Public Sector

This week the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reported that the main reason for workers changing their employer was due the need for higher wages and better benefits. This is compared to the same poll last year in which job satisfaction was the key reason for workers wanting to change employers.
So what has changed? Employees are finding that pay freezes implemented during the darkest days of the recession are now meaning that they are struggling to keep up with inflation and thus looking for work elsewhere, and those who are unable to find work elsewhere are reporting greater levels of stress at work and are feeling less satisfied with their jobs.
Therefore surely it must be in the interest of employers to support their employees by ensuring they have the life skills needed to deal with the issues surrounding their work life? Perhaps by giving managers the training, tools and coaching needed to understand and aid not just themselves but all workers within an organization they would find increased levels of job satisfaction and levels of work related stress reduced which in turn would surely increase motivation and productivity?
It would be interesting to hear other peoples thoughts on this issue.

Following the cuts, the job-losses and the pay-freezes the public sector is faced with having to continue to provide the same service, with considerably less to offer its staff. However there are things the public sector can do in order to keep their staff motivated and better prepared to handle what lies ahead: Training. A few companies have been putting their heads together to offer the best possible solution, here’s what we’ve come up with:

“Training is expensive and time-consuming, it takes people away from their desks and is difficult to fit round busy schedules.” There must be a better way!

So here’s our list of what you might want to look for when choosing how to spend your training budget:

1. Collaborative companies (several companies working together): these work well because they can often reduce costs by condensing their admin and preparation to a core team
2. Choice: do you want every member of staff trained in the same way at the same time? Probably not, so check whether they can structure the training around what your staff have already received.
3. A set fee: Have you ever heard the old “all fees included” and discovered that there are plenty of fees NOT included? So check exactly what you get for your money
4. Certification: What do your staff get out of the training? Is it just a piece of paper or a valuable skill?
5. Cheap… well yes, obviously! Shop around, ask for recommendations, consider new providers.

To see how we can help further please click here