Unit of competency details

Unit descriptor 

This unit covers the knowledge and skills needed by people who are given the responsibility of leading change processes in a manufacturing organisation. The change may be occurring in manufacturing or in the support functions of maintenance, office, warehousing etc.

Application of the unit 

In a typical scenario, change from continuous improvement is a constant in a competitive manufacturing  organisation. Change can however be more significant, for example, when the move to competitive manufacturing improvement processes are made, or at other times when significant changes such as the introduction of new products, processes or equipment are made. In these circumstances one or more individuals may have a particular role of leading the change and facilitating its implementation.

This unit assumes that consultation between management and workers and other relevant personnel has already occurred and the nature and extent of the change has been agreed. This unit does not cover the negotiation of change in a formal industrial relations sense but does cover the skill needed to identify real or potential change implementation issues including those that may need to be referred to formal consultation and/or dispute settlement procedures.

This unit requires the application of skills associated with communication, teamwork, problem solving, initiative, enterprise, planning, organising and self management in order to provide leadership in a change environment. This unit has a strong emphasis on planning and change management, but also requires an ability to learn from experience and feed new information back into strategies to improve performance.

Prerequisite units 

Employability skills 

This unit contains employability skills.

Elements describe the essential outcomes of a unit of competency.

Performance criteria describe the performance needed to demonstrate achievement of the element. Where bold italicised text is used, further information is detailed in the required skills and knowledge section and the range statement. Assessment of performance is to be consistent with the evidence guide.

ELEMENT 

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA 

1. Define nature and impact of change

1.1. Identify enterprise aims and objectives of the change

1.2. Identify opportunities for implementation of change within team and production environment

1.3. Determine impacts of change within team and production environment

1.4. Develop a description of the change, including its potential benefits and impacts on own work and work of team members

1.5.

2. Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

2.1. Undertake liaison with managers, engineers and other staff responsible for designing and/or implementing change

2.2. Identify Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for own and team's area of responsibility

2.3. Communicate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to all relevant stakeholders

2.4. Check that data collection and processing are appropriate for Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

2.5. Raise and resolve issues related to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with relevant personnel

2.6.

3. Liaise with key stakeholders

3.1. Identify key stakeholders impacted by the change

3.2. Communicate with key stakeholders within scope of authority

3.3. Identify and address issues and concerns  of each stakeholder if within scope of authority

3.4. Develop and/or locate information required to address key concerns

3.5. Refer issues and concerns outside of scope of authority to appropriate personnel

3.6.

4. Develop a strategy to help work teams implement change

4.1. Develop a work plan  including timetable, key performance indicators, training needs, occupational health and safety (OHS) implications, contingency plans, and responsibilities with team members and senior managers, engineers and other staff responsible for designing and/or implementing change

4.2. Make information required to support change available to team members

4.3. Communicate/circulate draft work plan to team members, supervisors, technical experts and other appropriate personnel for comment

4.4. Assess suggested changes and incorporated into work plan where appropriate

4.5.

5. Implement change

5.1. Obtain authorisation to commence change implementation in accordance with enterprise procedures

5.2. Implement change in accordance with work plan and enterprise OHS and consultation procedures

5.3.

6. Monitor implementation of change

6.1. Maintain open communication channels with all stakeholders during implementation

6.2. Monitor Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) during implementation

6.3. Encourage and facilitate improvement suggestions of team members

6.4. Identify areas requiring improvement in change implementation

6.5. Make improvements to implementation according to enterprise procedures

6.6.

REQUIRED SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE 

This section describes the skills and knowledge required for this unit.

Required skills :

• communication techniques
• negotiation skills
• information finding and analysing/using skills
• teamwork.

Required knowledge :

• sufficient understanding of the process to contextualise the communication and understand the data requirements to produce the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• project management
• motivational techniques.

EVIDENCE GUIDE 

The Evidence Guide provides advice on assessment and must be read in conjunction with the performance criteria, required skills and knowledge, the range statement and the assessment guidelines for this training package.

Overview of assessment requirements 

The competent person would be able to facilitate the implementation of change by effective communication with all relevant people and by facilitating improvements to the change.

What critical aspects of evidence are required to demonstrate competency in this unit ?

Evidence of changes facilitated would be required.

In what context should assessment occur ?

Assessment needs to occur in an organisation implementing a significant change either to, or in a competitive manufacturing environment or by a project.

Are there any other units which could or should be assessed with this unit or which relate directly to this unit ?

This unit could be assessed concurrently with other team leader units dealing with change/improvement in the organisation.

What method of assessment should apply ?

Assessors must be satisfied that the person can consistently perform the unit as a whole, as defined by the elements, performance criteria, skills and knowledge. A holistic approach should be taken to the assessment.

Assessors should gather sufficient, fair, valid, reliable, authentic and current evidence from a range of sources. Sources of evidence may include direct observation, reports from supervisors, peers and colleagues, project work, samples, organisation records and questioning. Assessment should not require language, literacy or numeracy skills beyond those required for the unit.

The assessee will have access to all techniques, procedures, information, resources and aids which would normally be available in the workplace.

The method of assessment should be discussed and agreed with the assessee prior to the commencement of the assessment.

What evidence is required for demonstration of consistent performance ?

Evidence from one significant change may be sufficient. For less significant changes, a range of changes will be needed to generate sufficient evidence.

What are the specific resource requirements for this unit ?

Access to an organisation implementing a significant change to or in competitive manufacturing.

RANGE STATEMENT 

The range statement relates to the unit of competency as a whole. It allows for different work environments and situations that may affect performance. Bold italicised wording, if used in the performance criteria, is detailed below. Essential operating conditions that may be present with training and assessment (depending on the work situation, needs of the candidate, accessibility of the item, and local industry and regional contexts) may also be included.

Competitive manufacturing 

Competitive manufacturing is used to describe the range of systemic manufacturing practice concepts and approaches. It covers but is not limited to:

• lean manufacturing
• agile manufacturing
• preventative and predictive maintenance approaches
• monitoring and data gathering systems such as Systems Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)software, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)systems, Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP), and proprietary systems such as SAP etc.
• statistical process control systems including six sigma and three sigma
• Just in Time (JIT), kanban and other pull related manufacturing control systems
• supply, value, and demand chain monitoring and analysis
• other continuous improvement systems.

Competitive manufacturing should be interpreted so as to take into account the stage of implementation of competitive manufacturing approaches, the enterprise's size and work organisation, culture, regulatory environment and manufacturing sector.

Team 

Team may include work teams from all sections of the organisation including production, maintenance, technical, administration/finance, sales/marketing.

Change 

The philosophy of continual improvement is that every process can and should be continually evaluated and improved in terms of time required, resources used, resultant quality, and other aspects relevant to the process.

Superimposed on this is the concept of breakthrough change when a large change/improvement is made which can shift the direction or operation of the organisation. Once such breakthrough change is the introduction of competitive manufacturing.

Issues and concerns 

Issues and concerns may be communicated formally and informally and can include individual and group concerns as well as those expressed by and through industrial processes.

Work plan 

A work plan can be written or informal but must include consideration of timetable, key performance indicators, training needs, OHS implications, contingency plans and responsibilities. The work plan must be capable of being coherently communicated to others.

Unit Sector 

CM Change/interpersonal

Corequisite units 

Functional Area