5A: How to achieve success in leadership and management

Defining good management practices in the voluntary and community sector is not the simplest of tasks. The diversity of the sector, ranging as it does from large national charities and organisations to small community groups, and serving many different communities and interest groups, does not lend itself easily to ‘one size fits all’ conclusions. However, good leaders and managers have similar effects wherever they work: they motivate and inspire staff; they ensure that the very best services are provided for those their organisations or groups serve; they understand the relationship between supporting and developing staff and performance; they manage resources and budgets prudently and with foresight and they use every tool and resource at their disposal to secure continuous improvement.

Many voluntary and community sector organisations operate within the constraints of short-term funding. On the other hand, they are often well-served by managers, paid staff and volunteers who are passionate about their work. Effective managers draw on this enthusiasm in creating learning organisations and in developing the Skills for Life agenda throughout the whole organisation.

Whatever the size or nature of a voluntary and community sector organisation or group, effective management practices and approaches have a positive impact on both staff and learners. At their very best, organisations and groups understand the relationship between the Skills for Life agenda and all aspects of their work, especially where they represent and respond to the needs of the most disadvantaged groups of society.

The vision

Visions may be expressed in something as tangible as a mission statement, or for small groups they may be a set of shared values and beliefs.

The closer the fit between an organisation’s overall aims and objectives and the Skills for Life agenda, the easier it will be for all staff to understand the importance and impact of literacy, numeracy and language programmes for their target group or service users.

Even where an organisation’s or group’s core business is not learning, it may be possible to draw powerful links between that business and the impact of raising achievement and aspirations amongst those of its clientele who have literacy, numeracy and language needs.

Planning

Any organisation or group offering learning programmes to Skills for Life learners should have an understanding of what it hopes to achieve by doing so, and in turn what learners on those programmes should achieve. This means having a development plan that includes an analysis of:

• how providing Skills for Life programmes contributes to the aims, objectives and work of the organisation or group
• the funding arrangements for the programme
• how Skills for Life learners will be targeted and recruited
• targets for recruitment, achievement, retention and progression
• arrangements for supporting learners before, during and after their programmes
• how staff will be recruited and how their development needs will be met over time
• how resources will be procured and used
• how all service users or clients will have an entitlement to have their literacy, numeracy and language needs identified, and receive appropriate advice about what to do and where to go
• the arrangements for initial and ongoing assessment
• how achievement will be recorded and celebrated
• how progress against targets will be monitored
• how the programme will ensure equality of opportunity
• the arrangements for reviewing the plan.

A whole-organisation approach will ensure that this development plan is the property of all staff, whether or not they are directly involved with delivery of literacy, numeracy and language programmes. In larger organisations, this means that a senior manager should take responsibility for the plan, and ensure that other managers, members of management committees (or boards of directors) and all staff and volunteers are consulted about the plan and have the opportunity to contribute to it.

Evaluating your approach

In some instances, awareness-raising events across the organisation may contribute towards the development of a whole-organisation approach. Smaller organisations or groups may not have formal management structures, especially where they are run on a self-help basis, or by a very small number of staff. It is obviously easier in such cases to ensure that all staff are aware of the Skills for Life agenda and how it affects the communities and people whose interests they represent and serve.

It may help to ask the following key question as a test of your organisation’s understanding and commitment to supporting Skills for Life learners:

‘Do [insert target group, for example homeless young people, asylum seekers, unemployed people over 50] benefit by improving their skills in literacy, numeracy or language?’

The checklist on the whole-organisation approach will help you evaluate whether your Skills for Life agenda is part of a whole-organisation approach.

CHECKLIST FOR A WHOLE-ORGANISATION APPROACH

Download checklist for a whole-organisation approach - PDF (427Kb)

Collective responsibility

Leaders and managers are responsible for ensuring that the development plan is put into practice. A whole-organisation approach means that it is the collective responsibility of all staff and volunteers to implement the plan. It follows that everyone should be sure about what their contribution is. For example, the people who staff the switchboard or reception desk should know how to communicate with beginning English speakers, and where to direct them. A further implication is that all staff should understand how the development plan is monitored and be able to contribute towards evaluating its success and impact.

Managing staff

Many organisations experience difficulty in recruiting, training and retaining literacy, numeracy and language teachers. This is particularly a problem where funding levels are low or available only in the short term (or both). Nevertheless, Skills for Life learners should be entitled to the same quality of teaching that they would receive in the best colleges or local authorities.

Some organisations and groups in the voluntary and community sector have tackled the problem by looking further afield for solutions. Some small groups for example, have pooled their resources in recruiting one qualified teacher to work for them all. In several parts of the country, consortia or networks of voluntary and community sector organisations that have access to funding in their own right, have assumed the responsibility both for recruiting and training Skills for Life teachers. Member organisations can then tap into their services as the need arises.

The LSC Skills for Life Quality Initiative has developed a suite of organisational development materials. These are complemented by a distance learning module for leaders and managers of Skills for Life programmes.

Partnerships

Another way of obtaining the services of qualified teachers is by entering into partnership, with a college or a local authority for example.

