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About Workforce Development
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Training costs money - in terms of time, loss of production, use of resources, wages, materials and bought in expertise. Whether it's on or off-the-job, if time, money and resources are not invested properly then the business and the individuals involved suffer. Wrongly targeted training or training for training's sake is an expensive and counter productive waste, especially for the smaller business. In order to add value to the organisation and provide proper development for individuals, training needs must be correctly identified through analysis and not guesswork. Investment in training and development is equally important as investment made in technology, machinery or premises.
The Workforce Development Toolkit is designed to help you to collect and analyse key business information in a usable and uncomplicated way and then to produce an effective workforce development action plan.
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A competence, for both an individual and an organisation is an observable skill, or ability to complete a particular task or function successfully, as well as the ability, and capacity to transfer skills and knowledge to new, possibly ambiguous situations. The most valuable property of a competence or set of competencies is the ability to measure them objectively against existing occupational standards, which have been constructed by their respective industries. In assessing the competencies of the business, three main factors need to be considered:
- resources available in the organisation
- competence with which the activities of the organisation are undertaken
- training required to increase the company's competence base
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There are six planning stages:
Stage 1 Gathering information
Stage 2 Collating and analysing the gathered information
Stage 3 Using the analysis to create a plan of action
Stage 4 Business consultation
Stage 5 Continuous review
Stage 6 Modify training and development activity to reflect changes in company goals or targets.
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Scope
Will the action plan be applied selectively to some, or to all departments and levels? Time-scale
Over what period of time will each element of the Toolkit be applied?
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Timescale
Over what period will each element of the Toolkit be applied?
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Budget
What financial ceiling will be placed on the training and development activity?
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Comparing individual performance, knowledge and understanding against a checklist of sector-specific competences. The resulting skills audit can then be compared against a list of existing benchmarked competencies that will be needed in order for the individual to work at the accepted standards for the sector. Personal development skills which impact on work skills can also be identified during the process.
The difference between what individuals are competent to do now and what they will need to be able to do and know in the future is known as the skills gap, or training need. Once the company's business goals have been identified and resulting skills gaps established, then focused training can be prioritised, action planned and carried out in a systematic and controlled fashion.
Using a competence-based system featuring skills checks will greatly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of skills acquisition.
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All individuals within an organisation have their own preferred method of learning. It is also possible to identify the preferred organisational learning style by examining:
- where the organisation is now and where it sees itself in the future
- underlying culture, perceptions, habits and attitudes
- existing management and occupational competencies
- existing management style
- existing administration competencies
- occupational skills, behavioural skills, knowledge and understanding
- previous training history - results/feedback
- existing technology
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The main sections of a Workforce Development Pklan will include:
- BusinessObjectives
- Training and Development
- Resources
- KeyActions
- Who/ When
- Outcome
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