In October 2012, Sorell Council in Tasmania hosted a visit and morning tea with representatives from training provider MEGT and eleven Fellows from the Philippines, who are visiting Australia as part of AusAID’s Australian Leadership Awards Fellowship program.
The overall mission of the Fellows’ visit to Australia was to focus on building workplace training within organisations and to enhance regional development in Mindanao in the Philippines. The visitors reviewed how training is incorporated into the business as a key benefit to employees.
Six staff from Council presented their training stories to the Fellows, and described how their training had benefited them.
Scott McGrath, Senior Industry Employment Consultant from MEGT, said that, “This visit has provided a fantastic opportunity for Fellows from the Philippines to look at how Sorell Council utilises training within the workplace and the value that is placed on it for not only new but also for existing staff.”
All 11 Fellows were very impressed with what they saw and heard during the presentations.
One of the Fellows, Jose M Georlin, said that his visit to Council showed him “the importance of apprenticeship and the up-scaling of skills”.
Irene L Floro described the visit as “a very enlightening, encouraging and eye-opening experience for [those of] us who have partnerships/engagement with local government in our area”.
Sorell Council General Manager Bill Costin said, “We have a diverse workforce with approximately 97 staff, consisting of an outdoor workforce, child care centre, as well as office staff. This diversity means that we have a wide range of training needs.
“As an organisation, we realise the importance of having highly trained and skilled staff. We place great value on aiding our staff to undertake further training and study to enable them to reach their full potential and contribute positively to Council and the community,” said Mr Costin.
