We are dedicated to quality and competence in the workforce.
We focus on workforce skills and knowledge, and the systems used to validate and verify these so that credentials have meaning and can be trusted in the marketplace.
Our Principal Dennis Trevarthen noticed the development of industry and peer referenced credentials in the skills market over a number of decades. His work developing national standards with mining, property, telecommunications, business services, project management and marketing, among others, brought Dennis into contact with a vibrant ‘hidden’ marketplace for skill development. Not reported in official statistics, not recognised for the value it was providing, but contributing to industry productivity.
This marketplace was diverse, passionate yet somehow unrecognised in formal education and training fields. It was often called ‘non-accredited’, a negative term implying in some way skills and certification were second rate. Even so, with calls from industry for more relevant skills acquisition from the post school sectors, and the lack of trust in the value of VET qualifications following the VET FEE-HELP disaster, something was amiss.
Indeed, anecdotal evidence was suggesting that in many fields the pathway to employment and workforce success was through gaining a Sector Four credential, issued by owners of products/systems, industry and professional associations. These made the individual valuable in the workforce through affirmed, relevant skills, and built industry wide trust and status for the organisations providing the credential and accreditation services. This was not to dismiss the import of sector two VET or sector three Higher Education Sector qualifications. In many cases there was linkage between these sectors and Sector Four.
In some contexts, however, Sector Four qualifications have become necessary and sufficient credentials for skills development and provide a gateway to employment. Intellectual property owners in the IT industry (e.g. Microsoft) have long provided valuable training and certification in systems, methods and products that are often sufficient in the marketplace. In project management, entry and access to the latest methods are accredited through propriety methods (e.g. PRINCE2, PMBOK, AGILE), credentials not usually available through sector two or three. The Australian Institute of Project Management (AIPM) also offers membership and competency levels based on their own standards of performance, as does the Australian Computer Society.
The service industry has an extensive number of industry associations that provide for skills, standards and ethical recognition and credentials, usually outside the scope of the sector two or sector three organisations. These provide essential value and trust elements, that if not available, may diminish the prospects of the industry and workplace viability and stability for those employed. Carpet Cleaning, Marina Operation and Bee Keeping associations are key examples.
All of this has been ‘hiding in plain sight’. At Sector Four Consulting our mission is to provide for recognition, support and professional development of the sector, a sector that is so important to industry and workforce development.
Our partners bring years of experience, skills and knowledge in this field, and are well placed to help your organisation prosper in this vibrant marketplace.