A fund designed to assist with workforce development has proved beneficial for one of Scotland’s leading charities – after putting 40 employees through business training with New College Lanarkshire.
ENABLE Scotland has used funding from the newly introduced government initiative, the Flexible Workforce Development Fund, to put its staff through leadership, management and customer care courses – improving the skills of its existing workforce while increasing staff morale through development.
New College Lanarkshire provided training in the following:
The programmes were designed to suit ENABLE’S business requirements – delivered as half day programmes every fortnight and based in their offices to ensure flexibility for attendees.
Lisa Miller, Senior Learning and Development Business Partner at ENABLE Scotland, said:
“At ENABLE Scotland, we pride ourselves on leading the way in learning disability but we know that we can only do that through the continued commitment and efforts of our dedicated workforce.
“We are strongly committed to ensuring our staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in their roles and fulfil their potential and we invest significant resources each year in learning and development activity.
“Much of the organisation’s focus to date has been on the learning needs of our frontline staff. We have recognised that we needed to invest more in supporting the development of staff in non-frontline roles – roles without which our frontline staff could simply not carry out the excellent work they do supporting people with learning disabilities.
“The Flexible Workforce Development Fund provided us with the opportunity to do just that and we were delighted to work in partnership with New College Lanarkshire to achieve it.
“The College is the local learning provider in the vicinity of our headquarters at EuroCentral. Its reputation for high quality learning provision that equips people with a skillset for life is well known as is its focus on supporting learners to have successful outcomes and a positive learning experience.
“We worked closely with the College to identify the best solutions for our learning needs. The Institute of Leadership and Management also enjoys an enviable reputation for its qualifications and the Level 2 and Level 3 awards were ideal in terms of focus and in ensuring our staff gained accreditation to recognise their efforts.
“The feedback we have received from the participants has been excellent and staff have translated their learning back into their work through increased confidence and capability in leadership. This has ultimately enhanced teamwork, higher performance and improved delivery of services to the people we support and the staff who work with them.
“The FWDF allowed us to focus increased effort on the development needs of our non-frontline staff and it assisted us in ensuring staff were equipped with the skills needed to steer the organisation’s successful future. It also enabled us to form a very beneficial partnership with the College which we have now extended to other areas of our learning provision.
“It has been a welcome output of the apprenticeship levy.”
Lynn Campbell from ENABLE, who took on the training, said: “Training at New College Lanarkshire has improved my own efficiency and time management skills, giving me more confidence in my day to day job.
“I really enjoyed the training, specifically how I was always encouraged to directly relate the learning to my own job role – making it very relevant.
“The training coincided with an extremely busy time for me at work, however my tutor was always flexible in assessment due dates and asking us as a group if we were happy with the submission dates. I would recommend learning through the College to my colleagues and friends.”
The FWDF was launched by the Scottish Government in September 2017 and is supported by Colleges Scotland to provide training to employers in Scotland who have been subject to the Apprenticeship Levy.
By providing funding for training to local organisations, the fund aims to encourage innovation in the economy, drive inclusive and sustainable growth, ensure a productive and engaged workforce capable of meeting the needs of employers and increase productivity in the workplace.
Interested in improving your workforce through training with New College Lanarkshire? Find out more click here.
ENABLE Scotland recruits and trains people from all backgrounds to provide support for people who have a learning disability to live great lives in their local communities. If this sounds like you, apply here: https://jobs.enable.org.uk/
Find out more about ENABLE Scotland at www.enable.org.uk
