2.10 Training and Development

POLICY

In order to deliver the highest quality residential services for vulnerable young people, we will endeavour to train and develop our staff to ensure they are equipped with the appropriate skills, knowledge, understanding and attitudes for their position and future positions within the organisation. We aim to avoid all forms of discrimination; no employee will receive less favourable treatment on the grounds of race, gender, religion, class, sexual identity, ethnicity and disability.

Training Protocol
Definitions
Staff Support
Aims
Responsibilities
Coordination
Implementation
Induction
Succession
Commitment
Priorities
Budgets and Expenditure

1. Training Protocol

All training wherever possible should be made possible for relevant staff across the Organisation to attend.
Training opportunities should be detailed in a monthly Training Broadsheet and distributed to staff together with other Organisation information.
The Senior Management will be responsible for co-ordinating training opportunities.
Staff must discuss their application to attend training with their line manager whose authorisation they will need.
Applicants should be made on the necessary documentation and passed to the Administrator for action.
Staff will be formally notified of their place on any training event.
It is incumbent on the staff member in collaboration with their line manager to ensure they attend the event.

2. Definitions

Training: Activities to increase or change employee’s knowledge, skills, understanding and attitude to improve performance in their current job.

Development: Activities to increase or change employee’s knowledge, skills, understanding and attitude in preparation for doing a different (usually a more responsible) job.

3. Staff Support

We value the support and development of our employees. All members of staff take part in formal Supervisions every month and informal opportunities are always available from colleagues and more senior staff. We endeavour to supervise inexperienced or new members of staff on a fortnightly basis which may include both 1:1 supervision, group supervision and team meetings. More experienced members of staff are expected to undertake work based coaching with a new employee during their induction and probationary periods.

Our training programme includes an induction programme, which must be completed before an employee can start lone working. The training programme also highlights specific training courses to be undertaken during an employee’s six-month probationary period before the employee is confirmed in post. Further training is planned and agreed in consultation with the inexperienced member of staff which will lead up to their annual Appraisal.

For further information about the induction of new employees, see Section 8 below. For the detailed procedure in relation to Lone Working, see Lone Working Procedure.

4. Aims

To provide high standards of working conditions, job security and financial reward for employees, in return for high performance standards by them.
To provide opportunities for training and development so that high performance standards can be achieved.
To create a heightened expectation of all employees’ abilities and potential in themselves and in their managers.
To identify and develop human potential at work, regardless of where it is found.
To encourage employees to develop themselves and to assist with that process where it also benefits the company.
To control employees’ progress only by their ability and performance, not by prejudice or stereotyping.
To respect local traditions, cultures and practices and not to seek to influence employees in their personal lives
To help the organisation develop and respect (and work within) government policies and legislation to that end.

5. Responsibilities

The primary responsibility for training and development of individuals or groups rests with their immediate manager. All managers must, therefore, make a regular appraisal of every employee and group reporting to him/her to identify:

Their strengths, weaknesses and potential.
Their hopes and aspirations for future career development.
Changes in job content, or temporary transfers, which would improve performance or develop potential by “on the job” experience.
Opportunities for coaching by the manager to achieve those aims.
Formal training courses, in-company or external, which will help to improve performance in the present job.
When an individual is ready to take on a broader or more responsible job, formal courses that will give essential knowledge, skills and attitudes to make an effective start in the new job.
Training or development related to job or future job prospects specifically wanted by an individual, which can be met by self-help (reading, studying etc. augmented by coaching from a manager).

It is desirable that each manager should have as one of his/her ongoing objectives, the training of at least one immediate subordinate as his/her potential successor.

This does not mean that the succession will occur or be apparent to others, but it does mean that a body of well-trained people with a good breadth of experience will be developed within the organisation with which to fill more senior positions.

6. Coordination

To ensure that the correct priorities are given to training and development activities and that the best possible use is made of available resources, an Annual Training Plan will be produced by the Training Consultant. The Training Consultant will work with managers to assist them in identifying training and development needs and will advise them how best they can be met and will also carry out certain in-company training.

7. Implementation

Before planning any training, the manager must be sure that the need exists, the time is right and that the selected method is appropriate. This should be discussed with the Training Consultant and the employee(s) concerned before agreement is reached.

