TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 1
CHESTER-LE-STEEET DISTRICT COUNCIL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 1 INTRODUCTION Chester-le-Street District Council continues to change and must constantly adapt to new ways of working in order to provide quality services within a best value framework. This is particularly prevalent in view of what the Council aims to achieve both through the Improvement and Recovery Plan and the Community Strategy. The Council values the contribution that employees make to its performance and success. It recognises that they are its principal resource and the achievement of the authority s vision and corporate objectives are inextricably linked to the contribution of individuals. Therefore the authority is committed to the development and performance improvement of employees. The aim of this policy is to encourage and facilitate staff to undertake a wide range of learning opportunities to develop their knowledge, skills and competence, thus enabling them to realise their potential whilst contributing to the efficiency of the council. The policy supports Strategic Goal 5 of the Human Resources Strategy; Operate Modern and Inclusive Employment Policies and also Goal 4; Resourcing and Developing the Capacity of the Organisation. It is underpinned by the PDP process and the Employee Core Competency Framework. 2 GENERAL PRINCIPLES The Council is committed to promoting equality of opportunity in the development of people. It recognises the diversity of employee s needs and will ensure that training and development is accessible to all staff irrespective of sex, race, religion, disability, grade, length of service, hours of work or nature of their employment contract. 2
This policy will help to recruit and retain a highly trained and committed workforce, hence supporting the Council s Recruitment and Retention Strategy. The Council is committed to providing access to training for employees to achieve relevant nationally recognised professional qualifications. Training may provide staff with new skills and knowledge or help maintain an existing performance level. It may also be a mandatory requirement in order that the Council fulfils its legal responsibilities as an employer. It will not be possible to accommodate every individual application for training; therefore this policy aims sets out a fair and transparent process for assessing and evaluating training applications against the priorities and objectives of the Council. The training and development methods used will be the most cost effective and will include flexible methods of delivery and informal solutions where appropriate. Personal Development Plans should be used as flexible documents, which can be amended at any time in line with changing objectives. All development activities will be evaluated in order to assess their effectiveness and enable informed decisions regarding future training activities to be made. Managers are asked to take a systematic approach to workforce planning, and maximise the potential of current employees to contribute to the future success of the Council. Training will be linked to the Employee Competency Framework and the core competencies expected of Chester-le-Street District Council Employees. 3 RESPONSIBILITIES All employees of Chester-le-Street District Council have specific responsibilities under this policy. 3
3.1 Managers All managers and supervisors should: - Recognise the contribution that their staff make to the Council and ensure that staff can understand and explain this contribution - Monitor staff performance and training and development needs on an ongoing basis - Carry out formal PDP meetings in line with the procedure and as a two-way process - Ensure that a copy of the individual s personal development plan is returned to the Human Resources Department - Conduct PDP meetings and monitor staff development needs fairly and consistently across their department - Identify how needs can be met and take responsibility for ensuring they are addressed with support from the Human Resources Department - Ensure employees cascade relevant information to their team following a training event - Help employees to apply new skills and knowledge in the workplace - Monitor the effectiveness of training against Departmental Service Plans - Feed relevant department training needs information into the Workforce Plan/ Service Team Training Plan and submit to the Human Resources Department - Consider requests for training fairly, taking into account the relevance of the request to the post - Provide full support to corporate Training and Development Initiatives 3.2 Individuals All employees have the following responsibilities in relation to their own personal development, and should: - Take personal responsibility for their own learning and selfdevelopment including continuing professional development - Actively participate in development opportunities - Work with their line manager to identify training and development needs - Adequately prepare for PDP meetings - Pursue identified training and development opportunities - Make every effort to attend agreed training courses and demonstrate appropriate conduct - Highlight any training or development needs to their manager that they feel have not been addressed - Complete an evaluation form after every training event 4
