NHP Electrical Engineering Products

NHP joined forces with Swinburne Edge (formerly Swinburne Professional) to deliver a highly successful leadership and management course to supervisors. With real-world team-based projects embedded in the course, 100 per cent of participants were satisfied with program content. NHP credits the skills delivered as being applicable, relevant, and practical. The course lifted staff morale, deepened communication amongst staff and created an opportunity for senior managers to mentor colleagues.

NHP is a major electrical engineering supplier, with over 50 years of industry excellence. They service global clients out of their 22 branches across Australia and New Zealand.

With a move to new state-of-the-art premises, they were determined to further embed their unwavering commitment to service excellence and innovation across each division. A need for focused, hands-on leadership and soft-skills training was identified.

NHP engaged Swinburne Edge to develop the leadership and management capabilities of key personnel at its Laverton Manufacturing and Distribution Plant. Their primary goal was to empower the up-and-coming leadership team to effectively manage a rapid growth phase in the business.

The solution

The participants were new and current supervisors, responsible for managing teams across a range of factory functions. Many had limited experience in tertiary level education which was a common fear factor. Swinburne Edge's brief was to contextualise a BSB42015 Certificate IV in Leadership and Management to uplift their leadership capability and confidence.

In response, we developed a highly engaging, relevant and achievable learning experience. Through close collaboration with NHP’s leadership and development team, the program ensured that each learner was supported at every step. This included having their senior managers act as mentors for the program participants. In addition, our facilitator provided thorough assessment support to the learners.

Real world application

A strong feature of this bespoke Certificate IV in Leadership and Management was the inclusion of team-based practical projects. With the support of the internal manager mentors and our facilitator, learners worked in project groups to explore real-world business challenges.

These projects facilitated: 

• cultivation of cross-functional teams and roles
• breaking down workplace silos
• deepening of communication and collaboration
• lifting of staff morale.

These benefits alone show significant improvement to NHP business operations, in addition to the outcomes of the workplace projects. Examples of this are the investment in a new workbench prototype and streamlined tools and processes to save time and effort in managing product supply systems.

The results

Participants “surprised themselves”, noting the impact that taking on new skills and being a part of a collaborative, organisation supported, learning experience can mean to both their personal and professional lives.

Given the program’s initial success, NHP continued with a new learning team based at their Richmond site.

Key success factors

The program was a success with a percentage favourable score of 95 per cent highlighting the overall participant satisfaction with the program.

Additionally, program evaluation emphasised that:

• NHP is highly supportive of the development of their management team
• senior managers receive leadership and management training first, allowing them to mentor other personnel
• senior managers play a key role in the development of certificate IV participants' learning and the success of their work-based projects
• peer support contributes to the retention of the workforce and the cultivation of a lifelong learning culture.