Leadership program creates new online opportunities

PUBLISHED 4 Mar 2022

MORE INFORMATION FRDC +61 2 6122 2100 frdc@frdc.com.au

The value of networks came to the fore as the National Seafood Industry Leadership Program adapted to uncertain times, developing new opportunities for current and future participants

By Anne Crawford

The FRDC’s National Seafood Industry Leadership Program (NSILP) faced an uphill challenge when COVID-19 disrupted its face-to-face format. However, its participants rallied to support each other and a promising new model of operating emerged.

Jill Briggs, managing director of Affectus, which runs the NSILP for the FRDC, says three cohorts of participants are undertaking the program but they have been unable to complete it due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two groups started in 2020 and one in 2021.

The NSILP, the seafood sector’s premier leadership development program, spans six months with three blocks of three-day workshops. These are usually held in a regional area, then at the Sydney Fish Market and finally in Canberra, where participants meet decision-makers and attend Parliament.

Working together

The program exposes participants to guest speakers and networking events, and breaks them up into small groups to work on a sector-related project. At the end of the six months, the groups present their projects to sector and government dignitaries in Canberra and seek assistance to complete them.

“There are some great projects this year, including one about educational resources for pre-primary schools, getting kids to know about the industry really early, and another on how to communicate the success stories of the industry to people,” Briggs says.

Other projects underway include investigating how the industry can best assist people in the digital learning space, and where seafood as a topic could be placed in the curriculum to encourage school-leavers to enter the sector.

The FRDC has run the NSILP since 2000 and there have been more than 300 graduates to date. Participants come from all parts of the seafood sector – from recreational fishers to traditional owners living in the Torres Strait, small business owners to Australian Government employees. Graduates are of all ages and come from all sectors of the industry, including people working as processors, exporters, importers, marketers and deckhands.

Most people take part in the NSILP primarily because they want to see change in the seafood sector, either at a micro or macro level. “Our philosophy is that we want to grow skills, knowledge and industry networks and to initiate leadership experience,” Briggs says.

COVID-19, though, put a dampener on the usual in-person events.

Real support, virtually

“With COVID, we put the participants on pause and spent additional time with them in Zoom meetings, supporting and encouraging them, making sure they were okay and still working on their projects and connecting as a group,” Briggs says.

Participants were reluctant to have the program moved online and some felt anxious about it. However, the first three-day block of virtual meetings went well and participants reported that they felt it had been a great experience. Nonetheless, one group opted to wait until February 2022 and meet in person after the tragic death of one of its members. The participants have been “incredibly supportive of each other”, Briggs says.

“Even though they’ve been through unsettled times, the program has given the participants a new perspective on how the industry could work. It let them see that, while it is sometimes necessary to meet face-to-face in the industry, there is also power in doing it virtually.”

One cohort, called the Port Lincoln Group (because that is where they had started their program), opted to continue the program online and was taken on virtual tours of three seafood businesses in Townsville, Sydney and Melbourne. “Had we been tied to meeting in one place geographically, there’s no way we would have seen those three amazing industry businesses,” Briggs says. See article on page 30 about how members of this cohort investigated the benefits of mobile apps for the seafood sector.

A virtual drinks night also allowed the participants to meet people from all over Australia rather than just the people who would normally attend in person. “It was a fantastic networking activity,” Briggs says.

The FRDC is considering funding a pilot version of the NSILP that is fully online. “If this funding is provided, it will allow for comparison of online and face-to-face outcomes.

The data will tell us what works for people and what doesn’t. We might come out with a shiny new product at the end of it,” Briggs says. One downside has been that about 20 per cent of participants withdrew from the program.

Alumni network

Those who undertake the NSILP bring new skills and perspectives to the hundreds of seafood sector organisations that exist across Australia.

“To have people moving out into the industry who understand teamwork and the concept of working across sectors, who understand the challenges of different life experiences and who have an appreciation of all levels of the seafood industry is gold to the industry,” Briggs notes.

“Feedback from alumni indicates that they appreciate how important, rich, valuable and strategic it is to have a strong network that they can bring into whatever room they walk into.”

One graduate writes: “The NSILP gave me confidence in my own ability to be able to engage with stakeholders and share my ideas. It has helped me in numerous roles since the program.” This graduate has since taken on roles in the National Seafood Industry Alliance and the Aquaculture and Wild Catch Industry Reference Committee.