Purpose
The Mapping Tool supports IRCs to map existing and proposed qualifications to job roles, understand career pathways, and improve alignment between training packages and occupations. The results can be used to support discussions with stakeholders by providing clear information on job roles, qualifications, skill needs, and career pathways.
Overview
The Mapping Tool uses the concept of job families, a universal approach to categorise and compare roles within an industry. This approach helps to translate jobs across different contexts and structures, by providing insights into the breadth of roles, skill requirements and emerging needs.
The mapping tool has three levels:
- Job Family (Group): A Job Family is a grouping of similar jobs at the highest level that usually consists of several Job Functions.
- Job Function: Each Job Family is made up of one or more Job Functions. They are the second tier of the model’s hierarchy and represent a subgroup of jobs that require similar skills, capabilities, knowledge and training.
- Job Role: A Job Role is a specific job belonging to a Job Family and Job Function. A job role groups the required skills, capabilities, knowledge and training and represents how sets of skills are used within the workforce
Resource One: Download the Mapping Tool Template here.
How to use the Tool
Populate the table template for your industry (or industries) using existing knowledge and information. The tool should help you to understand how training is used within your industry, as well as where training products are not related to specific job roles.
When completing the tool, start with the Job Family and Job Function.
When populating Job Roles, start with the entry-level position. This is important to ensure that mapping is guided by the jobs roles within your industry, rather than the existing set of training products. Once the entry-level role is populated, continue to list the roles associated with career pathways (for example, specialisations or other progressions).
In the ‘associated training’ column, capture the training used by workers in each role to upskill and progress within their career path. Include training package units of competency, skill sets, qualifications and other accredited training, as well as non-accredited or informal training.
Use the ‘uptake’ column to note how, and to what extent, the listed training is used in the role. For example, whether entry-level training is a formal requirement completed by all new entrants or just a suggested qualification that workers use to differentiate themselves from others. Specify whether the training package product is a formal or regulated entry requirement, an informal industry requirement, or simply a preference. Record the proportion of workers in each job role that would be likely to have this qualification.
It is important to recognise the different ways that skills are delivered to the workforce so that product development efforts are focussed where there are limited viable alternatives for workers to develop skills. At a minimum, IRCs are encouraged to map job roles and training using a template such as the one provided. Skills mapping requires significant upfront investment and input from industry to populate. Given the amount of work required to fully map out the skills associated with each job role, this could be an opportunity for future improvement. Initially you may want to focus on populating job roles and qualifications, and then integrate assessments of the skills required for job families, functions and roles over time.
Download the completed examples for both single and cross sector industry below.