The Scottish Government

« Previous | Contents | Next »

Listen

NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOCIAL SERVICE WORKFORCE IN SCOTLAND 2005 - 2010: A PLAN FOR ACTION

Chapter 3: Effective Workforce Development

3.1 The vision of a competent, confident and valued workforce delivering high quality person centred services is rightly ambitious. Stakeholders will need to put in place, if not already available, a range of structures and processes to support the development of the workforce we need now and for the future.

The Role of the Organisation - A Learning Culture

The Role of Human Resources Services

3.15 Managers alone cannot be expected to take sole responsibility for creating the learning organisation. Service provider's human resources function has an important enabling role in establishing the full range of policies and procedures required to foster the development of a positive environment for learning.

3.16 At the most elementary level, an organisation's HR policies must enable the provision of learning and development opportunities for all staff, whether these opportunities are provided directly by the employing organisation or outsourced to specialist providers. These policies should also identify the organisation's role in supporting the acquisition of qualifications required for workforce registration with the SSSC and other regulatory bodies recognised by the SSSC.

3.17 Staff supervision is a common feature of most social services organisations and can be the foundation upon which the learning organisation is built. Organisations' policies for staff supervision should emphasise the need to balance the three core aspects of supervision: performance management; staff support/staff care; staff development. Line managers need to be trained and supported to provide supervision and HR should be expected to provide the manager and staff member with the necessary tools to support this function and which enable them to record their activities and plans for development.

3.18 Staff appraisal systems are increasingly common in public services and again the HR functions of the organisation can contribute to the development of the learning organisation through developing appraisal systems which put staff development at the core of the process. This can be achieved through the inclusion of expectations that employees and their line managers not only evaluate past performance, but undertake staff development reviews or produce personal learning plans to enhance future performance.

Individual Responsibility for Learning and Developme nt

3.19 It is easy to lose sight of the individual and their responsibility for their own learning and development. This is crucial both to underpin sustainable improvements in services and for the development of the social service workforce as a whole. The Codes of Practice for social service employees reinforce the need for individuals to take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills.

"As a social service worker you must be accountable for the quality of your work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving your knowledge and skills."

3.20 More specifically, the Code states that workers must undertake

"… relevant training to maintain and improve your knowledge and skills and [contribute] to the learning and development of others."

3.21 In practice, this means that social service workers should also be expected to take responsibility for reviewing their own practice and identifying their development needs on a regular basis. This can be supported by making effective use of supervision, as well as contributing to the organisation's systems for appraisal and staff development.

3.22 However, given the financial realities faced across the sector and the competing priorities for learning and development, it will also mean staff investing some of their own time and finance, in their own learning.

(a) Induction: A structured and standardised process for introducing staff to the organisation (or in the case of many care staff, to the sector), is the first key feature of the learning organisation. However, at present, individual experiences of induction are highly variable. At best, employers provide a structured programme of activities, training and information giving which orientates the employee to the organisational policies and procedures; provides initial preparation for the work role and begins the process of identifying learning needs or the process of embarking on the core (or additional) qualifications they require for their job. At worst, new staff are provided with information on policies and procedures, allocated a workload and embark on the tasks of their job.

Elsewhere in the UK, employers are successfully using the Topss Induction Standards, or frameworks derived from these standards, to standardise approaches to staff induction. In order to assist employers in establishing standardised, structured approaches to induction, the SSSC, in collaboration with employers and other stakeholders, will develop a national induction framework for all social services staff in Scotland by April 2006.

(b) Core social services qualification provision: Organisations have a range of responsibilities in relation to the provision of qualifications for social services staff, linked to the qualification requirements for registration with the SSSC and with other regulators recognised for employment in this sector.

In the Code of Practice for Employers of Social Service Workers, employers are charged with " Contributing to the provision of social service and social work education and training". For care staff, many employers have put in place the structures and processes required to enable staff to gain SVQs and HNC relevant to their job roles. This requirement also implies an active commitment by employers to the provision and support of practice learning opportunities for a range of staff not just social workers and the involvement of operational staff in the delivery of practice learning. The expectation is that employers contribute positively to the work of the Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education and SSSC Practice Learning Project.

