How Micro-Credentials Can Help Create More Opportunities For A Diverse New Zealand

By Tony Maguire, Regional Director, Australia & New Zealand at D2L

In order to tap into a broader talent pool and to encourage different perspectives to delivering outcomes or providing solutions to problems, more New Zealand organisations are looking to further increase diversity and inclusion in the workplace. Many businesses and government organisations have benefited from having a culture of diversity, a culture that is only strengthened when it includes inclusion.

What is evident is that businesses and service providers are recognising the importance of real workforce diversity, how it adds value to problem solving, decision-making and the social inclusion it creates. And there is a pool of talent that can be further embraced thanks to the ways that hybrid and virtual working environments are being embraced.

According to Diversity Works New Zealand’s 2022 Aotearoa State of Workplace Inclusion report, education and certification programmes are becoming mainstream and included in organisations’ diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. One of the report themes is neurodiversity and the report discusses how technology and software companies are some of the organisations actively recruiting for neurodivergent employees due to the skills they can bring to roles involving complex systems and networks. For example, the New Zealand Police launched a pilot Neurodivergence Programme pilot which included recruiting a research analyst and two data analysts for the Financial Crime Group.

Populations living in remote regions, people who are keen to learn but can’t afford university fees and people living with disabilities. These are cohorts who experience disadvantage due to distance, financial constraints, and less obvious dimensions such as unconscious bias, but they can help drive New Zealand’s inclusive economy and further enhance the diversity of an organisation.

June 2022 quarter data from Stats NZ reported that the unemployment rate for disabled people aged between 15–64 years was 7.9 percent and 3.3 percent for non-disabled people. Whilst the unemployment rate for disabled people in New Zealand has been trending downwards for years, the unemployment gap between disabled and non-disabled people still remains persistent.

The promise of more granular ‘micro-credentials’ will go some way towards closing the skills gap and provide many benefits to employers, employees and industries while building a more diverse New Zealand by creating real opportunities for people with disabilities.

Engaging, upskilling and adding value, the different uses of micro-credentials

Using the analogy of a driver’s license, micro-credentials are trusted, assessed verifiable sets of skills or competencies often described by a badge or certificate. Micro-credentials provide a structured modular way for people to gain new skills over in short bursts or as part of a longer learning or career journey.

An example of an organisation that has succeeded from this approach is Vision Australia, who supports low vision and blind Australians. Through the work and advocacy of its 800 employees and 2,500 volunteers Vision Australia operates 26 office locations and ten agile sites across the country. Around 15 percent of Vision Australia’s workforce are themselves blind or have low vision, so they have specific needs when it comes to onboarding new employees or training existing team members on the skills and competencies, they need to perform their roles. A core technology platform in Vision Australia, IT systems use a Learning Management System (LMS) called D2L Brightspace, which is used to build and deliver highly accessible online courses. This allows everyone to benefit from its training resources and gives management a means of understanding adoption, learning and organisational change.

Learning opportunities for a diverse population

The Employment New Zealand website provides information for organisations to help remove barriers to employment for disabled people whilst the New Zealand Government’s Whaikaha - Ministry of Disabled People provides resources to help people with disability, their family, friends and carers, to find the support they need.

This includes guidance for learners of all ages with disability and short course options for further studies. Among its many resources, there is information on employment, outlining the support and services available to help people with disabilities to gain the skills and confidence to find and keep a job.

Micro-credentials allow people of all abilities to take a more flexible approach to learning and gaining more qualifications – which helps them to develop their careers. They are quick, focused, and outcome based. They are delivered through an LMS that personalises skill development for learners while bringing the career and workplace benefits of recognising and rewarding qualification as part of longer-term professional development. Put simply, micro-credentials add to the work environment as it offers people and organisations a targeted and effective way to engage, upskill and be rewarded.

The pandemic forced a lot of organisations to reconsider how they operate whilst supporting staff, members and the public. Just as during the pandemic employers looked for the best online collaboration tools to drive productivity for remote workforces, they are now looking to the best online learning tools to drive outcomes for their people and their organisations. This is creating opportunities for more people who may not have had the chance to undertake such training in the pre-pandemic world. The benefits of diversity can’t be ignored, and micro-credentials are an opportunity to better represent a diverse New Zealand and build a better future for all.

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