GRDC National Grower Network - Facilitation training for staff

Reference number: PROC-9177160

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Release date:: Friday 15 November 2024
Closing time:: Friday 31 January 2025, at 05:00 PM ACT local time
Enquiry deadline:: Friday 17 January 2025, at 05:00 PM ACT local time
Industry briefing: Refer to Clause 10 RFT Terms and Conditions on how to register.

Summary

The National Grower Network (NGN) program is designed to capture and respond promptly to grain grower issues and opportunities, ensure GRDC is investing in locally relevant research, and help drive adoption of R&D outputs. In doing so, the NGN also educates stakeholders of GRDC’s role and portfolio of investments and increases visibility of GRDC. The NGN helps to capture ideas, issues, constraints and opportunities for RD&E to enhance grower profitability. To achieve this, the team, with support from a service provider engage with stakeholders through forums that are open to all growers, advisers, researchers and industry parties.

To help GRDC reach the overall outcome for this program an additional output is to provide meeting facilitation and engagement training to upskill GRDC staff and panels is required. Key activities will include organising and delivering workshops and coaching sessions that focus on preparing for and facilitating forums/meetings, assessment of individual strengths and weaknesses, and targets for continuous improvement.

Offer period

Offers will remain open for acceptance by the GRDC for a period of 6 months after the Closing Time.

Document contact and enquiries

Attention: Lyndal Gordon – Contract Administrator
Grains Research and Development Corporation
Email: Lyndal.Gordon@grdc.com.au

Make all requests for further information or clarification in relation to this procurement in writing (email) prior to 17 January 2025.

GRDC will publish all requests and responses to requests on the GRDC website under Questions and Answers at the bottom of this webpage.

Consortia response

GRDC will not NOT accept Tenders from Consortia.

Lodgement of Tender

Submit your Tender response electronically through the Grains Investment Portal.

AusTender

TBC.

Description

Outcome

Outputs

Output 1.

Title: Facilitation training for GRDC staff and panel.

Description: By 30 June 2026 and recurring annually, deliver facilitation training for up to 12 GRDC staff and/or panel members.

Training will include two national group facilitation workshops per annum (minimum of three hours each) delivered prior to key periods of Grower Forum delivery, and
Two individualised coaching calls with each participating staff member, one following each key period of forum delivery.

Workshops and coaching sessions will focus on preparing for and facilitating forums, assessment of individual strengths and weaknesses and targets for continuous improvement.

Proposed Budget

Proposed Contract & Term

GRDC will contract under the terms of the Services Contract.

The schedule(s) attached to the contract will detail the project details: the outcomes, outputs, milestones, budget, participating personnel and required intellectual property.

The template contract containing the proposed Terms and Conditions is available on the Application resources page on the GRDC website.

It is anticipated that any resultant contract in relation to this procurement will commence with a proposed term of three years.

Conditions for Participation

The following are mandatory conditions with which a Tenderer must comply to participate in this procurement process:

The Tenderer must be a single legal entity or recognised firm of partners
The Tenderer and any proposed subcontractor must be compliant with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, the Modern Slavery Act 2018 and any other applicable labour laws and standards in the jurisdiction in which they operate.
The Tenderer and any subcontractor must not have a judicial decision against it (not including decisions under appeal) relating to employee entitlements and who have not paid the claim.
The Tenderer and any subcontractor must not be named on the Consolidated List, being the list of persons and entities who are subject to targeted financial sanctions or travel bans under Australian sanction laws, as maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Minimum Form and Content Requirements

The following are the mandatory content and format requirements that the Tenderer must complete and provide to participate in this procurement process:

Submit Tenders using the Grains Investment Portal.
Write Tenders in English and express any measurements in Australian legal units of measurement.
Budget details must be submitted on the ‘GRDC Budget Template’ provided in the Grains Investment Portal.

Evaluation Criteria

In the table below are the Evaluation Criteria that the Tender Evaluation Team will use to assess the value for money of all Tenders.