Organisations funded by the LSC may be happy to work alongside the voluntary and community sector in return for including their service users or clients in their targets and in helping them to achieve the aims of their widening participation agenda. Both parties to such an arrangement can benefit if the working relationship is strong enough, and where each trusts the other’s motives.

In such arrangements, it is best to clarify the responsibilities, funding and management arrangements from the outset. Each partner should be clear about what to expect from the other. Colleges and local authorities should take responsibility for ensuring that the quality of teaching and resources that they provide to voluntary and community sector partners is at least of an equal standard to those they provide elsewhere.

In some instances it may be possible to second one or more members of a college’s or local authority’s staff to the voluntary and community sector. This has the merit of allowing the voluntary and community sector organisation to have a sense of ownership of, and control over, the partnership’s work. One organisation working with ESOL learners has entered into just such an agreement with the local college and has secured the services of a coordinator and ESOL teacher for two years. The project is considered to have been a success by all parties.

Updating skills

Teachers and learner supporters should be able to update their knowledge, skills and qualifications. Individual staff development needs should be identified and recorded during some kind of appraisal, either formal or informal. This should be accompanied by an audit of staff qualifications and skills and an evaluation of how these best meet the needs of learners. One national charity, for example, has an appraisal system that provides information for the staff training and Skills for Life planning groups.

This is then used as the basis for the staff training plan, which is further influenced by consultation with staff and volunteers and a review of the organisation’s performance and strategic priorities.

In another example, a small community group staffed by a coordinator, three part-time workers and four volunteers meets regularly to discuss staff development and training.

The staff scour websites and newsletters from national organisations, join local and regional networks and contact their local LSCs and learning partnerships for information on training opportunities. In the past, they have collaborated with other local groups in running training events.

In recent months, a local professional development centre has been established to act as a hub for training and staff development in the area, and has attracted interest from several voluntary and community sector groups.

Staff qualifications and training

The Skills for Life strategy has adopted a qualifications framework to accompany teaching and support staff roles at three different levels. The DfES has produced a user guide to the new qualifications framework, while NIACE has published a useful briefing sheet on the topic.

Training opportunities

Good sources or information about training opportunities and courses can be obtained from local LSCs, local Skills for Life Professional Development Centres and local colleges and higher education institutions. For more information on the subject-specific qualifications, contact Lifelong Learning UK (formerly FENTO).

Effective partnerships may be able to secure a range of staff development opportunities and to share responsibilities. For example, learner supporters may be able to complete unit 1 of the Level 2 qualification in the voluntary and community sector, while attending the local college to complete units 2 and 3. Again, where voluntary and community sector consortia or networks exist, they may be able to offer training that smaller organisations or groups might find it difficult to provide.

For example, Enable, a Nottinghamshire-based consortium, has been building the capacity of voluntary and community sector organisations to provide Skills for Life learning opportunities in the area. Its activities include:

• encouraging workers from the sector to undertake the Level 2 and 3 national qualifications
• providing other continuous professional development opportunities
• providing on-site consultancy to assist organisations to develop their Skills for Life provision
• providing training in identifying, screening and referring Skills for Life learners
• providing accredited Skills for Life awareness courses
• distributing initial assessment and screening tools
• establishing a network of community-based centres for the national test
• securing funding to expand voluntary and community sector basic skills provision via a ‘hub and spoke’ model, including delivering outcomes that count towards national and local targets.

Enable also acts as the accountable body for the Nottinghamshire Skills for Life Partnership. This is a partnership of key stakeholders and providers from the statutory, private and voluntary and community sectors.

Managing information

In the voluntary and community sector, data may be captured on a national database. Alternatively in a small community group it might be compiled and recorded on paper by a volunteer administrator. Whatever the scope of the task, and the nature of the method, data should be used to determine how well individual, group and service targets are being met. Records should include:

• the number of learners on each course (broken down by course type and location where appropriate)
• outcomes of initial assessment
• the achievement of learning goals, including accreditation
• retention rates, reasons for non-completion, and achievement
• length of stay for learners
• gender, ethnicity and age data
• reasons learners leave their course
• the number of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities
• the number of learners for whom English is an additional language
• learner destinations.

It should be possible for a manager at a local level, for example, to check how men’s achievement compares with that of women in the same group, or to track learners’ achievements over time. At a national or regional level, a manager might wish to compare how many learners are passing the national tests in literacy and numeracy in different areas.

The best practice in compiling accurate data and using it to monitor progress occurs when all staff understand its importance and the potential impact on learners. Whether the system used to collate data covers the whole country, or one small community group, it should be fit for purpose, that is, easy to understand and use. No system is infallible and all summative information should be checked regularly for accuracy.

Managing quality

An effective quality assurance system helps to ensure that high standards are maintained across an organisation. For Skills for Life provision, the quality assurance system should provide a measure of:

• the quality of teaching and learning
• the quality of resources
• the consistency and quality of assessment practices
• the consistency and quality of procedures used at all stages of the learning process.

There should be a system for observing teaching and feeding back to teachers.

