19 September, 2019

Iconic Riverina company SunRice isn’t just growing rice to feed the world, it’s also helping to further grow its people as part of a unique partnership with TAFE NSW.

As part of SunRice’s ongoing strategic focus on developing a high performing team, 17 current and future SunRice leaders are midway through a specially tailored TAFE NSW Leadership and Management course, aimed at helping them bolster their leadership skills and better meet future workplace challenges.

The staff members, from Leeton, Deniliquin, Jerilderie and Finley, commenced the training late last year and will complete four workshop modules as part of the Certificate IV in Leadership and Management.The [SE1] modules include leadership, strategy and planning, innovation and operations.

The training is unique in that each subject is entirely tailored to what the employees face daily in the workplace.

TAFE NSW Leadership and Management teacher, Nicole Martin, said: “This is 100 per cent targeted at what they actually do in the workplace.

“It’s all about SunRice’s own policies and procedures and the reason it works so well is because it’s real.

“I commend SunRice for investing in the future of its staff, it can only make the organisation stronger through a workforce engaged with its overall vision and values.”

As part of the course, three senior executives from SunRice have contributed to the program, sharing their experiences to the new emerging leadership group.

The course has been delivered at TAFE NSW Leeton and the state-of-the-art Connected Learning Centre at TAFE NSW Deniliquin, with plans afoot to broaden this in the remaining modules.

Eastern Murray Valley supervisor for AGS, part of the SunRice group, Richard Fox, who is midway through the course, said it had radically altered the way he viewed managing people – and himself.

“It’s made me think a lot about the different leadership and communication styles,” Mr Fox said. “It’s also taught me how to self-assess and develop my own skills and the skills of my team.

“The delivery of the course has been great; it’s very interactive and the content is tailored to what we do day-to-day.

“I really think it’s helping make me the best supervisor I can be.”

SunRice is a home-grown Aussie success story that began almost 70 years ago in the Riverina and today employees around 2200 people around the world and exports rice and value-added rice products to almost 50 countries.

To find out more about how your business can receive customised training through TAFE Enterprise, phone 13 16 01 or visit www.tafensw.edu.au.

Media contact: Daniel Johns, TAFE NSW Media and Communications – Business Partner, 6938 1441, mobile 0477 722 428.