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CHAPTER 9: TRAINING OF STAFF
Introduction
9.1 Training of staff was highlighted through our consultation as being an area for the Government to focus on. This was both in terms of encouraging training and development across all grades and providing specific training on equal opportunities for staff.
9.2 Offering training and development across the grades is vital in providing people with the opportunity and skills to develop and progress within the organisation. It is also important that people understand equality issues and their legal obligations in order to properly implement the public sector equality duties for race, disability and gender.
9.3 As part of our work to implement the three public sector equality duties and in preparation for developing our disability and gender equality schemes, we undertook a programme of briefing sessions on the public sector duties and equality impact assessments across the then Departments.
What we said we would do
(Also see chapter 7 on transgender equality)
9.4 To build upon the staff briefing sessions we set out our intention to undertake a further programme of equality and diversity training as part of our corporate learning services, which will include transgender issues.
9.5 We also committed to offer staff further specialised training on transgender equality.
What we've done
9.6 Two new one day diversity awareness events have been developed and are now available to staff. One event is targeted at senior managers; the other is available for all staff. Both events cover various workplace issues including gender, flexible working, domestic abuse, relevant equality legislation and transgender issues in the workplace. Participating in the new courses can allow staff to meet their personal diversity objective, which is now included in our new performance management system and which will be compulsory from April 2008.
9.7 To highlight further the training opportunities available, we have also published a range of diversity training options on our intranet pages and are currently developing a range of guidance materials for managers, including advice on managing those working flexible patterns.
9.8 These options include e-learning activities at our Corporate Learning Centres and programmes on Saltire TV. These learning options are flexible enabling staff to use them at a time and place that suits them best. The options include open learning packages on maternity and paternity laws, communication skills for women, Equal opportunities law and women's development workbooks.
9.9 In addition:
- we are offering staff specific training on transgender equality, further details are provided in chapter 7, transgender equality - making progress;
- our Equalities Research Team ran a series of training events in February 2008 for analysts (Researchers, Economists and Statisticians) to help them understand and support policy colleagues to undertake the equality impact assessment process;
- to support colleagues to consider equality throughout the policy development process and to highlight the requirements of the public sector equality duties to assess the impact of our policies on women and men, the Equality Unit has worked with Corporate Learning Services to embed these issues into our Better Policy Making Course;
- we set up a senior women's network to allow our senior women the opportunity to network and help the organisation understand and address issues for women working, developing and progressing in the organisation;
- we have set up various mentoring schemes for different staff groups including senior women, LGBT staff and minority ethnic staff;
- various courses on our corporate learning programme are now run on a part-time basis to allow staff on flexible work hours the opportunity to attend including our managements courses;
- we will be running 2 training opportunities for staff using a theatre group which will give staff the opportunity to look at and explore gender based bullying and LGBT bullying in the workplace.
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