- Apply new knowledge and skills in the workplace as appropriate - Comply with all Council policies and procedures relating to training and development 3.3 Human Resources Department The Human Resources Department is responsible for administering a central budget for all of the training across the Council. This is primarily co-ordinated by the Training and Development Officer, with direction from the Head of Organisational Development. The allocation and funding of training will be assessed and applied fairly and consistently in line with the criteria as set out in this document. The Head of Organisational Development has the following responsibilities under this policy: - To receive and consider annual service team training plans and provide approval to Service Teams to proceed with training requests identified, provided they are in line with the criteria as set out in this policy. - To be responsible for the effective monitoring of the centralized training budget and identify any growth required - To ensure that the Council identify corporate training and development requirements in line with the Council s changing priorities, Corporate Plan and Improvement and Recovery Plan. Training and Development Officer also has the following responsibilities under this policy, and will: - Centrally control and organise all of the Council s corporate training and development activities - Monitor applications for and organise training courses in line with the Council s Corporate Training and Development Directory, upon receipt of a minimum of 10 applications - Oversee the Council s Post Entry Training process - Ensure the central update of training records - Monitor and advise on the operation of the PDP process - Contact managers when Personal Development Plans are outstanding - Analyse individual s training needs and advise on the most appropriate learning opportunity to meet the need - Co-ordinate corporate and external training courses - Maintain and build new relationships with external training providers - Ensure that the training used is the most cost effective option and gain economies of scale where possible 5
- Monitor training evaluation feedback and react accordingly - Contribute to the development and delivery of corporate inductions for new staff joining the Council - Oversee the corporate training and development budget for the Council, ensuring that this is spent effectively - Provide full support for Members development 4 TRAINING NEEDS AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES 4.1 Training needs may be identified in a variety of ways; - Through the PDP process - As a result of service needs or changes in methods of delivery, i.e. the introduction of new technology - Due to organisation or government requirements - As part of an agreed return to work plan resulting from a period of sickness absence - As an appropriate reasonable adjustment to an employee s ill health or disability - As part of an agreed action plan formulated under the Council s Policy and procedure for dealing with incapacity and poor performance - As part of an employee s continued professional development - As a result of a corporate need or initiative 4.2 Learning activities can take many forms, and are not necessarily funded professional qualifications. Some examples of alternative development activities include: - Short courses/refresher training (provided either internally or externally) - E Learning - Seminars and Conferences - Corporate training courses - Training resources, i.e. video, computer-based, workbook, distance learning packages - Temporary job swapping - Coaching/on the job training - Secondments/visits to other Council departments - A more flexible allocation of work - Job Shadowing - Action Learning/Projects - Training opportunities via the Trade Unions N.B. This is not an exhaustive list. 6
This policy aims to provide clarification on the range of learning opportunities available to staff and also guidance as to how decisions regarding training applications are made. 5 MEETING TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT NEEDS The following section provides guidance and details of how training and development needs will be met. A clear and simple overview is attached as Appendix A which summarises the Council s Learning and Development Planning Process. 5.1 Mandatory Training As a result of either legislation or corporate Council objectives, some categories of training are compulsory for all employees: 5.1.1 Induction (Mandatory) The Human Resources Team will ensure that all new employees of the Council will undergo a Corporate Induction Programme within 72 hours of their start date. Areas covered include; an overview of the Council, Health and Safety Information, HR Policies and Procedures, Payroll information etc. In addition to the corporate programme, line managers are responsible for employees individual inductions into their Service Team and job roles. The length and nature of this induction will vary depending on the individual s role; certain elements will need to be delivered immediately while other elements will be spread over a period of time. Service Team Inductions are referred to in more detail in the Council s Induction Policy and Procedure. The Chief Executive will also meet new employees on a quarterly basis. 5.1.2 Health & Safety (Mandatory) Training will be provided by a Health and Safety Advisor or an external facilitator to ensure that employees comply with statutory health and safety legislation requirements. This will be identified through reference to appropriate legislation and risk assessments where appropriate. The level of training will be dependant upon the individual s job role. All managers will be requested to undertake Health and Safety training as organised by the Health and Safety department. 7
