Developing skills and capabilities of middle-management and supervisory staff on Australian prawn farms (pilot program)

Funded Activity Summary

A leadership skill gap within the prawn farming industry has been identified at the middle-management and supervisory staff level, specifically regarding the ability to effectively manage a team, build successful workplace culture and work effectively with generational differences. Attaining and retaining staff is a challenge for industry and this challenge is expected to become greater as the industry grows. The development of a positive workplace culture to improve job satisfaction will be important to attract and retain staff into the future. Another issue that this industry faces as it grows is the progression of younger generations into leadership roles that require the supervision of older employees and visa versa where older generations are working longer. This brings a need for supervisory and middle management staff to understand how to work effectively with different generations in the workforce. In response to these industry needs, the APFA has engaged Affectus, a company who focuses on delivering leadership development programs and workshops. Affectus proposes to manage and facilitate a pilot training program for staff of APFA member businesses to address the earlier described leadership skill gaps. This program will host a maximum of 20 people and will include a 2-day training workshop,1-day technical industry workshop, industry networking dinner, online coaching session and a half day online follow-up workshop. The pilot program aims to prepare participants to have a positive impact on the workplace through increased understanding of self, workplace culture, generational differences, communication and conflict resolution. This project addresses a key R&D priority of the FRDC and APFA 2020-2025 Strategic Plans, namely ‘Capability and Capacity’ and ‘Human Capital and Emerging Technologies’, respectively.

Objectives:
1. Support staff of APFA members to participate in the skill development pilot program.
2. For the pilot program participants to achieve a greater understanding of self.
3. For the pilot program participants to understand how to build a successful workplace culture and to apply this understanding to their workplaces.
4. For the pilot program participants to achieve a greater understanding of how different generations respond in the workplace to further their capacity to effectively work with these differences.
5. For the program participants to develop an ‘Individual Workplace Improvement Plan’ and successfully implement it into their workplaces.
6. For the pilot program participants to obtain a greater understanding of conflict resolution, including conflict management, delegation and rewarding.
7. For the pilot program participants to learn the basics of effective and efficient communication.
8. For the pilot program participants to learn how to work effectively with teams.
9. For the pilot program participants to learn how to get the most out of team meetings.
10. For the pilot program participants to have the opportunity to engage with industry leaders and build their professional networks.
11. To provide the pilot program participants with learning materials to take back to their respective workplaces.
12. Provide an online forum for participants for ongoing engagement and support and an electronic library of resources and materials.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 29-08-2023

End Date: 31-05-2025

Funding Scheme: Funding Scheme not available

Funding Amount: $97,600.00

Funder: Fisheries Research and Development Corporation

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

There are no FoR codes available for this funding activity

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

There are no SEO codes available for this funding activity

Other Keywords

Capacity Building | Leadership | Workforce

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