MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Staff development
down to practical things about how you allocate working in
teams, for example. (Interviewee O)
Staff development
Development reviewing, as its name suggests, involves assessing
needs for staff development. One manager has already referred to
drawing up training schedules as part of the process, as one unit’s
training plan outlines:-
This draft training plan is prepared in accordance with the
section's Training Policy and the outcome of development
reviews during which the Business and Environment operational
plan for this year was discussed. (UNISON Business and
Environment Training Plan 2002)
In the East Midlands region, IIP assessment confirmed that:-
Top management can describe strategies that they have put in
place to support the development of people in order to improve
the organisation's performance. There is strong evidence of
senior management commitment to a strategic approach to staff
development. I was able to confirm through interviews that the
Regional Secretary and the heads of areas demonstrate a high
level of involvement and interest in planning learning to improve
the Region's performance and to develop the staff. Recent
priorities relate to management development, developing skills
for the wider role of the union, such as presentation and
handling the media, developing teams following the restructuring
into areas and ongoing events linked to 'WOW' - or winning the
organised workforce, the Unison initiative to increase
membership. (UNISON East Midlands IIP Assessment May
2001)
A senior manager explains the strategy for management development,
which was mentioned by several managers:-
We have embarked upon IIP which started before you left, we
are really pushing that very hard and it is compulsory for
managers at all levels to go on management development
courses. I think we have completed just about the first tranche of
development, the SMG has been and they are having another
two or three days later this year and there is induction training
for managers now so we have tried to instil, you know, that
people starting believe that they are managers with having
regular managers meetings (Interviewee E)
And one manager explains how it works in her management practice:-
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