A local skilled workforce was the focus of a recent Professional Development Program (PDP) roundtable hosted by Engineers Australia.
Senior engineers and HR representatives from current PDP partners and interested organisations including Aldanmark, JMG Engineers and Planners, Hazell Bros, Pitt&Sherry, and TasWater attended the roundtable to discuss how to support the next generation of engineers to become Chartered and secure the pipeline of engineering professionals in Tasmania.
Engineers Australia’s General Manager of Tasmania, Dr Vicki Gardiner said the Tasmanian engineering profession is a small community with many SMEs.
“Forming a collective to share ideas on up skilling the Tasmanian workforce and collaborating to make these ideas a reality is crucial to the future of the Tasmanian engineering profession,” Dr Gardiner said.
“As outlined in the recent Tasmanian Engineering Workforce Development Strategy, the workforce is getting older and there will soon be a crisis point whereby demand will outnumber supply.
“To secure the future engineering industry in Tasmania, we need to ensure the engineers coming through the pipeline are competent and confident in their work.”
The roundtable participants shared their thoughts on what currently worked in the PDP and further requirements for their organisations. The opportunity to collaborate was also discussed, with the representatives sharing what their organisation could offer the cohort such as resources, mentor, processes, and projects.
“The PDP roundtable proved to be a successful strategy in working towards a secure engineering pipeline in Tasmania,” said Dr Gardiner.
With participants agreeing to focus on developing the competencies required for Chartered Status, outcomes from the meeting included moving the Engineers Australia hosted Chartered Mentor and Peer Support meetings to a more suitable time, with organisations ensuring staff had the opportunity to attend.
The Milestone Plans developed at these meetings will be shared with the PDP Coordinators in order to support the staff going through the program and encourage them to reach these milestones.
The PDP organisations will also work with Engineers Australia to identify professional development training opportunities for their staff, so they can develop the competencies in order to become Chartered.
There will now be a quarterly PDP roundtable for leaders of the PDP partner organisations to further collaborate and share progress of their staff’s journey towards Chartered Status.
PDP is a program designed for engineers to develop the competencies required to gain Chartered Status using a structured and supported framework.
For further information on the PDP program, or joining the PDP roundtable, please contact Engineers Australia’s Tasmanian Stakeholder Relations Manager, Dr Diana Nahodil.
Image: A potenital member of the next generation of engineers.