Transcript Document

National Training Survey 2009
Presentation to 13th Annual Conference of
Water Services Training Group
White’s Hotel, Wexford
10th September 2009
Presentation made by John Conway
Training & Development Executive with LGMSB
Aim of today’s presentation
Provide delegates with the following answers;
 Why was this National Training Survey
conducted?
 How was it conducted?
 What questions did the survey ask?
 What were the findings for the water services
sections of local authorities?
 What use will this information be?
Meeting the Challenges of the
Changed Economic Environment
Annual Conference September 2009
What is the LGMSB?
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The Local Government Management Services Board
(LGMSB) was established in 1997 to be a centre of
excellence in the provision of management services, HR
and IR support & advice to local authorities.
One of key goals of the HR division is to provide guidance, advice
and support to local authorities on how to effectively address the
training & development needs of their employees.
National T&D steering committee established to guide and direct
work of LGMSB and to ensure a level of coordination with other bodies (e,g.) national training group
and RTCs, by means of joint committee membership.
LGMSB is currently merging with the LGCSB to form the
Local Government Management Agency (LGMA)
Training Survey or TNA?
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Survey covering more than TNA. Not a detailed
TNA of each grade/staff position.
Training survey designed to identify issues and
approaches to training across the local
government sector as well as identifying what
training is specifically required by what sections of
staff in each business unit.
Survey designed to provide greater linkage
between training needs of staff and business
objectives. Assumptions being that in current
economic climate (i) training budget will be cut;
and (ii) business need will be prioritised over
career development by employing local authorities
Objective of conducting survey
This National Training Survey is intended to assist the National
Training & Development Steering Committee and the LGMSB in achieving
the following objectives:
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To identify the current and future staff training and development requirements of
local authorities as measured against the business priorities of the sector;
To determine the impact of budgetary constraints on current and future delivery of
staff Training and Development activities;
To identify the current gaps in the skills, knowledge and behaviours of local
authority staff that are being identified through the PDP portion of the PMDS
process;
To determine the extent to which various training interventions are being
employed by local authorities in order to deliver targeted and value for money staff
Training & Development; and
To identify the extent to which barriers exist within local authority structures that
impact upon the take up of staff training & development
Structure/content of survey
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Comprised of 6 sections
 Section 1 for completion by business units
 Section 2 for completion by SMT
 Sections 3 – 6 were completed by TOs
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3 : impact of budgetary constraints on staff T&D
4 : skills gaps identified through PDPs
5 : training interventions in use within LAs
6 : barriers to training
Questions for business units
Training priorities for business units for
2009 – 2010 based on identified
business plan objective and pressing
business issues
 Business units were asked to estimate
the numbers of staff needing this training
 Identify what impact the likely budgetary
constraints will have on the manpower
requirements of the business unit
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Questions for SMTs
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Rank the overall priorities for staff T&D for the
next 2-3 years.
 Identify cross functional training needs (if any)
 Identify what impact the likely budgetary
constraints will have on the provision of staff
T&D.
 What approach will the local authority be
taking to the provision of educational
assistance in the coming years?
Questions for Training Officers
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What training needs for specific staff grades
are the PDP’s identifying?
 How linked are training needs identified
through the PDP’s to the business plan/team
plans of each business unit?
 What type of training interventions are
employed in your local authority?
 What organisational barriers (if any) are faced
by staff wishing to attend training and/or
development opportunities
Timeframe for survey completion
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Letter issued (April 09) to all CCM’s on how the survey was to be
conducted.
Survey was distributed to all Training Officers (April 09)
Business units completed and returned section 1 survey forms to
the Training Officers
Training Officers collated the information and made return to
LGMSB using online survey form. (May/June 09)
LGMSB collated all 34 survey responses
IPA engaged to do analysis of result findings and to draft report
First draft of report is to be presented to the National Training &
Development Steering Committee on16th September
National Training & Development Steering Committee to work
with IPA and make recommendations on staff Training &
Development arising from report
Recommendations and report to be issued to County & City
Managers and Training Officers before completion of estimates
process
Response rate to date
Big thank you to all SMTs, staff in
business units and Training Officers for
all the hard work put in!
 34 responses received
 30 returned with all sections completed +
4 partially completed
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Results – Water Services
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15 out of a possible 34 local authorities
supplied a response for water services (44%
response rate)
 The 15 submissions received were made up of
13 distinct water services sections identified as
individual business units and 2 sections
grouped together with transportation as
infrastructure business units
Business issues highlighted by
Water Service units
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The business issues highlighted by the Water
Service Units can be grouped together under 6
main headings (see table 1)
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Water services legislation
Ensuring and maintenance of water quality
Treatment of waste water
Water supply conservation including leak detection
Funding for capital programmes including water
services investment programme
Water pricing and water metering
Training needs associated with business issues – General
Themes from Responses
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72% of responses indicate that water services staff will require
further training to deliver on all or some of the identified business
issues and cover for staff shortages
13% of the water service units that completed the survey indicated
that they felt no additional skills training was required to carry out
existing services
Ongoing budgetary constraints and the general economic climate
and the impact they are or will have on the delivery of quality
water services to the public are a cause of major concerns for
20% of those sections that completed the survey return
Staff training will be needed in most current work activities as local
authorities shift from project management of external consultants
to direct provision of services with in-house staff. Staff will assume
new responsibilities
Training requirements will depend upon the existing skills of staff
assigned to projects or assigned new responsibilities. Some may
not need training, others will.
Staffing issues which will require
some upskilling of remaining staff
20% of those that completed the survey
indicated that the loss of experienced
staff will be an ongoing issue as well as
a potential public health risk.
 Potential shortfall in resources necessary
to meet statutory obligations (e.g.)
monitoring.
 Increased public demands.
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Training Needs
- specifics (refer to table 2)
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L & D opportunities aimed at improving knowledge and understanding of
existing and likely water services legislation as well as enforcement and
obligatory issues can be identified as the main priority. Need is across
all grades within water services sections. Numbers needing training are
nearly twice as many as any other need.
 Training in the management and operation of water and waste water
treatment plants is a need that extends right across from admin,
engineering/technical and operational staff.
 Specialised technical training for engineering/technical and operational
staff. Lots of examples were given without any being clearly identified as
being a high need across all local authorities. The main ones identified
were technical skills in relation to SCADA, water conservation training, IT
training in specific software packages, etc.
 Health & Safety is identified as the third largest single need. However
this training is mainly generic Health & Safety training and not specific to
water services per se.
Next Steps – Reporting & Recommendations
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Report findings to be considered by National Training & Development
Steering Committee. Final draft report including recommendations to be
published before end of estimates process
Report will include chapter on the various business units that submitted
sufficient completed section 1s
As with the other business units the Water services chapter will include
final, conclusions, identify priorities and make recommendations as to
how the training needs can be addressed for those sections
As well as distribution to individual local authorities report will be
distributed to all relevant bodies and committees (ie) CCMA, National
Training Group and committees, RTCs, etc.,
Recommendations and prioritisations contained in the report will assist
individual local authorities when it comes to prioritising their own training
needs and allocating resources accordingly over the coming year (s)
Provide steer for LGMSB regarding sectoral needs.
Questions?
Contact:
John Conway
Training & Development Executive
LGMA
Email:[email protected]
Telephone No. (01) 6438400