5.1.3 Corporate Training (Mandatory) As the priorities of the Council change, corporate training may be delivered across the authority in order to provide staff with a required standard of skill/knowledge in line with the objectives of the organisation, for example; Equalities and Diversity Training. All corporate training requests must have the full support of the Corporate Management Team and Service Team Managers, who must understand the relevance of such training. The Head of Organisational Development will provide support on this issue. An annual Corporate Training and Development Programme will be produced in line with the Council s priorities, annually. 5.1.4 Service Team Training (Mandatory) Some training may be classed as mandatory for Service Teams if a deficit would be critical to the service delivery. This is likely to include legislative training which is specific to that particular service, or in some cases post entry training. Service Team Managers will be required to identify any training and development which is mandatory for their Service Team, providing justification as the reasons for this. This will form the basis of their Service Team Training Plan (See Appendix B), which should be submitted to the Head of Organisational Development annually. The Head of Organisational Development will consider the training identified against the criteria within this policy, and following discussion with the relevant director, advise the service team manager if approval has been given to proceed in arranging the training. Service Team Managers will take responsibility for the procurement of service specific training, following approval for the training to proceed having been confirmed. However should the training be identified as being more cost effectively delivered by an alternative provider, cross council, the Head of Organisational Development reserves the right to procure the training through an alternative supplier. 5.1.5 Management Development (Mandatory) Due to their responsibilities for other staff, all managers and supervisors are required to have a certain level of people management skills and knowledge. 8
Therefore there are a range of training courses that are delivered corporately, designed specifically for managers, for example; Recruitment and Selection, Managing Attendance at Work, Appraiser training. These courses are in addition to an extended induction programme. All new managers must undergo this training as well as any other managers where it is felt their level of competence is below the required standard or if their role has recently changed. Other management development may be delivered from time to time. 5.2 High Priority Training Some training is classed as being of a high priority to the Council, or to individuals/service Teams. These needs will be identified by the individual s line manager through the PDP process and a copy of the individual employee s training and development plan will be sent to the authority s Training and Development Officer. The plan will identify which training is a high priority. Where operationally feasible, the training need will be addressed in most cases through the corporate Training and Development directory and will be the responsibility of the Council s Training and Development Officer. 5.2.1 Legislative Training (High Priority) Depending on the nature of an employee s job role, maintaining a high standard of knowledge in a specialist area of legislation may be vitally important, and be of serious detriment to service delivery if the level of knowledge is not maintained. 5.2.2 Core Competencies (High Priority) The Council has developed a Core Competency Framework which sets out the behaviours we expect from all employees regardless of area of work, professional expertise or personal interests. These support the delivery of the Council s vision and values and helps managers to have clearer expectations when training and appraising staff. The following competencies underpin the continuing personal development of staff: Communication Teamworking Customer Service 9
Flexibility Learning and Developing Making Things Happen Equalities and Diversity Although these behaviors are expected from all employees, the required level of capability of each competency will vary as the Council s priorities change and also depending on the nature of the individual s position in the authority. 5.3 Post Entry Training (professional qualifications) The Council s current policy is that staff will be supported both financially and with time to attend professional training courses that are considered organisationally necessary. The level of funding and time given will vary depending upon the nature of the training and how highly it is rated against the selection criteria below. Guidance and application forms for post entry training can be obtained from Human Resources. An outline of the policy for post entry training is attached as Appendix C. 5.4 Non- Funded Training There are a variety of learning activities which do not require funding. Examples include: on the job training and development, secondments, learning networks, project based work, mentoring. Managers are responsible for identifying these development needs during an individual s PDP, supporting the delivery of such opportunities, and ensuring appropriate records are maintained within Individual Personal Development Plans. 5.5 Corporate Training and Development Directory The Council has a corporate Training and Development Directory, which outlines a range of possible training courses which may be available to staff. Employees with individual training and development needs will in most cases be able to access a course via the directory. 10
