Telstra partners with RMIT Online to better prepare the workforce of the future
Telstra has partnered with RMIT Online to develop a solution to address building internal capabilities.
As part of Telstra's $25 million investment into upskilling and reskilling, the company partnered with RMIT Online to develop a solution to address building internal capabilities.
RMIT Online and Telstra co-designed micro-credential:
RMIT Online and Telstra joined forces in 2020 to launch a Software Defined Networking program and course designed to give students the fundamentals in networking and to obtain skills in areas such as IP networking, SDN, virtualisation with NFV, cloud implementation, orchestration, network service modelling, and automation.
The program was designed to complement Telstra employees’ existing skills and forms part of the company’s new approach to lifelong learning. Students explored the fundamentals in networking and obtain skills in areas such as IP networking, SDN, virtualisation with NFV, cloud implementation, orchestration, network service modelling, and automation.
The industry-led short program brings an Australian focus to the role, through industry mentors and case studies, to ensure students are equipped with an understanding of the local landscape.
RMIT Online co-created the course in 12 weeks to meet the needs of the business, and upskilled 300 x staff in the first year post-implementation which received a 100% completion rate achieved.
Uplifting product capability at Telstra:
Product managers play a critical role in business as the leaders of the vision, strategy, design, execution, and optimisation of new and established digital products. In early 2020, Telstra enrolled over 400 staff members into RMIT Online’s Product Management Fundamentals short course after a gap was identified in capabilities in this area across the national workforce.
The short course introduced value propositioning, product development methodologies and developing Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to learners, who were also able to network and collaborate online with peers and industry mentors from external organisations, allowing for cross-pollination of best practices across industries.
The initiative received an 89% pass rate, where those learners achieved competency benchmarks that can be demonstrated with a digital credential, and are now equipped with the latest skills to help transform Telstra into a product-lead business using modern, iterative methods.
The success of this initiative lead to the co-design of an advanced short course in the same area to consolidate and extend learning. Since the launch of this course in late 2020, Telstra have enrolled over 150 of their staff into the course with an 84% learner pass rate.
Rebecca Holden from Telstra said the collaboration with RMIT Online reflected the importance of co-designing industry-based programs with leading education providers.
"As technology evolves so too does the need for lifelong learning. Gone are the days where we can ‘set-and-forget’ once we have a degree or diploma. This micro-credential will play an important part in making sure our workforce is ready for the future."
Are you ready for the next set of workforce challenges? If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us on businesssolutions@rmitonline.edu.au.