5B: What is 'success' in leadership and management?

Managing staff

Pat Gardner, the manager at Age Concern Training in Walsall told us, ‘I expect the best from my staff and I get it. People are so passionate about learning and Skills for Life. Your staff are your most valuable asset. Your priorities are your learners and your staff. I like to think we’re learner-led.’

All staff at Age Concern have annual performance and training appraisals, which identify training needs. These inform the staff development plan. There is also a national plan that trainers and teachers should work towards.

Skills for Life is a priority, and a considerable number of staff development opportunities are offered in the area. Locally staff from the Walsall centre access training at the BLEND Skills for Life Professional Development Centre.

Staff development

‘Staff development is a big thing for us. We are very keen on training and personal development,’ said Alison Goddard, chief executive of Lincolnshire Action Trust. The Trust, a small organisation working with offenders in the community, links with a local network of Skills for Life Professional Development Centres in providing relevant training opportunities. It also ensures that Skills for Life staff have access to training in aspects of the Probation Service’s work, in child protection issues and in risk-taking, for example.

Whole-organisation approach

Age Concern Training has the following mission statement:

‘To maximise the role of Age Concern, as providers of quality services which improve the quality of life for older people now and in the future.’

Pat Gardner has a very clear understanding of how this mission is related to Skills for Life provision. She told us: ‘We’re very committed to the Skills for Life agenda. The best way of improving someone’s quality of life when they’re older is to help them reach their full potential when they’re younger. We especially want to help people’s basic skills: by improving someone’s essential skills you’re helping someone reach their full potential.

‘Skills for Life is so important for our organisation – right from the top down. I lead the foundation area working group for the whole organisation. Trainers across the country share good practice in looking at the Skills for Life agenda. We’re always looking for continuous improvement.

‘Age Concern has a corporate plan, while Age Concern Training has a three-year corporate plan. In addition each centre has its own plan in which Skills for Life often plays a significant role.’

Focusing on Skills for Life

Alison Goddard, chief executive of the Lincolnshire Action Trust, expresses the Trust’s core business as: ‘To develop and deliver everything an offender needs to stop them re-offending and to support their rehabilitation.’

She adds: ‘For us, there is a very clear link to the Skills for Life agenda. For example, a key issue for most offenders is what they actually say in letters of disclosure that they need to prepare for employers. They need communication skills and writing skills to ensure they handle this in the best possible way.

‘We don't see Skills for Life as discrete provision – we see it as relevant to everything in the court order. If you improve their basic skills you’ll improve everything they do to meet that court order. An offender may need to work on their speaking and listening skills as part of an anger management programme, for example.’

The Trust ensures that all staff are aware of Skills for Life as an issue. Skills for Life features prominently on the agenda of bi-monthly staff meetings and all staff have attended basic skills awareness training. There are plans for information and advice workers to do the Level 2 learner supporter qualification in the near future.

The board of directors meets every three months and takes regular reports from the chief executive, including some on Skills for Life matters. Three of the directors work within the criminal justice system and take a very active interest in how offenders’ achievements in literacy or numeracy are affecting their progress in other aspects of their lives.

Quality assurance

‘If you’re going to introduce something you’ve got to go for quality – if you can’t deliver quality don’t do it.’ Pat Gardner told us that Age Concern Training has quality assurance procedures in place nationally for induction, assessment, recruitment and the whole learning process for individuals. A national quality manager is responsible for ensuring procedures are updated and used at grassroots level.

Every trainer and teacher can submit a ‘change note’ to the quality manager. Suggested improvements are then discussed at manager and user level. All external verification and audit reports are also sent to the quality manager.

At the programme development group leaders’ meeting, Skills for Life trainers regularly monitor progress against the organisation’s quality development plan. They also monitor the training, internal verification and development plans. Pat Gardner comments, ‘This encourages a sense of ownership – of collectively moving towards common goals. We’re moving the agenda forward and are sharing good practice.’

Teachers and trainers are observed twice annually. The reports are sent to the quality manager and discussed at management review board meetings. The board of directors reviews emerging trends, including the identification of good practice.

Learner forums are asked to evaluate the quality of learners’ experiences against the categories of the Common Inspection Framework. Pat Gardner again, on the importance of learner feedback: ‘You think you know, but you have to ask and take feedback on board. There are some real eye-openers sometimes.’ For example, any issues relating to equal opportunities are discussed and specific actions taken in response.

All learners, staff and employers (that is those offering work placements) are asked to complete questionnaires. These go to the quality manager for national collation. Any trends identified from this exercise inform the self-assessment review.

At Lincolnshire Action Trust there are regular ‘quality dips’ into paperwork and learners’ folders. A peer observation system is in place, while learners’ views are sought on a regular basis. An internal verification system enhances the organisation’s approach to monitoring quality.

Managing data

A database for management information and to monitor learners’ progress was developed internally by a member of the administrative staff in a Manchester-based group to support him in his efforts to track learners at the centre. This is now used throughout the organisation, with suggestions for improvement fed back to the originator.

The database tracks leavers, progression, achievement of milestones, learning goals and accreditation and other learner information. It also records notes of action taken to address any of these where there is a problem. Each trainer receives a weekly ‘occupancy sheet’ which provides a detailed breakdown of information on each learner by course.

The database is very helpful in identifying trends and in monitoring progress against national and local targets, for example in examining the relative achievement rates of men and women, or of people from different ethnic origins. Pat Gardner adds: ‘If learners from minority ethnic groups, for example, aren’t achieving then we look at what we need to do about this.’

Accurate analysis

At Lincolnshire Action Trust, detailed records are kept of attendance, retention, the results of assessments, achievement and progression. These are monitored carefully to ensure the service is as responsive to learners’ needs as possible. For example, in analysing the pass rates for the national tests, the Trust examines a number of factors that may be influencing either high or low pass rates. The results of this analysis inform its planning cycle.

Seasonal and geographical patterns may also affect recruitment and attendance. For example in Spalding and Skegness there is nearly full employment in the summer due to the availability of land-based work and the demands of the tourist industry respectively. There may be dispensations at the start of court orders to allow offenders to take up employment opportunities. Recruitment data is monitored so that more teachers can be moved to areas where there is greatest demand as employment and recruitment patterns change.

A systematic approach to resources

One national organisation has a systematic approach to developing learning materials. Training packs are developed in response to one or more experts identifying a need. Another expert verifies the quality of the materials and ensures all the organisation’s requirements are met, including those of awarding bodies. The materials are then piloted with feedback taken from both teachers and learners. Training packs include aims and objectives, session plans and a range of attractively produced learning materials. They are cross-referenced to the core curricula.

Teachers from another organisation develop learning materials in a similar way, usually in response to an individual’s needs or interests. These are then developed, quality-assured and used with other learners. Teachers adapt materials in such a way as to accommodate the needs of their learners. A consultation period lasting for about a year allows teachers and learners to comment on how inclusive they find the materials. The materials are produced to a very high quality with the aid of a professional illustrator.

Accommodation

 

The challenge for many organisations and groups is finding the right balance between making individuals feel welcome in comfortable, informal learning environments, and providing accommodation of a sufficiently high quality. Sometimes learning is in places that suit learners, for example their homes, churches, mosques or in women’s refuges.

The Patchwork Trust, in London, has established purpose-built, state-of-the art learning centres as one means of raising the self-esteem of homeless young people. There are comfortable and welcoming reception areas, giving access to learning centres equipped with the latest computer technology and a good range of Skills for Life and ICT learning materials.