As there is a cost to arranging externally facilitated courses, employees will be required to wait until at least 10 applications are received for a course in order that the training is cost effective to the Council. The authority has a number of Training Champions across a variety of Service Teams. These individuals have a copy of the Corporate Training and Development Directory and are able to advise staff on how to apply for courses. The current Training Champions are as follows: Christine Ditchburn Kim Armstrong Ian Herberson Christine Scott/Neil Peverley Caroline Kirkbride Margaret Murray Anne Blackburn/Alison Styring Jacqueline McConnell Environmental Health Environmental Works Finance/Accountancy Housing Leisure Services Personnel Revenues and Benefits Audit 6 EVALUATION OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT 6.1 In order to ensure that training and development is effective in meeting the needs of the Council, service team or individual, a number of mechanisms will be in place for monitoring and reporting on the effectiveness of training and development. 6.1.1 Individuals training and development Employees attending any training courses arranged by the Council will be required to complete the Council s Training Evaluation Form which will be retained by the Human Resources Team. The Council s Training and Development Officer will take responsibility for analysing training evaluation forms and identifying any cause for concern with the Head of Organisational Development, 11
The effectiveness of any training or development undertaken by employees will also be addressed during the individual s PDP interview with their manager. The PDP form includes a question as to how any training and development undertaken since the last interview has been applied. 6.2 Evaluation of Corporate Training and Development The Head of Organisational Development will produce a report for Corporate Management Team in February/ March of each year regarding the evaluation and effectiveness of any corporate training and development which has taken place in the proceeding 12 months. 12
APPENDIX A CHESTER-LE-STREET DISTRICT COUNCIL LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING PROCESS (linked to corporate planning process) Month July Organisational dev need CMT revisit corporate objectives & IRP CMT identify mandatory corporate training & development needs linked to corporate objectives Service team need Service team managers revisit Service plans to identify mandatory service training and development needs, including legislative. August CMT agree mandatory corporate training and development over next 12 mths, including timescale, priorities and who the training should apply to. Bids for growth submitted by HOD for corporate training and development required Service Plan reviews complete STMs submit any mandatory training and development requirements to the HOD in the format of service team training plan, including bids for growth September HOD produces corporate Training & development plan for next financial year. Plan to be agreed by CMT and shared with service team managers HOD/ CMT approve/ not approve Service Team training requests for following financial year and STM s advised accordingly 13
Following the above planning process, and approval of: a) corporate training and development plan b) service team mandatory training plans the Council s budget for training and development will be top sliced the following April to meet the above costs. The remainder of the budget will be available for post entry training requests which meet the criteria for approval and meeting individual training and development needs identified through the PDP Process. Managers will be required to inform the Council s Training and Development Officer of the individual training and development needs arising from PDP interviews and whether these are considered high/ medium or low priority. The majority of PDP s will take place in September / October with reviews in March/ April. Managers should wherever possible supply the Council s Training and Development Officer with a summary of the needs arising from PDP s within their teams. Note: Not all PDPs will fall in line with the above timescale as PDP s for new employees will be dependent upon start date. Note: Not all training and development needs identified will require formal attendance on courses which require funding. Managers are required as part of the PDP process and development of Service Team and Individual Training and Development Plans to identify other methods of learning, which they will take responsibility for implementing. 14
EXAMPLE - SERVICE TEAM TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN APPENDIX B Training/Development Need Identified Why has this need been identified? How can the need be addressed? Who does the training/learning activity apply to? Level of Priority Timescale Cost Outcome Strategy May 2005 15 of 20
