Workforce Development and Capacity Building Project, Kent and Medway
This project aims to join up demand and share knowledge of training and development activities across all 14 Councils in Kent and Medway. We hope that this approach will yield increased benefits and reduced costs.
What did we set out to achieve?
- Develop new skills and enhance present skills;
- Identify shortages in knowledge and training and offer solutions;
- Establish a virtual training academy to provide a portal for universal training needs;
- Develop a workforce plan for Kent.
What have we achieved so far?
- The i-share training and development website launched successfully on 1 June 2009. 14 Councils in Kent are now using the site for online bookings across boundaries.
- The roll out of the programme has begun to include F&R, Police and Health – evidence of successful joint working.
- Pan Kent Conference held to highlight the work of the project and to launch i-share;
- On-line community aspect of i-share launched – providing a forum for sharing policies, procedures, networking with colleagues across Kent;
- Planners Training Pilot – skills gap identified in planning, training needs analysis completed and provider sourced. Courses to begin in September, booked via i-share;
- Integrated Workforce Planning – following a Kent wide survey, 5 immediate priorities identified and work streams established to promote joint working.
- Skills development – bridging skills gaps;
- Increased capacity and performance – efficiency savings;
- A workforce plan for Kent and Medway – enhanced communication;
- Joint training activities across Kent – economies of scale, consistency of training.
How can your council benefit?
The next step is to ensure all councils in Kent and Medway are committed to the success of the i-share website – and that it becomes the first port of call for training and development activity in Kent.
We are beginning to develop phase 2 of i–share, which involves secondment and mentoring opportunities, document sharing and e-learning. We will be promoting the site to partners and rolling it out to other regions, and an end goal of involving all councils and authorities to collaborate on an integrated workforce plan for Kent.
This integrated approach will yield benefits and efficiency savings as well as enhanced communication and consistency in training throughout the region. To get your council involved, please contact us.