Vodafone employees can now achieve new national qualifications on the job, which can be directly attributed to the Tertiary Education Commission’s Direct Funding Scheme (DFS).
Administered by the Tertiary Education Commission, the DFS gives Vodafone the opportunity to deliver training recognised by the New Zealand Qualifications Framework NZQA.
As a result, the telco is one of the first large employers to successfully apply for the Government funding with the programme kicking off in June.
Vodafone HR Director Antony Welton says the program will help retain and attract the best talent, by recognising the transferable skills developed in the workplace.
“A national qualification is lifelong, and hugely valuable to our people,” Welton adds.
“Being able to translate some of our internal training programmes into nationally recognised achievements is a special way of ensuring that we continue to support, grow and develop our people, our most valuable resource.
“We’re focused on equipping our people with the skills to be successful in their roles. It about creating motivated, high performing teams to support our customers.”
According to Welton, training under the national framework will be contracted to The Skills Organisation, an industry training organisation and partner of Vodafone.
The Skills Organisation chief executive Garry Fissenden says the ITO was “hugely supportive” of Vodafone’s application under the DFS.
“The DFS gives both us and our firms, such as Vodafone, the opportunity to find innovative ways to meet their training needs - while leveraging the capabilities of both parties,” he adds.
Fissenden believes The Skills Organisation will continue to work closely with Vodafone New Zealand, supporting it to maximise the opportunities from the Direct Funding Scheme.
“It is an initiative that holds plenty of promise. It also provides an opportunity for innovation and different ways of doing business with our large firms,” he adds.
By the end of 2015, Vodafone expects to have supported over 250 employees to achieve qualifications as part of the training and development scheme.