The results of observations should also inform the staff development plan. All staff should understand why they are being observed and have confidence in the fairness and equity of the system and of those who are observing.

Ideally, they should contribute to the development of the quality assurance process within the organisation or group, and to regular evaluation of its effectiveness. Quality assurance for Skills for Life provision may sit within a broader approach to quality throughout the organisation.

One national charity has appointed a quality manager whose role is to oversee all aspects of the quality assurance process. This includes supervision of the teacher observation system and a thorough trial and review system for materials produced at either a local level or commissioned nationally.

At another charity, catering for deaf people, the Skills for Life coordinator has entered into an agreement with colleges in the London area to provide peer observation in an area where other observers may not possess specialist knowledge.

For smaller organisations or groups, or for those new to quality assurance, it may be worth considering the key aspects of the learner’s journey that can be verified, that is checked, evaluated and compared. These could include:

• records of initial assessment
• individual learning plans
• records of achievement
• standards of learners’ work at different levels
• assessment procedures
• progress reviews.

This work has at least two principal aims: checking the quality of what is actually done with the learner, and ensuring that practices are consistent across an organisation.

In a national organisation, this implies that learners should have similar entitlements to a good-quality service whether they are in Leeds or Bristol, for example.

In a smaller organisation or group, it may mean checking that learners have similar entitlements wherever and whenever they attend learning sessions, in some cases within the same group. At a local level this may be done by a teacher and a manager or co-worker jointly reviewing all the relevant paperwork and systems.

Self-assessment

Those organisations or groups receiving LSC funding, or who are subject to inspection, will be familiar with preparing self-assessment reports. But all organisations that offer Skills for Life provision will benefit from reviewing their work and evaluating their success.

Self-assessment should be based on an analysis of strengths, areas for improvement and progress against targets in achieving the priorities outlined in the development plan, and on the results of monitoring quality.

An annual self-assessment report gives the opportunity to evaluate what is well done, what needs to improve and to ensure that improvement is achieved. It will report on the effectiveness of the improvement strategies set out in each provider’s development/action plan, which will include evidence of how these are being implemented. For good providers this will already be a well-established practice.

Quality Improvement and Self-assessment (LSC, 2005)

The self-assessment checklist refers to the key actions that providers should undertake in order to complete their self-assessment. It provides guidance relating to what the implications are for Skills for Life managers, and references to relevant parts of this Guide.

SELF-ASSESSMENT CHECKLIST

Download the self-assessment checklist - PDF (1.42MB)

ACTIVITY SHEET ON SELF-ASSESSMENT

The activity sheet on self-assessment may also help you evaluate practice in your organisation. Those organisations that do not receive LSC funding may also find these of interest.

View activity sheet on self-assessment

Managing finances

All voluntary and community sector groups will have someone who is responsible for finance, whether this be a director of finance, the group manager or a worker who prepares reports for the management committee. This person should understand the methods and implications of funding Skills for Life provision.

Some organisations secure funding directly from the LSC, whereas others receive LSC funding as part of a subcontracting arrangement with a local college or training organisation.

Other sources of funding include European Social Fund (ESF) co-financing (the current round lasts until 2007) and local enterprise or development initiatives. Some local voluntary and community sector networks and consortia are able to pull down funding that they are able to use to support individual organisations or groups.

Details of potential funding sources can be found at the Read Write Plus website. Many organisations in the voluntary and community sector struggle to secure long-term funding for Skills for Life provision.

This has inevitable consequences for recruiting and retaining staff, and for maintaining and expanding work amongst those at risk of social exclusion. Some of the best and most innovative work in the sector has been funded through short-term initiatives.

Where there is no alternative, consider working on a financial exit strategy during the early stages of a bid for short-term funding. Invite well-connected people to be part of project steering groups.

Examine how economies of scale can be achieved in partnership, either with other similar organisations or with colleges or local authorities for example.

As members of partnerships, ensure that all parties are aware of their financial responsibilities and are clear about how funding should be allocated.

Accommodation

The voluntary and community sector is often successful in reaching socially excluded learners who may feel uncomfortable in formal learning environments.

This includes people with negative experiences of learning in the past who may be very tentative about engaging in any form of learning as adults.

These learners may feel welcomed by relaxed, informal settings which bear little resemblance to the school classrooms of their childhood.

Learning environments should be large enough to seat learners comfortably, and be clean, tidy, well-lit and accessible by those with disabilities. Where venues used for other purposes are used for Skills for Life sessions, it is important to ensure that the accommodation is of a suitable standard.

One housing association catering for vulnerable young people is, for example, able to provide state-of-the art learning centres, equipped with the latest computer technology and a full range of learning resources.

In another example, a community-based Skills for Life project shares its accommodation with several other community groups providing literacy, numeracy and language teaching and other learning opportunities. Each group contributes to financing, managing and resourcing a room in a community arts centre in the middle of a housing estate.

Whatever the level of funding, and wherever learning takes place, it should be possible to use wall space effectively, for example to display learners’ work. Materials and equipment should be accessible by learners as well as teachers. Learners should feel safe, secure and comfortable.

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