1. June 2012 27supplychainreview.com.au supplychainreview.com.au26 June 2012
ATTRACTION & RETENTION Transfutures Program
If you ask a typical group of university students what
they want to be, it’s unlikely you’ll be bombarded
with yearnings and aspirations for a career in the
transport, logistics and supply chain sector.
But amid the more cliché dreams of becoming
rockstars, lawyers or even journalists, there are some
unique individuals out there perfect for the supply chain
industry.
Queensland business student Keisha Derrett is one of
these sometimes hard-to-find individuals.
Logistics have intrigued Derrett ever since as a young
girl she visited her uncle working on a ship at the Port of
Brisbane.
“Just seeing all the lights I was interested in how
it worked — all these items coming in and out of the
country,” Derrett says.
But it wasn’t until recently, when introduced to the
industry-driven government program, Transfutures,
that the 21-year-old was finally given the opportunity to
begin satisfying her supply chain curiosity.
Coordinated by Queensland’s Department of
Transport and Main Roads’ Transform Unit, the
Transfutures program recently finished its piloting phase
with the Queensland University of Technology, where
Derrett is now in her final year of a Bachelor of Business,
majoring in international business and management.
Derrett signed up for the Transfutures program
last year and was soon after placed into a DP World
internship, which has been so successful she has been
offered a permanent part-time position, set to become
full-time once she finishes university mid-year.
But DP World HR manager Greg Muscat says even
if a position had not become available for Derrett, the
company would have found a way to keep her.
“To be honest, when you get good candidates, and
they can be rare at times, we would have looked seriously
at how we could retain her somehow, possibly by
restructuring,” Muscat says.
“Each area that we put her in, each of the managers
responsible had very good feedback, in terms of how
keen she was and how quick she picked things up.”
“She communicated very well and she was very
passionate and interested in our business.”
In Derrett’s new role as a DP World accounts
receivable clerk at the Port of Brisbane, she is the first
point of contact for operational enquiries about bills and
charges for container and transport movement within
the business.
But Muscat says it is more than likely she will end up
working in operations, which is her main area of interest.
“I think her desire is to get into an operational
logistics type role, I think that’s her passion, however the
opportunity to get into the industry and to get into the
business by learning the accounts side of it gives her that
extra skill and understanding of the other parts of the
business that link into operations,” Muscat says.
“Once an operational position becomes available for
her and she wishes to apply for it she has that finance
and business behind her so it keeps strengthening her
skill base.”
Muscat, who has worked in the supply chain
industry for 30 years, says the supply chain industry has
traditionally struggled to attract new talent like Derrett.
He says this struggle has sometimes left the sector
with no option other than to pick from the best of the
worst, with applicants “falling into the industry”, rather
than having a legitimate passion for it.
But according to Muscat, the Transfutures program,
which aims to introduce young people to the industry
and raise career opportunity awareness, is making
progress to change this.
“It’s introducing people to it and giving them the
exposure,” Muscat says.
“Our industry is not typically sexy, but it is quite
exciting once you get into it and learn about it.”
Despite the industry’s struggle to find suitable
candidates, Muscat says he has still in the past been
sceptical about internships.
He says even with the Transfutures program he wasn’t
sure how it would work and develop.
The major fear, he says, was that candidates would be
ill-suited and only get in the way.
But Muscat says once involved in the process he was
pleasantly surprised.
“The graduates are not a burden to you on site at all,”
he explains.
“We don’t just have them sitting there doing nothing
— we actually have them working. The problem with
past internships is that we were given just anybody,
whereas this is tailored, so you are getting someone that
can add real value to the business, rather than having to
babysit someone who is getting in the way.”
Muscat says one of the major strengths of the
program is it allows employers to choose and trial
quality employees, based on their resumes, studies and
work.
He says once the right candidate is selected, they
are trialled in various roles, with different departments
providing feedback on their capabilities and skills.
Young and savvy
With a promising career now ahead
of her in the supply chain industry,
Keisha Derrett is just the type of talent
industry-driven government program
Transfutures is aiming to attract,
writes Sean Muir
Business student Keisha Derrett at Port of Brisbane
“Our industry is not typically sexy,
but it is quite exciting once you
get into it and learn about it.”
SNAPSHOT: QUEENSLAND’S TRANSPORT,
LOGISTICS AND SUPPLY CHAIN INDUSTRY
• Around 14 percent of the total workforce is employed in the
transport, logistics and supply chain industry.
• Contributes more than 14.6 billion each year to Queensland’s GDP.
• Each year road, rail, sea and air transport moves more than 600
million tonnes of freight in the state.
• Since 1990 the industry has shown an average rate of growth of
6 percent per annum.
Queensland Government Department of Transport and Main Roads website

2. supplychainreview.com.au28 June 2012
ATTRACTION RETENTION Transfutures Program
“For three to six months you have someone there that
you are trying out,” Muscat says.
“It’s basically a try-before-you-buy type set up.”
Transform Unit Director Louise Perram-Fisk says the
Transfutures program, which was piloted from late 2010
to the end of 2011, was designed to create clear pathways
and structured work placements for students.
She says to do this the Transform Unit team gets out
and talks to students like Derrett about Transfutures and
the transport, logistics and supply chain industry.
“We undertake a matching process based on what
they want to develop, but also the skills they have,
their location and also the type of culture that will best
fit what they want to achieve and what an industry
employer needs,” Perram-Fisk says.
She says after the initial matching process is done,
students are introduced to businesses, before both
parties decide whether they want to go forward with an
internship.
Perram-Fisk says this stringent matching process is
important to ensure both the pre-grad and the industry
employers get what they want out of the program.
“Ultimately our aim is that the matching process
works so well, Transfutures program participants end up
in there with a secure job,” she says.
However, the primary reason Transfutures has
worked so well is that it is uniquely industry-driven.
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The program’s driving force is the Transport and
Logistics Workforce Advisory Group Queensland
(TLWAG-Q), which is made up of a group of 15
transport, logistics and supply chain executives formed
as a result of consultation with 48 industry groups
Australia-wide in late 2006.
The group’s members are made up of representatives
from road, rail, ports, aviation, warehousing, reverse
logistics, the Transport Workers Union (TWU), industry
associations, government agencies, small and large
enterprises, passenger and freight sectors.
Perram-Fisk says this group represents a range
of industry experience and provides a multi-modal
perspective for addressing skills and labour issues.
She says it also provides direct input to the
Queensland Government on the vocational education
and training funding for the industry.
According to BCR Australia State Manager (Qld)
and TLWAG-Q Industry leader Michael Thirgood,
Queensland is leading the way when it comes to this
kind of government and industry collaboration.
“Queensland’s industry group is ahead of the game.
We are very active and dedicated to be the best we can
be for the wider industry,” he says.
Now that the pilot, which involved about 15
businesses, is finished, Thirgood says the program is set
to expand rapidly.
He says there has already been interest from
universities and industry wanting to take part in the
program.
“The pilot has gone exceedingly well and the
feedback has been positive.”
“The expansion of the program will only be limited by
the number of engaged employers in the industry — so
the sky is the limit basically.”
Since the commencement of Derrett’s internship, DP
World has taken on another student internship, and two
more universities have been flagged to join the program.
“It is such a great opportunity to introduce young
people to the world of transport and logistics,” Thirgood
says. “With leadership like that coming from industry
and support from government you really can’t go wrong.
“It is a brilliant program.”
DP World HR Manager
Greg Muscat