Workers are expected to be adaptable, flexible and willing to learn, in the rapidly changing forest and wood products industry. Where work becomes increasingly complex, communication skills become important and transparency about expectations is essential.

Developing a process to systematically approach changes in the workplace or workplace roles provides clarity and ownership by those involved. Change in the workplace requires workers to adapt to a new situation, which can create uncertainty. Workplace change requiring new skill development should be approached with sensitivity to enable the worker to learn new skills while not feeling their capacity to undertake their job is threatened. One approach to this is to make learning informal and engaging. An example of this could be to use the ‘’Trouble shooting guide’’ with a worker to create a guide for a situation required in the workplace.

The scenarios and activities outlined below can be adapted to your workplace. They aim to build the capacity of individuals, and therefore the workplace, in response to change.

Read through the following scenarios to see how some companies are considering gaps in employees’ foundation skills, to deal with workplace change.

	Scenarios	Activities
Planning for harvest and haulage contracts	Scenario	Activity – harvest rates View answersActivity – Haulage rates View answers  Checklist – Negotiating contracts
Identifying foundation skills in job descriptions	Scenario	Sample – Job description
Dealing with upgraded equipment	Scenario	Sample – illustrated procedure
Solving problems	Scenario	Activity – Solving problems Example – Trouble shooting guide

Acknowledgments

© Commonwealth of Australia 2015. This program has been produced by ForestWorks with the assistance of funding provided by the Australian Government through the Department of Education and Training. These documents can be altered for training purposes only.