The Growing Careers Project Implementation Review

Research shows that students who encounter several meaningful workplace experiences during their school years are more likely to engage in work or study as young adults [1]. Conversely, when young people experiencing disadvantage have limited support networks and a lack of industry exposure, this limits their access to employment pathways after school [2]. To address this, the Smith Family (TSF) developed the Growing Careers Project (GCP): a Commonwealth-funded nationwide initiative delivered at TSF’s partner schools. GCP exposes young people to career learning opportunities and helps them develop the confidence and practical capabilities they need to confidently enter the workforce. The delivery of GCP has been a resounding success, with over 100,000 career programs and activities delivered to students. This was achieved despite the program facing considerable challenges, including operating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ARTD was commissioned to conduct a project implementation review of the GCP to capture and document lessons learned throughout the program lifecycle, including how the initiative was planned, governed, and executed.

We designed a four-stage methodology in which insights from each stage flowed into and provide the focus for the next stage. The figure below provides a summary of all four stages and illustrates the relationships between them.

This cascading approach proved an efficient way to get breadth and depth through consultation. During the exploratory phase, scoping interviews and a half-day workshop with the GCP delivery team revealed several key areas of the implementation that warranted deeper investigation. These areas became the focus of the explanatory phase, where we tailored interview guides to the specific aspects most relevant to each of the 21 stakeholders. This approach yielded a rich body of data that was both comprehensive in scope and in-depth in the areas that mattered most.

As an organisation committed to learning from evidence, TSF sought to capture insights from GCP to inform both the delivery of future large-scale initiatives and the transition of program learnings into business-as-usual operations. Our implementation review provided TSF with a clear, evidence-based account of what worked well, what could be improved, and practical recommendations tailored to the organisation’s context and capabilities.

As the client noted:

‘I value that the recommendations are doable—this doesn’t always happen. The recommendations are very much wrapped around our needs and our organisation; this emphasised the importance of questions and the clarification process. It was very important that the consultants understood the complexity of the project, and the organisation, and how the project fits in with the organisation—and ARTD did this.’