System Operations is a critical technical function within WaterNSW to manage the supply and demand of water across NSW with a significant number of team members transitioning to retirement over a 12month period. Many of the core operating processes, procedures and critical technical expertise are implicit knowledge areas, presenting a significant risk to business continuity and the overall customer and employee experience. Speed to competency for a new starter to reach peak performance takes 4 years which is unsustainable for exsiting and new starters, impacting attrition, retention and attraction of technical talent in a labour short market.

A strategic, sustainable, structured and formalised approach to learning and development mitigated a number of operational and psychosocial risks and hazards to ensure Water is Delivered, When and Where it Matters. The Rapid Onboarding Program comprises of 20+ videos, 6 eLearning courses, 18 Quick Reference Guides and 30, 60 and 90 day plans to reduce the speed to competency and retain critical business knowledge and talent for business continuity. Collaboration across WaterNSW helped to educate other parts of the business about Systems Operations and the program is available to all WaterNSW current and future employees to become an employer of choice. The Rapid Onboarding Program helped recruit and train WaterNSW staff responsible for managing the supply of dam water to towns, irrigators and the environment, including during floods and drought.

An international Award winning solution collected six LearnX Awards, acknowledging industry leading learning, talent and skills development across various industries, globally. The Rapid Onboarding Program helped attract, retain and train employees in critical roles in statewide water planning and delivery teams. The Rapid Onboarding Program won awards in the categories of: Best Induction/Onboarding, Best Learning & Development, Best Technical Skills Training, Best Custom/Bespoke Learning, Best eLearning Project, Best Content Curation. The Rapid Onboarding Program was also a Finalist at the Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) annual Awards.