All pull together
Kelly Ventress shares her insights on how to develop your people on a tight (or non-existent) budget
Having a skilled workforce is a critical element of success in voluntary and community organisations. Despite this, training budgets are often the first thing to be cut in times of recession. According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, over half (55 per cent) of voluntary organisations expect their training and development budget to decrease in the coming 12 months.1
Training staff well is a necessity, particularly during a recession. When revising how your staff are trained and developed, the very worst thing to do is introduce a scaled-down training and development programme that doesn’t address learning needs or align with strategic priorities – but is cheaper. A reduction in budgets doesn’t mean the quality of training has to suffer.
Internal training and knowledge sharing
The most obvious approach is that the knowledge you’re looking for might already be in your organisation. Developing a structured approach to internal knowledge and skill sharing can be an excellent way of developing your staff, and there are several ways of doing this.
Why not start or end team meetings or internal conferences with an opportunity for staff to deliver a mini training session? This approach to sharing knowledge is also an excellent way of developing a sense of team identity across your organisation.
Don’t forget your trustees either – they may well have expertise in the particular area where learning is required. Alternatively, they may know someone who does.
Establishing a job shadowing scheme is also a useful, inexpensive method. Shadowing simply involves arranging for an employee to work alongside a member of staff in a different department (or who is more senior) and observe what they do as part of their day-to-day role. Similarly, coaching and mentoring can be a low cost way for voluntary organisations to build professional expertise. Skills – Third Sector provides information and signposting on this topic on their website, www.skills-thirdsector.org.uk
Self-directed learning
This is a process in which individual staff members, volunteers or trustees diagnose their own learning needs. It can be facilitated by the employee’s line manager, but involves staff formulating their own learning goals and identifying the resources required for learning. The employee, volunteer or trustee then chooses and puts the appropriate learning strategy into place and evaluates learning outcomes.
One of the key benefits of this method is that it creates a culture of continuous learning within the organisation, and learners are motivated and engaged. Perhaps most importantly, the training can be tailored to the learning style of the individual.Self-directed learning can be supportedby using the the performance management process. A training needs analysis can be a very useful starting point, and can help staff to understand what their learning requirements are in the first place.
Employer-supported volunteering
Employer-supported volunteering is described by Volunteering England as being all types of volunteering carried out by employees who are supported by their employer. This can range from employers freeing up time for employees to do their own volunteering or can be part of a formal programme. Charities and social enterprises can encourage their staff to volunteer with other organisations by providing a set number of days per year which can be used as paid volunteering leave. Employees who partake in employer-supported volunteering schemes particularly benefit from developing their communication, coaching,listening and teamwork skills. Employer supported volunteering is also believed to give employees the opportunity to develop management skills such as leading projects and motivating others.
Volunteering England have published the Complete Beginners Guide for employers wishing to start an employer supported volunteering scheme.2
Develop your performance management
Appraisals and regular one-to-one supervision meetings between line managers and employees are the nuts and bolts of staff development, and it is a good opportunity to assess learning needs. Think about how your performance management works at present – could it be better utilised to develop skills and knowledge? For a free downloadable ‘HR How To Guide’ on 360 Degree Appraisals, see www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/ how-to-guides
Access support from Acas
If you are seeking training on managing people, explore what is on offer from Acas. They offer free e-learning courses on a range of topics, including managing absence, handling redundancy and bullying and harassment. Visit www.acas.org.uk for more information.
Grow your own
Research suggests that investing in training not only saves money but is actually more effective than shopping around for new talent.3 Training staff effectively is also recognised as being a key factor in improving staff retention – staff and volunteers are more likely to stay with an organisation if they are developing in their role. With many voluntary organisations facing funding cuts and an uncertain future, it’s essential that we focus on nurturing talent and retaining skills in order for voluntary organisations to survive and grow.
1. CIPD: Learning and Talent Development Annual Survey Report 2010
3. Emma Parry, Cranfield University School of Management: Nurturing Talent: a research report www.learndirect.co.uk/ media/ pdfs/nurturing_talent.pdf
Author: Kelly Ventress
Kelly Ventress is communications officer in NCVO’s workforce development team.
She has worked in media and communication roles in the private and public sectors before moving to NCVO and embracing the voluntary sector.
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