House trained

As budgets come under scrutiny and fewer public sector employees seem destined to be charged with delivering more, what is the future for training? Ann Harlow explains why it is more important than ever.

Training is something to which most professions and responsible employers attach great importance.

But what happens when financial constraints and economic uncertainty raises its ugly head? Training has traditionally been among the first budgets to face threat when the going gets tough, yet history – and research – shows organisations and employees who invest in training remain stronger through and beyond recession and, crucially, have the right skills mix in place to identify threats and seize opportunities.

So are the days when we travel to a formal training event and take our place among a room full of like minded individuals numbered, or will the radical change – such as that which faces our public sector – actually be a catalyst for even greater professional development?

Training will still be key but the ways in which it is delivered and consumed will have to change to reflect the market place. Certainly, we see continued demand for our ‘set piece’ courses and conferences that address major service delivery areas such as planning, housing and education, but what we also see is councils and local authority lawyers wanting training delivered in other ways, whether it is taking one of our existing courses and delivering it on their premises or adapting a module to local needs.

The latter affords councils a number of benefits in terms of savings on travel, the better use of time and the ability to train relatively large groups of people from one authority in a local setting. It also helps ensure relevant training provision can be delivered to managers at all levels, transferring knowledge and ensuring the correct skills are in place across the organisation for the future.

One of the key strengths of our programme is the ability to attract some of the most respected speakers, whether it is leading barristers or someone such as the London School of Economics’ Tony Travers.

It would not always be feasible to take people like this into a localised training setting so our aim is to continue to stage flagship events in major cities while at the same time talking to councils about their training needs and how we can tailor them to the individual authority.

There is also likely to be an increased demand for on-line training, whether it is through the webinar environment or by making resources available digitally. But, like any training provider, the key is to ensure that quality is maintained if methods of delivery are to be adjusted and that a balance is struck between online and face-to-face learning.

Mirza Ahmad, ACSeS president and corporate director of governance at Birmingham City Council, agrees the need to focus on training is more important than ever.

“During times of economic and budgetary pressures, managers must never lose sight of the fact that it is the application and development of relevant skills and abilities that will determine if they emerge in a stronger position or not. But there is no doubt we need to be creative, looking at how we deliver training and where there are gaps in provision.”

In recent months LGG has worked with Southampton City Council running four separate training days covering anti-social and nuisance behaviour and with the Local Government Ombudsman staging events – one in London and another in York – on safeguarding vulnerable adults and safeguarding vulnerable children.

The LGG team has also partnered with authorities in Greenwich, Lewisham, Ealing, Oldham, Leicester and Sandwell to deliver training in areas as diverse as anti-social behaviour, truancy, school, transport, licensing, RIPA (Regulation of Investigatory Powers) and – recognising the need to develop talent across the workplace – a highly effective skills for teams workshop.

These are excellent examples of the partnership working we are trying to develop at a local level. Delegate numbers here ranged from 12 to 40 and we worked closely with these organisations to identify their needs and to modify, where necessary, the course content to reflect localised demand. We also ensured the organisations had direct access to the trainers ahead of the day to make sure the provision was carefully aligned to objectives.

Although it is always easy to cut training budgets, David Monks, chief executive of Huntingdonshire District Council, cautions that such a move will have implications down the road.

“We are quite obviously in a period of severe economic restraint, there will be redundancies, there will be fewer people working in our councils and – we have to accept – more roles and responsibilities for those of us who are left.

“But this is - and always will be - a delivery-led industry so we have to make sure those employed in local government in the years ahead can tune up their own skills set but that they also have the opportunity to extend those skills in order to ensure their organisation can respond to the needs of the public.”

Ann Harlow is business manager at LGG (www.lgg.org.uk). She can be contacted on 01483 275577.