We all know suppliers are being kept pretty busy by the boom these days. The sales teams have it all wrapped up. Their order books are full, the service departments are running second shifts, the parts departments are flat-out trying to keep up, but how well is the end user being catered for when it comes to training?
With the general skills shortage, just about everybody walking onto a mine site (after the appropriate scrutiny and official mine clearances) is steered towards some type of mobile equipment or fixed plant they have had little experience with or, worse still, have never seen before.
Now before I go on, I have to state this is not a criticism of the excellent people on both sides of the order book who are dedicated to the training. But I do become concerned when we constantly hear about the lack of people to fill positions. I often lie awake at night wondering if they are trained sufficiently to handle their tasks.
What is the depth of their skills? Are they capable of reacting to an emergency? Are they able to learn, in the relatively short time they are on the job, how to react to something more training could have prevented?
How does the industry provide more training and get value-added training down the line?
Suppliers, man your posts!
Look hard at the training you are providing and ask yourselves is this sufficient? How can I provide value-added, in-depth training?
And it's not a question of who is going to pay. Of course the industry, the end user will pay. The last thing any mine site wants is a plant malfunction or failure due to operator inexperience.
Yet somehow I know what the answer will be. Where do we get the people to train the trainers, train the operators and provide follow-up training? It's a catch-22, as they are all out on the mine sites - not necessarily doing the jobs they were originally trained for themselves. Instead they are chasing the big bucks and the poor old supply chain operators cannot afford to keep them.
So how do we fix this problem?
How about this for an idea. Consider all those early retirees and not-so-early retirees who have left the supply chain (and retired from mine operations, for that matter) and are sitting at home twiddling their thumbs, maybe catching a round of golf or bowls, but in general wasting their valuable intellect resources in retirement.
I am not suggesting for a moment they need to come back to a full-time job, but surely the supply chain can foster a mentoring program by using such experienced people to ease the immediate shortfall?
But I can hear the nay-sayers now. What about my super, my pension, it will be eroded if I go back to any form of work, and so on.
A darn good set of questions, and I would challenge the Federal Government, who in fairness have faced the skills shortage by introducing new education programs such as the Australian Technical College program, to endorse retirees who are willing to meet the training shortfall.
Maybe they could even offer some sort of exception for tax on earnings and waiver any risks associated with income protection (or whatever makes it work) so this fine core of skilled and intelligent Australians can help the industry, and also help their own pockets.
It's a fair bet there are people out there who would jump at the chance of imparting their experience. I am also sure many would enjoy being given the necessary skills needed to train others - let's not forget the many retired school teachers who could offer basic teaching skills as well. It's all about using resources to create resources.
I reckon it's worth looking into, asking the question and making it work. Because I don't see how we are going to get experienced skills into the mining industry if we keep doing it the way it's being done now and the way it has been done in the past.