POST ENTRY TRAINING POLICY APPENDIX C Selection The selection criteria for professional training is rigorous to ensure that the benefits of such programmes contribute to both the achievement of organisational objectives and meet the learning needs of the individual members of staff, whilst ensuring that limited training budgets are spent efficiently. The selection criteria for post entry training makes the process fair to all staff. Opportunities for further education will be given to all employees and no application will be refused without justification. Criteria for approval In considering whether or not to approve a request, a number of criteria will be taken into account. Due to limited budgets, consideration and approval will be given in the first instance to requests complying with criteria number 1. 1. Relevance in relation to the needs of the individual, job requirements and service needs (High Priority) 2. Whether the training/development activity will equip the individual for anticipated changes in his/her job or equip him/her for the better performance of their duties (Medium Priority) 3. What transferable skills the training/development activity will develop that could be used in another job that the individual might realistically move to (Low Priority) The following considerations should also be taken into account: Where the need has been identified as part of an external audit/inspection Whether the Service Team is able to release the employee from their duties. Strategy May 2005 16 of 20
Cost, direct and indirect What the effect of not approving the request would be Upon the approval of post entry training, consideration should be given as to how the effectiveness of the training and development will be measured. The Council will support the continuation of study on an approved post entry training course, subject to the satisfactory completion of each year of study. Procedure To secure approval to attend a course, the following procedure must be followed: 1. The employee identifies the appropriate course which meets the training and development needs. 2. An application form must then be completed. This must be sent to the Service Team Manager who will forward it to the HR and Policy Manager. Anyone continuing a course of study must complete a continuation form and send it to the Service Team Manager. 3. Anyone who has passed the initial application stage may be required to either give a presentation to a panel (normally the Service Team Manager and the Personnel Manager) or to attend an informal interview. This will usually be necessary only where demand is greater than the budget allocation for professional training or when it may be difficult to meet the operational needs of the Service Team. 4. All applicants will receive a letter from the Human Resources Team informing them whether or not their application has been successful. 5. Any unsuccessful employees will be given the opportunity for feedback from their manager outlining the reasons for non-approval. Strategy May 2005 17 of 20
6. Any issues or concerns regarding the non-approval of training should be raised with the Human Resources Department in the first instance who will provide advice to the individual. Conditions of approval Employees who have been given approval to attend a course must comply with the following conditions: Financial Arrangements The council will give financial assistance as follows: Course of study Part or all of the tuition fees(including registration fees and examination fees but excluding professional fees or subscriptions) All travelling expenses(based on public transport) Payments will be made for any excess fares incurred in travelling to college instead of the place of work. Reimbursement of these expenses will be based on public transport rates by the cheapest means of travel. Confirmation of journey details will be requested. These claims MUST be made on a MONTHLY basis to the Exchequer Section. Examinations Examination fees Registration fees and exemption fees Strategy May 2005 18 of 20
Text Books Where essential course text books are not available for loan from the college library, a contribution towards the cost of purchase (usually 50%) will be considered by the council. Should the full cost of purchase be met by the council, all books remain the property of the council. Repayment of fees Should an employee who has been given approval to attend a college course paid for by the Authority and who voluntarily leaves Local Government Service within two years of completion of the course will be required to pay back all payments made in relation to the course. This includes registration fees, examination fees and travel expenses. Any money owed will be recovered from a final salary or by agreement from the recovery section. Attendance Attendance at any course is equivalent to attendance at work. Any absence from the course must be approved by/notified to the employee s Service Team Manager. Employees should avoid annual leave/flexi leave on days when attendance at college is required, unless special circumstances prevail, leave must be agreed with the Personnel Manager. Employees who fail to achieve a satisfactory attendance level without justification on their approved course may be required to repay all expenses incurred by the council for the course of study. Employees who leave work during the day to attend college must clock out and submit a reconciliation form. Time will be credited up to a maximum of 7 hours 24 minutes. Any employee clocking in after 8.30am will be credited with the appropriate amount of time. Strategy May 2005 19 of 20
Study Leave Subject to the approval of the Service Team Manager, employees are entitled to study leave on the basis of one half day per examination plus a half day for the examination itself. Monitoring A monitoring section has been included on the application form to ensure that individuals are not prejudiced in any way during the selection process. Strategy May 2005 20 of 20