Training and Development

Training and Development Policy

Regular investment in time for learning should be seen as an essential part of the day to day working life for all employees All employees (including managers) should have a minimum of 20 hours a year in training and/or development.
Positive steps should be taken to ensure that all levels of staff participate in training & development activities
Development should be continuous in that staff are encouraged to always be actively seeking opportunities to improve their own skills, abilities, experience and performance
Learning objectives should be clear and should serve organisational or client needs as well as individual goals
Line management has an important part to play in the application of training and development to the workplace, by pre-training discussions, post-training reviews,
enabling training to be supplied at the right time, and supporting the learner while they
are practising new skills and behaviours.

Training and development needs analysis

All training and development activities must be based on needs assessment and have clear objectives and measurable outcomes. Training and development needs will be
identified through:

appraisal - by production of individual action plans and training and development logs
people plans developed with business and service plans at departmental and service area
planning by managers to ensure key skills are adequately maintained within the organisation
Organisational and departmental initiatives

Resources

The Senior Management Team will identify an annual dedicated training budget to be controlled by the HR manager. Managers will need to focus limited available resources to meet individual training and development needs, these may be service area or centrally provided resources as appropriate. The Ealing Homes Human Resources team will provide support to identified training and development needs wherever possible through provision of activities or support to managers or individuals as appropriate. Support will be provided for managers to develop the skills required to assess and find solutions to training and development needs. The Training and Development officer will produce a training plan, procedures and
documentation to support equality of opportunity. This plan will set out ways of monitoring training take up and attendance to ensure all employees receive details of training, and monitor equality of access to appropriate training and development activities.

Delivery of Training and Development

Training and development may happen in many different ways, all of which are equally valid. The choice of delivery method will depend on several factors including

Budget considerations
Operational requirements
The individuals preferred learning styles
Time available
Number of people requiring the training.
Objectives of the training

Suitable delivery methods would include:
Reading books, periodicals, or briefing notes.
On the job training
Personal coaching by a colleague or manager
Open learning
Watching videos
Off the job training as an individual
Off the job training as a group.
Action learning set
Computer based learning

Evaluation

All training and development activities should have indicators of success identified prior to the activity
Managers must assess the outcomes of activities undertaken through:

Post course evaluation
Appraisal
Team meetings
Business and service plan reviews
People Plan reviews
A record should be kept of all training and development activities undertaken together with the outcomes and a regular review undertaken with each
individual.

A note of the cost of the activity must be kept, to ascertain if it represented “value for money”

Vocational Qualifications (Post Entry Training)

Each Service Head is responsible for vocational qualifications (post entry training) in their own areas. The identified courses should meet individual or organisational
needs. They will ensure that needs are properly assessed and that progress is monitored and reviewed. Post entry training should be regarded, as an integral part of an employee's work and managers must ensure that objectives are being met through regular supervision.

Managers must ensure that access to vocational qualifications is given to all in accordance with the Ealing Homes Equalities and Diversity Policy. Managers must
be able to justify the refusal of vocational training, and the support given to those who are studying for vocational training. Career development loans are now available for all staff and the use of these should be encouraged where individuals identify a development need which enhances career prospects but does not meet a current organisational need or where funding is inappropriate or not available.
The Terms and Conditions relating to Post Entry Training will apply.

Continued Professional Development

Individuals will be expected to take responsibility for their own professional development and appropriate support will be given to facilitate this.

National Vocational Qualifications

NVQ's are relevant and adaptable to every area of business. They are formal recognition of development and performance to specified standards and can be entered
into at a wide range of levels and abilities. Managers should consider the use of NVQ's to meet certain identified development needs.

Modern Apprenticeships

Ealing Homes is committed to investigating the use of Modern Apprenticeships to develop young people from the surrounding area and to meet staffing needs.

Union Involvement and Consultation

At intervals of no more than six months the Unions and the management team, or their representatives, may meet to discuss issues around training, including this policy
and its implementation, the training of workers over the coming six months, and the training provided for workers over the previous six months.

The management team shall make any information that will enable this available to the unions no less than two weeks before these meetings.

This Policy provides a framework for Training and Development in Ealing Homes. It re-iterates that the primary purpose of training is to fulfil business objectives.

The principles of the policy support:

The Investors in People principles and standards
Equality of Opportunity
The Employment Relations Act 1999 and its subsequent amendments and additions.
The Disability Discrimination Act 1994.

Aims and Objectives

The overall aim of the Ealing Homes Training and Development Policy is to make the most effective use of the organisation’s employees, to ensure business objectives are
met and staff are developed to their maximum potential.

The objectives are:

to facilitate and support managers in developing themselves and their staff
to create a culture which encourages continuous improvement through training and development
to relate development aims to service objectives
to encourage all staff to take responsibility for their own self development and to maintain their personal development record
to encourage involvement and commitment from all staff by their active participation in training and development activities and sharing the skills and expertise available within Ealing Homes
to establish comprehensive training needs analysis across Ealing Homes
to provide support to managers and staff regarding all aspects of training and development
to ensure that relevant training is available to all, without barriers.
to support our commitment to equality and diversity through providing, monitoring and evaluating appropriate training in equality issues.

Responsibilities

The Ealing Homes Senior Management Team will set a framework, which encourages Training and Development activities.

It is the responsibility of managers to ensure that the training and development needs of employees are identified, activities properly planned, employees are supported and
the outcomes measured.

It is the responsibility of the manager to keep accurate and complete records of the training their staff have received, to support Equality and Diversity, the Disability
Discrimination Act, and the Employment Relations Act. Individual employees while being supported by their manager have a responsibility for their own self-development in the context of identified needs.
It is the responsibility of the employee to keep a record of their own training and development, to inform their manager when they feel they have a need for training, and to discuss the effectiveness of that training with their manager after it has taken place.

It is the responsibility of the manager and the employee to inform personnel when they have completed a mandatory course, so that that information may be added to their personnel file.

At the time of issue the courses covered by this are:

All Recruitment and Selection training and assessment
All training connected with Health and Safety
Appraisal / Job Performance Scheme training
Management procedures as specified in the Terms and Conditions.
Any other training and development events, which are deemed compulsory by the Senior Management Team.