Before each employee undertakes training, whether on the job or on a course, the manager should brief him/her thoroughly about what is expected to be gained, how this will be used and how progress is monitored and assessed afterwards.

After the training, the manager should discuss with the employee to establish what has been learned and should then create opportunities for the new knowledge and skills to be used, monitoring and assessing results ongoing.

The Training Consultant can help at all three stages, but the primary responsibility remains with the manager.

8. Induction

Success in the job and continued service to the company can often be influenced by the impression given to a new employee during the first few weeks after joining the company. Good and comprehensive induction and orientation to the company and to the job are, therefore, crucial. It is also crucial to the success of the company’s preferred method of one-to-one working with the young people placed.

Each group within the company has a detailed Induction Scheme. It is for the manager concerned to ensure that the details of the relevant scheme is made known to the new employee and a programme is set up to enable the new employee to complete it.

Upon completion of the induction programme, the member of staff’s progress and his or her competence to start lone working will be reviewed by the manager in consultation with those responsible for the delivering the induction, and with the benefit of reports from those who have directly observed the staff member during the induction programme.

A decision by the manager and the staff member has satisfactorily completed the necessary induction and is competent to engage in one-to-one work must be recorded on the staff members personal file.

For the details procedure in relation to Lone Working see Lone Working Procedure.

9. Succession

In addition to managers training potential successors (Section 5), the company will maintain a succession plan for key posts. Whilst there is no guarantee that any person named therein as possible successors will in fact succeed to the post, this plan is helpful in identifying recruiting, training and development needs for long term continuity and survival purposes. It is company policy to promote from within wherever possible.

10. Commitment

Successful training and development requires dedication to its achievement from all concerned. It is always easy to find short-term excuses not to do it, but this is damaging to the success of the company and to the job satisfaction of individuals in the long term. The Training Consultant will act on behalf of the Senior Management in encouraging appropriate commitment from everyone.

Once a period of training has been arranged for an individual, whether on or off the job, he/she may only be withdrawn in the most exceptional circumstances and with the agreement of the Director of Operations. Therefore, when planning training, managers must give careful consideration to how they will cover the job during the employee’s absence and make appropriate arrangements for cover.

It is the manager’s role to ensure that the employee is aware that persistent non-attendance at training events which he/she has been nominated to attend, is a disciplinary matter which could result in loss of earnings and ultimately dismissal.

It is the Training Administration Co-ordinator’s role to keep a note of attendees and non-attendees and there after follow the procedure laid down by the Senior Management and the Training Consultant.

Whilst the company is anxious to develop individuals to their maximum potential and to give them jobs which fully utilise their talents, it is normally desirable that they should spend 1 - 2 years in a job, so that they gain the maximum benefit from the experience and make the fullest contribution to the job concerned.

Training alone does not make a person competent at any job; that comes from practice and experience. Advancement will always be governed by satisfactory performance and the achievement of competencies and objectives, not by qualifications and other theoretical considerations.

11. Priorities

Implementation of this policy must take account of the costs of training and of the ability to release people from their jobs without interfering with the running of the organisation. It is possible that in any year, more training needs may be identified than can be fulfilled immediately for these reasons. Priorities will be decided primarily, though not exclusively on the basis of the benefit they will bring to the organisation.

12. Budgets and Expenditure

The organisational training plan will include a central training budget for approval by the Directors. This will include some allowance for meeting training needs arising during the year as well as those identified in the annual planning exercise.

External training funded by the organisation is subject to reimbursement if an individual leaves company employment as follows:

Professional Qualification - Upon Completion
Leaving employment within 1 year - 100% costs reimbursed.

Leaving employment within 1 to 2 years - 50% costs reimbursed

National Vocational Qualifications
Leaving employment within 6 months - 100% costs reimbursed

Leaving employment within 6 months to 1 year - 50% costs reimbursed

Travel and Subsistence
Travel to and from training events will be funded at 12p per mile or public transport costs.

Subsistence will be provided as follows:
12-hour rate (absent from home) - Maximum £13.50
Overnight Rate to include accommodation - Maximum £43.00
Lunch allowance for day courses if no lunch provided by venue - £3.50

End