Staff Development and Training
Purpose
This tool explores some issues around the staff development and training required to support the change process.
Staff development can:
- Help support the change.
- Be an important vehicle to communicate the reasons for change.
- Provide a mechanism for obtaining feedback.
Process
The way in which you approach training and development will be dependent on the nature of the change. If your institution has a specialist training and development function then discussing the requirements with them at an early stage can assist with the process. Topics that you might wish to cover include:
- What are the key groups of staff we need to get involved?
- What is the current level of knowledge/understanding/skills? Do we need to undertake a detailed analysis through, for example, focus groups or questionnaires?
- Do we need to train everyone or can we cascade throughout the institution?
- When will they need the development? Are there groups that need to be dealt with first?
- What approach to training should we adopt?
- Who will provide the training?
- What supporting materials will assist?
- Will attendance be compulsory?
- What level of management support will be required to ensure attendance?
- How can we assist with embedding the training into practice - will managers need to be involved?
- How will we monitor whether training and development is effective?
- Are there resources (financial and other) to support training?