Recognising Achievement

3.28 One of the most frequently reported frustrations expressed by learners (and their employers) is that learners find it difficult to obtain recognition for prior learning and therefore find themselves undertaking new qualifications or awards and having to repeat areas of learning they have covered previously.

3.29 Implementation of all aspects of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF - see Chapter 4 for more detail) will assist in enabling learners to transfer credit from programme to programme and to gain credit for informal or work based learning. It provides an exciting opportunity for the sector, and for individuals, to demonstrate and gain recognition for knowledge and skills they already have and has huge benefits for the individual as well as employers.

3.30 The realisation of this intent for the sector will require Scotland's Colleges of Further and Higher Education as well as Universities and other training providers to put the SCQF into operation. Therefore, to fully realise our vision for the development of a confident and competent social services workforce in Scotland, it is essential that we agree and establish for the sector:

• national arrangements for articulation between qualifications
• national mechanisms to allow learners to gain credit for the learning they have done
• recognition by other institutions of these qualifications and credit when they begin further study or learning

3.31 For the social service workforce, it is important that we make effective use of the SCQF guidelines on Recognising Prior Learning (RPL) once available to integrate formal and informal workplace learning. This will enable the most efficient use of resources for learning and development and maximise the opportunities for credit accumulation and transfer for social service workers. RPL forms a core part of the SSSC's workplan for implementing the SCQF in Scotland. This workplan covers the need to:

• map the existing range of qualifications onto the framework
• identify gaps in the framework
• enable the recognition of work-based learning, experiential learning and informal learning
• develop opportunities for credit transfer and clarify routes for access, progression and exit
• develop links between related professions and sectors and incorporate European and international developments

Effective Methods of Delivery

3.32 In today's economic context, we must consider ways in which the delivery of learning and development can be organised in order to make more efficient use of existing resources (such as Universities and Scotland's college sector) and resolve some of the difficulties faced by employers in enabling access to learning for their staff.

3.33 In a climate of restricted financial resources and where relief staff may be more difficult to recruit, it is clear that steps must be taken to reduce replacement costs. This can be achieved through:

• greater flexibility of training provision
• an expansion of learning and development opportunities
• the creation of flexible learning through maximising use of information and communication technologies

3.34 Currently the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education's (SIESWE) project Stòr Cùram is developing online learning resources for the new Social Work degree. In order to begin to address some of the delivery issues, the remit of this project should be expanded to develop resources relevant to the rest of the social service workforce. In addition the work of the Colleges Open Learning Exchange Group (COLEG) should be fully utilised in providing enhanced sharing of distance learning resources.

3.35 The intention to extend the role of the proposed Learning Centres as part of the Scottish Practice Learning Project will play an active role in addressing the issues above. Learning Centres will act as hubs for resources and personnel to assist with learning and development in organisations.

3.36 Finally, employers, Universities and the college sector along with other training providers must work in partnership to enable the integration of formal and informal learning (e.g. in-service provision; action learning; in-house "support" groups etc.). However, as described earlier, meaningful integration of formal and informal learning is dependent on the recognition of achievement not directly linked to formal learning as a means of gaining credit towards formal learning.

Audit and Planning

3.37 There is a need to make clear links between workforce development and service planning. This is crucial for organisations if they are to be able to respond positively to the changing demands being made of them. In addition such plans will enable organisations to be on the front foot when looking at the numbers of staff required as well as what kinds of skills, knowledge and training they will require. Such an approach also ensures that organisations own resources are focused appropriately and on the key priorities. It is essential that organisations audit the staff development needs of their workforce which address the key priorities identified in this strategy in particular against policies on integrated services and use the outcomes of these audits to develop learning and development plans for their organisation.

3.38 Situated within a wider workforce development plan which includes recruitment and retention strategies, succession planning including for management levels and projected service demand profiles, learning and development plans will be central to ensuring that organisations are equipped with the workforce they need for the future.

3.39 These developments, once fully realised will provide a robust framework in which effective workforce development can take place. The actions identified set challenging but achievable targets for a range of stakeholders to take forward the vision of a competent, confident and valued workforce.

« Previous | Contents | Next »