Background

Our society is navigating a digital skills shortage. Both in terms of sheer numbers, and in terms of diversity of the people that fill digital roles, there is a gap that we must overcome in order to keep pace with accelerating demand.

As we have written about previously, RMIT FORWARD - The Centre for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation - has been exploring the dynamics surrounding onboarding new entrants into technology roles, both from the perspective of the people organising intake programs in organisations, as well as the experience of the new entrants themselves.

Through a series of industry roundtables, an initial batch of insights has been synthesised and converted into resources designed to foster ongoing conversations and explorations. We are now exploring and designing ways to best make these insights and resources available, and to support their use with facilitation and guidance where required.

Stimulating and fostering conversations

A core tenet which has guided our thinking and approach is that the journey of onboarding someone to an organisation is a distinctly human undertaking, and one that will be unique to each organisation in its given context. On that basis, our goal is not to provide a definitive rule book or “how to” guide. Rather, we seek to:

• Help you to create genuine conversations that lead to people’s experiences and their critical insights being shared
• Provide a language and framing you can use to encourage the journey to be considered holistically.
• Leave you with a library of resources to support your organisation in the capturing of insights and wisdom that emerge during the conversations, and for these to be built upon over time. We call this a “wisdom box” - picture in your mind a shoe box filled with cards on which your people have captured their stories and insights over time, in a format that is accessible, and fun to use in meetings and workshops.

Facilitated group discussions

To start the process of dialogue and knowledge capture, we have designed some activities that leverage the resources we developed, including physical prompt cards and other storytelling tools.

There are three broad formats tailored for different contexts, which can be adapted to suit individual circumstances:

1. Lunch & Learn - large group format

Get a broad base of people in your organisation tuned into the opportunities and challenges, and they role they can play

<aside> ⚙️ Time required: 45 mins

Number of participants: 15-40 people

Who should attend: Anyone from the organisation, including team members, new entrants and leaders, whether or not they already have a high degree of familiarity with these themes.

Format:

• Brief overview to the background and concepts
• Introduction to the framework tools
• Discussions in small groups on the overarching concepts, and capturing of insights
• Plenary discussion of key themes

Location:

• Ideally facilitated in person, onsite at your organisation

Outcomes:

• Generation of broad awareness of the concepts, and the role that each person in the organisation plays in the successful onboarding of new entrants.
• Starting the process of capturing the unique insights and experiences belonging to the organisation.
• Setting the stage for smaller groups to meet independently and use the tools to build on the insights gathered, and to add new ones. </aside>

2. Exploration workshop - small group format