WIDE Trust Supports Increased Forestry Assessor Bench Strength

It is recognised that industry trainers and assessors are integral to the success of learners in the forestry and wood manufacturing sectors. In recent times, Competenz has been struggling to attract and retain good quality assessors due to market competition. With support from the WIDE Trust Competenz has developed a nationwide, professional development programme for assessors in these industry sectors.

Additional to this, Competenz has also run Assessor Appreciation Days for forestry assessors in six key locations. The purpose of these events was to provide reward and recognition and to listen to the voice of the customer and understand what they would like to see covered in these workshops.

To be truly customer-centric Competenz engaged with industry and welcomed their feedback. At the Assessor Appreciation Days all attendees completed feedback forms and were asked to indicate the areas in which they would like to up-skill and the type of professional development they’d like going forward. This information informed the calendar of activity and positive results from their efforts in the assessor space.

58 assessors and nine Competenz Account Managers attended Workshop 1 that was run online earlier this year. The first workshops focussed on Problem Solving and Environment and Engagement. In the Problem Solving workshop the fishbone analysis tool was used to identify problems and work through solutions to aid assessors when working with learners with learning difficulties. In the Environment and Engagement workshops, participants were given a choice of techniques and aids for training.

Businesses, students and others involved in studies and work to enhance the forestry and wood industry sectors in New Zealand are invited to apply to the WIDE Trust for a grant to support their efforts.

Apply Online - www.widetrust.org.nz/funding-opportunities