmanian Devil site and Shot Tower at Taroona, the Australian Government Antarctic Division, the Southern Tasmanian NAP Site at Oatlands, Gunns, the Beaconsfield Gold Mine, the Boags Brewery, the Fox Taskforce and Launceston.
Contents
- Sustainability Report 05-06
- Executive summary
- Vision and strategy
- Our organisation
- Governance
- Policy and influence
- Environmental performance
- Social performance
- Economic performance
- Report assurance statement
- Case studies
- GRI index
Key
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