In today’s world, working and learning are interconnected events. As a result, workplace learning has emerged as a powerful tool that both enhances the skills and knowledge of employees, as well as powers the growth and development of organisations. When employees are able to apply relevant deep skills, organisations are in a better position to respond to a rapidly-changing environment. 

Patricia Tan, Manager, National Centre of Excellence (NACE) for Workplace Learning, shares how NACE helps organisations build competencies in their people and accelerate business growth.

Why is it important for companies to build strong in-house training capabilities? 

In-house training is a powerful enabler in enhancing the culture of learning in an organisation. This is because in-house trainers tend to intimately know the industry and company culture well, and they will be able to design learning interventions that more accurately meet the needs of employees and the changing industry. 

Companies with strong in-house training capabilities will be able to save time and pivot much more quickly, as the in-house trainers can curate, design and deliver learning programmes faster – as compared to relying on external training vendors.

At what stage should companies be looking at in-house training to optimise and supplement their skills development efforts? 

It would be ideal if the learning culture is pervasive and discernable to any employee from the first day they join. Providing good guidance and support for employees from day one is how we start the learning culture right. 

Attending external training, while useful for gaining domain knowledge, often faces the challenge of not being contextualised to the operational and business needs of industry. In-house training on other hand would lead to the sharing of valuable tacit knowledge drawn from the sharing of past challenges and achievements. NACE strongly believes that building a culture of workplace learning must include the strengthening of coaching and mentoring skills in leaders, and the optimisation of opportunities for peer learning.

Developing in-house training capability can be extremely beneficial to organisations, as they get to form their own community of in-house trainers. These individuals will be part of the support structure to deliver fit-for-purpose learning programmes that include tacit knowledge and skills.  

In-house training is definitely the way forward as it creates a triple-win situation for organisations. Employers get to retain their skilled personnel because their employees experience job satisfaction, the business becomes “fail-proof” and more resilient to market changes, and employees get to safeguard their jobs.

Tell us more about NACE and the work that NACE does. 

The current fast-moving economic landscape places a huge emphasis on talent. Hence, the skills and knowledge of employees have become key differentiators that can help companies elevate productivity and stay ahead of competition.

To assist companies in this area, the National Centre of Excellence for Workplace Learning (NACE) led by Nanyang Polytechnic was established in July 2018. It aims to help local organisations retain and build competencies through workplace learning to support business growth and strategies.

NACE works with various industries to help support the implementation of the National Workplace Learning Framework that helps provide a pathway and scaffold for building a workplace learning culture. There are six core components in all; Strategy, Leadership, Planning, Training Needs Analysis, Environment and Implementation and Processes. NACE also assesses organisations for the National Workplace Learning Certification, which recognises organisations for putting in place exemplary workplace learning practices. In addition, NACE also conducts application research on workplace learning to help deepen the understanding of skills application and utilisation. We constantly keep ourselves abreast of the new norms and consolidate best practices from exemplary industry players. These practices are then shared within a workplace learning ecosystem, so as to benefit as many companies as possible. 

What is NACE’s philosophy and approach towards the training programmes that the center offers?  

NACE offers training and development programmes, as well as consultancy services, to help companies elevate their workplace learning efforts. After these processes are in place, organisations can better hone the capabilities and skills of their workers, and in turn support the company's growth in competencies and competitiveness.

We have identified five core programmes that can help equip businesses with the skills they need to implement workplace learning: 

NACE was established as a collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET) and the Chamber of Industry & Commerce for Munich and Upper Bavaria (IHK). We have domain expertise in adapting Swiss and German methodologies, which enables us to support organisations’ adoption of best-in-class practices for workplace learning. The Swiss and Germans are well regarded internationally for their focus on vocational education and training, as well as their workplace learning systems, and that is why Singapore is looking to learn from them and leverage their methods.  

Given the fast pace of changes in the world today, how does NACE continuously ensure that its programmes are robust, and able to stay ahead of the curve? 

NACE constantly reviews our programmes to make adjustments, and we contextualise the content to suit the industry we are delivering the learning programmes to. It’s important that we apply situated knowledge into our programmes to ensure that they sufficiently address the changing needs of industry.  

At the same time, we continue to learn a great deal from our partners, the Swiss Federal University for Vocational Education and Training (SFUVET), the IHK Exportakademie, as well as the Singaporean-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (SGC). 

How does NACE ensure that its trainers are aligned with the developments in the Training and Adult Education (TAE) sector? 

All our trainers have the requisite qualifications to train workplace learning programmes. They also have many years of experience in facilitating adult learning programmes. NACE keeps its trainers abreast of all developments in the TAE sector by sharing updates on emerging tools such as digital tools that can be used in delivering learning programmes - one example being new LMS systems - and cutting edge trends in andragogy.  

Finally, are there any upcoming developments that NACE will introduce to support our skills ecosystem? 

Since NACE’s launch in 2018, we have had multiple developments to strengthen the skills ecosystem.

Some of the key developments include working with Institutes of Higher Learning to harmonise on-the-job training blueprints to provide a best practice approach to workplace learning, introduction of the National Workplace Learning Framework mentioned earlier, and the launch of the National Workplace Learning Certification to recognise organisations that have demonstrated a strong workplace learning culture.

We are also learning and sharing with our international counterparts, through opportunities such as the inaugural Leadership COP held in September this year, where we invited senior leaders to join us for a session on best practices in Workplace Learning in Switzerland and Germany.

All this is delivered through the set-up of NACE centres beyond Nanyang Polytechnic where it first started – to the other four local polytechnics, Singapore Institute of Technology, and in the Institute for Adult Learning. Regardless of where the future developments take us, we will strive to be an integral part of the skills ecosystem, propelling talent development ahead.

                               
24 Mar 2023