From GPG

Developing staff skills, knowledge and potential improves the quality of an organisation's service. Providing learning and development opportunities contributes to continuous improvement of individuals and the whole organisation.

Some of the importance/benefits of developing staff skills are:

• Increase effectiveness and efficiency in staff fulfilling their current role;
• Develop skills and knowledge to meet potential/anticipated future needs;
• Meet specific statutory requirements now and as they develop;
• Open up new innovative opportunities to meeting existing or anticipated needs;
• Meet the development requirements of relevant professional bodies;
• Help to meet the career and personal development aspirations of staff.
• Contribute to meeting corporate objectives as detailed in relevant plans/strategies.

Staff should be encouraged to improve their own performance and contribute to other peoples' performance. This includes taking advantage of appropriate Learning and Development opportunities.

Managers and staff should be encouraged to consider the range of possible methods that might be available, specifically to consider alternative options to attending a taught 'training course'.

In addition to criteria most likely to be used in determining which method to use, e.g. cost, time, duration, standard, assessment, etc., other issues/criteria may be equally as relevant, e.g. preferred learning style, team/colleague issues, existing commitments, work life balance, potential for transfer of learning, corporate learning potential, etc.

Managers and staff might therefore also consider the following possibilities / alternatives:

• Coaching / mentoring
• Distance learning
• IT based learning packages
• Secondment (Internal / External)
• Work shadowing
• Job rotation
• Delegation & review
• Deputising
• Work based project & review
• Simulation exercises
• Co-counselling with colleagues
• Guided reading
• Research visits
• Targeted networking
• Exchange visits
• Structured team reviews
• Team briefing
• Cross functional projects

Training and Development

Think a moment – in your career, are you:

• a) moving forwards? b) moving backwards? c) stagnant?
• Do you know why? Is that acceptable to you? Do you want to change the situation? Do you have development needs? How can they be met?

Being up-to-date, gaining and giving satisfaction, progressing personally and professionally: all these are key parts of a healthy job and lifestyle and meeting them means identifying development needs and opportunities.

'Training' is a very broad term, meaning different things to different people so here we will think about 'development', of which training is only a tool or a part of the whole. Having no development potential, being 'stuck in a rut', is a poor outlook for both performance and satisfaction.

If you cannot identify development needs, you may be stuck! Alternatively, you may have plenty of development needs and opportunities, but have not seen them. Or you may have been plodding the treadmill for so long you believe there is no other way of being. Think of this scene:

New employee, "If we worked in the way I'm suggesting, we could be much more effective."
Old manager, "Look, I have twenty years' experience here, and I don't need your suggestions."
New employee, "Huh, you mean you had one year's experience, now twenty years out-of-date."

Hopefully, conversations like this do not occur, but the principle behind keeping up to date with personal and professional development is fundamental.

Many people believe that training and development is focused on formal training courses alone and as such have missed out on much enhancement of development. Training can take various different forms: networking with colleagues, visiting other authorities, work shadowing, workshops, home study and distance learning as well as courses, seminars and conferences.

It is important to first understand that not everyone learns in the same way, or the same way in every situation. To make the most of your learning ability, you should identify the way in which you learn, such as by being lectured, imitating, discussing, role play. This is useful because it can help you create learning opportunities.

If a formal course fills the training need, that's the easy part, but more often than not, a course doesn't cover all requirements, or is too far away, on the wrong date or is applied for but the internal system takes so long that the course is long past.

One difficulty associated with provision of formal specialist training is the lack of demand to justify courses running in multiple locations or on a choice of dates. In view of this, it is necessary to make your own training needs analysis, to identify requirements, targets and means of achieving them. It may be helpful to promote this through the IPROW network so that a clear and current demand for training can be seen.

It may be necessary to be creative and innovative to progress because there are many barriers for an individual to attain development. These can be real barriers such as restricted budget, or over-subscribed courses, to perceived barriers such as negative response to learning situations (don't want to be with group/appear ignorant/low confidence/safe to make mistakes ask silly questions).

Whatever the barriers, it is important that the individual takes full responsibility for their training and development.

Some opportunities can be very easily achieved, with minimal expenditure. This is by sharing experience with neighbouring authorities. It would be of benefit to all officers if there was a greater exchange of information and views, it should be easier to pick up the phone or go and see a neighbouring authority's officers, to promote sharing experience, both good and bad.

Some people may not feel comfortable about phoning the neighbouring authority without prior contact. This means a lost opportunity and can easily be rectified by being more open. If there were IPROW members in all authorities, then IPROW itself could facilitate exchange between neighbouring colleagues by providing contact details or initiating gatherings for discussion or current issues. Whatever the situation, it should be remembered that everyone started from nothing, no-one has all the answers, and everyone can learn more.

Before undertaking any learning opportunity it is useful to set out what you want to gain from it as preparing for the event will enhance its value. You may find the following list of considerations a useful tool if you are able to set up a visit to another authority:

Identify what you want from it, the purpose or ideal outcome.

• What relevant material from your workplace can you take for comparison and discussion?
• What is your host's situation - is it comparable or very different?
• What have they in place, is it successful?
• What would they do differently, given the opportunity to start again?
• How do they liaise with colleagues in both their own section and other departments? Is this a constraint?
• How do they see their situation? Are they satisfied? How would they improve it?

Training Courses

IPROW is always looking at new ways to deliver training to meet members' needs. See training courses and contact the training officer if you have ideas for training, or have identified gaps in your knowledge.

Rights of Way training is also provided by several external organisations. The main ones are listed below.

• Countryside Recreation Network
• Losehill Hall Peak District National Park Study Centre
• Plas Tan y Bwlch Snowdonia National Park Study Centre
• CMA - the Countryside Management Association

Some definitions

Learning and Development

The process of acquiring knowledge and skills to increase (individual, group and organisational) potential and capacity. This may include changes in beliefs and values.

Training

One method by which Learning and Development takes place, that usually involves directed, subject specific input through various media (e.g. tutor led; instruction).

Learning

Conscious change in skills, knowledge, competencies (and the underpinning beliefs and values which enable their application.)

Development

The outcome of the processes of learning, applied to individuals, teams and the whole organisation.