Staff Planning

What kind of training and development is available?

• Induction training will provide a new employee with basic information about the business, the job they will be doing and their terms and conditions of employment.
• On the job training is a common form of training, involves little cost and can be undertaken at work. It will usually involve the trainee observing an experienced worker and attempting new tasks with another employee there to watch them and offer advice. This type of training must be carefully monitored to ensure that it is effective and bad habits are not picked up. It might be necessary to provide formal training as well to ensure that all the necessary skills are developed.
• Competence based training such as National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are becoming more popular. This type of training involves accrediting the demonstration of key competencies required to carry out a particular job.
• NVQs are constantly being developed and are available from operator to management levels. Competencies are usually assessed by an external qualified assessor, from a college or training firm. Most of this type of training will take place on the job, although there may be some formal external training. Competence based training can be fairly expensive and the assessment process is time consuming.
• Modern Apprenticeships are available to young people aged between 16 - 24 years. The qualifications are designed by employers and build on many of the traditional features of apprenticeships. Modern Apprenticeships are available at Foundation and Advanced Level.
• Online learning is provided by Learndirect business, who offer over 400 courses covering all aspects of business and management. Many businesses find this style of training attractive as it is flexible and can take place on any computer with Internet access (subject to minimum PC/MAC specification).
• Open/flexible learning involves providing staff with materials that they can study at home or in the workplace. This type of training is often popular amongst staff who are reluctant to take up formal training. It avoids the problems and costs of releasing staff for external training but employees may need additional support for this type of training to be successful.
• External training might mean short practical courses or longer educational ones. However, the distinction between the two is becoming more blurred as short courses often form part of an NVQ, for example, and longer courses are split into modules so that they are more flexible and can be undertaken as part of competence based training.