No	Type	Weighting
1	Technical – Qualitative evaluation criteria related to non-price factors such as methodology, project plan, track record, experience.
1a	A clear and thorough plan to achieve the project outputs, specifying: Method to be used. Proposed milestones. Proposed locations of workshops (if required to deliver project outputs). Staffing (including relevant skills, experience and availability of key personnel and proposed subcontractors). Budget (defining the funds sought in each year of the project). Project structure and management arrangements.	50%
1b	Demonstrated track record of the project team, including: Relevant achievements of the project leader in providing leadership, co-ordination, management, monitoring and evaluation and the timely delivery of high quality outputs. Relevant technical knowledge and experience of all key personnel (including proposed subcontractors) in the project area. Ability of the project team to collaborate with the relevant research organisations and industry personnel to build on the work undertaken in this area.	50%
2	Price - The tendered budget.	N/A
3	Risk - Risks inherent in the application including the degree of compliance with the draft contract and any actual or perceived conflict of interest.	N/A
4	Australian economy - The economic benefit of the procurement to the Australian economy.	N/A

Lodging a Tender

Questions and Answers

Q1. Does GRDC envisage any training / education with the growers as part of this delivery program?

A1. No, training is for staff and panel members who will be facilitating NGN meetings.

Q2. What is the specific contract period being contemplated?

A2. 3 years. June 2025 – June 2028.

Q3. Will it be an annual contract over three years or a three contract?

A3. A three-year contract.

Q4. What is the proposed start date of the contract?

A4. 1/06/2025.

Q5. Are you expecting or needing the facilitation workshops to be run face to face or remotely?

A5. Approach is up to the applicant, however face to face delivery is preferred.

Q6. Do you have any specific weeks in which you would like the facilitation workshops to be run?

A6. Historically have been before the peak periods of NGN delivery, usually early March or May through June.

Q7. Is travel to be included or excluded in any proposal?

A7. All costs for the service provider to deliver are to be included. Travel for GRDC staff and panels will be covered by GRDC.

Q8. Within the Southern Region, in which location would the two national group facilitation workshops be held per annum (if occurring face to face)?

A8. Adelaide, or other locations might be considered.

Q9. Are the skills that you are hoping to cover in the training broader than just facilitation? For example, do participants need skills in Chairing, MC roles and extension?

A9. Facilitation would be the priority. To some extent chairing skills would be beneficial, but the primary purpose is running on informal NGN meetings with growers and industry partners.

Q10. Where do you propose the training would be held, so we can calculate travel costs.

A10. Currently held at one of the GRDC offices, Adelaide, Perth, Toowoomba.

Q11. Are you open to the training being 5-6 hours in length?

A11. Yes, or up to 8 hrs with breaks.

Q12. Have you run facilitation training before for staff and panel members? If so, through what provider?

A12. Yes, through the current service provider, AgCommunicators.

Q13. What proportion of the events that the staff and panel members are running are online vs face to face? We are considering whether we might be able to shadow some people in actual events to support real-life reflections and feedback – is this something that you would be interested in?

A13. All events are face to face. The ability to shadow in actual events may be considered if the service provider can provide justification for why. Note, nationally there are up to 50 events annually.

Q14. Have some or all staff undertaken similar training in the past in this area? Or will this be a new experience and process for all?

A14. The training will target new staff members who have had limited if any previous training. Most staff who have 18+ months of experience have undertaken previous training programs.

Q15. Do you have preferred locations for staff training or are there central points that would be easier for staff to get to?

A15. Historically they have been held in a GRDC office, Adelaide, Perth or Toowoomba. Locations for the training will be wherever is most convenient for the staff participating.

Q16. Do the NGN forums have a particular format the staff need to follow, or as part of this program would either the staff or successful tenderer be required to develop an agenda/program for information capture at the forums?

A16. The NGN have been operational for over three years now and follow a particular format. Below is a brief outline:

Introductions: Welcome and overview of the meeting agenda
Update of relevant GRDC projects
Issue capture. Brainstorm and capture of issues and opportunities for attendees
Prioritisation of the issues and opportunities and voting exercise to create a top 5 issues/opportunities
Recap of the top 5 issues/opportunities.
Next steps.

Q17. Is there an expectation that the outcomes of coaching sessions are reported? Or do the strengths, weaknesses and targets for continuous improvement stay with the individual staff member?

A17. There will be a reporting component for the training and coaching to ensure the training is having positive impact, and the trainees will be responsible for continuous improvement after the coaching ends.