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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Stars Shine Bright with NAB and AES
by Danny Lester 1 September 2013
T
he National Australia Bank (NAB) has undergone a strategic review of its Indigenous Employment Program (IEP), to evaluate both career and personal development outcomes for its Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. The results of the three-year longitudinal study, conducted by the University of Canberra’s Professor Anne Daly, were
revealed at a harbour cruise launch event held in Sydney on Friday 23rd August. The findings show a number of positive personal development and life satisfaction outcomes for participants, as well as highlighting key areas for program improvement; specifically retention and middle management career progression opportunities. NAB’s IEP is run in conjunction with leading employment service provider, the Aboriginal Employment Strategy (AES). The AES has pioneered its
unique and innovative schoolbased traineeships since 2002. The training model is proven to successfully equip young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders with the tools needed to achieve their long-term careers goals, via practical work experience, skills coaching and mentoring. NAB and AES formal working partnership was launched in 2006. Since then NAB has successfully delivered vocational training and experience in the banking and
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finance sector to 142 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. “The overall assessment of the IEP participants and their managers was overwhelmingly positive. Participants, many of whom are now in full time employment with NAB, felt they had gained considerably in work-related skills and in self-confidence,” Professor Daly said. “Of the respondents, 89 per cent indicated they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their job, with 78 per cent ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the level of ‘job security’ and 78 per cent ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with the level of ‘flexibility to balance work and non-work commitments’, including significant community participation. “Interestingly, these figures indicate a higher overall job satisfaction among NAB’s IEP participants than those found by the HILDA study at the University of Melbourne, which assessed overall
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job satisfaction for 19-25 year-olds in the general population,” she finished. “The AES is proud to have supported young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in learning essential skills that will help them achieving life-changing career goals. By effectively equipping school-based- trainees with industry-specific experience, we are arming them with the right attitude, mindset, skills and confidence to support themselves, their families and their communities,” AES CEO Danny Lester said. “Continued research is critical to the ongoing refinement of our traineeship program. While the overall sentiment of the NAB trainees is overwhelmingly positive, the research does reveal some watch-outs such as the longerterm retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. The challenge ahead therefore is to follow up traineeships with ongoing professional development programs run in conjunction with
our corporate partners, to maintain employee engagement and drive retention rates,” Mr Lester finished. “NAB is strongly committed to increasing the representation and influence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people at all levels across its workforce. Directly and by example, such initiatives help to promote economic opportunities for Indigenous Australians; and are fundamental in closing the employment and income gaps between Indigenous and other Australians,” Abbey White, NAB Indigenous Employment Manager said.. In September 2013, the AES will launch Spearhead Careers - a new professional recruitment agency assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander professionals secure middle to senior management roles across corporate Australia. If you would like to know more about the work of the AES and the opportunities available, please visit www.aes.org.au or www.facebook. com/aborginalemploymentstrategy.