Non-Training Strategies for Building Workforce Capability

While training and education are critical for workforce development, they don’t solve all problems. Offering training unnecessarily, particularly to those already equipped with the required knowledge, wastes time, increases costs, and often leads to training fatigue.

Building workforce capability means going beyond beyond compliance-driven training. It enables staff to perform confidently and competently while addressing workforce pressures, like the experience-complexity gap and high turnover rates.

5 Non-Training Strategies

Here are five non-training strategies to help build workforce capability:

1. Measure Tenure with Vigilance
2. Strategically Distribute Clinical Expertise
3. Offer Mid-Career Opportunities
4. Accelerate Competence Through Up-Skilling Pathways
5. Grow Future Leaders from Within

1. Measure Tenure with Vigilance

Improving employee retention has many benefits. Initiatives that improve retention are one of the most cost-effective workforce strategies. Longer tenure reduces hiring costs, productivity losses, and the erosion of organisational knowledge. For every $1 spent on retention, organisations can save up to $2 in hiring costs.

Monitoring tenure across job roles and facilities ensures targeted interventions where needed most.

2.Strategically Distribute Clinical Expertise

Strategically distributing clinical expertise within an organisation reduces risks and builds workforce capability in several ways:

• It’s a zero-cost knowledge transfer between experienced clinicians and novice, early-career or new staff.
• Teams benefit from having access to experienced clinicians who can guide complex decision-making.
• Reduced errors, leading to better care outcomes and team confidence.
• Recognising and strategically utilising clinical expertise also improves retention by valuing experienced staff.

3. Offer Mid-Career Opportunities

Mid-career staff are often overlooked despite their significant potential for retention. Offering clear pathways for growth—like structured career progression or mid-career sabbaticals—ensures staff feel valued and see long-term Opportunities.

Notably, today’s “mid-career” may emerge far earlier, at the 2-5 year mark, compared to 10-15 years previously, so determining what mid-career looks like in your organisation through a measure of tenure is critical.

4. Accelerate Competence Through Up-Skilling Pathways

Up-skilling, side-skilling, and cross-skilling programs help novice clinicians build competence and transition towards proficiency in their role quickly. However, this must be balanced with monitoring preceptor workloads. It’s important to carefully monitor the potential for preceptorship burnout from the experienced staff who are often required to foster emerging clinical leaders.

5. Grow Future Leaders from Within

Developing leadership internally delivers significant benefits:

• Leaders bring built-in organisational knowledge.
• Teams respect leaders with lived experience in the roles they now oversee.
• It reduces the risks and costs of external hires while fostering a culture of growth.

Creating dedicated and diverse career pathways - not just leadership pathways but clinical, care and operational streams is another way to grow organisational leaders.

Workforce Capability: The Antidote to Workforce Pressures

In a recent webinar on the topic of workforce capability, I introduced a capability approach to training and learning, unpacked the concept of “workforce pressures”, and examined how these pressures manifest and impact organisations. I also defined workforce capability and highlighted its importance as a means to narrow or even close the experience-complexity gap.

Essentially, building workforce capability is a bundled approach to alleviating workforce pressures—perhaps even the antidote to overcoming these challenges.

Ready to Learn More?

Watch the full recording of the Beyond Compliance - Building Workforce Capability webinar to explore practical strategies and insights for transforming your workforce.

Related Resources

• Incremental Decline - The Road to Non-Compliance?
• Guide to Empowering Learners to Imrpove Compliance
• Guide to Navigating Compliance Chaos
• Guide to Mandatory Training
• A Guide for Managers: Mandatory Training in Aged Care
• Guide to Induction Training
• Induction Training - FAQs
• A Guide to Policy Management
• Creating an Education Framework

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