At Hft, we believe in supporting our colleagues to develop within their roles and progress in their careers. We combine a range of training programmes and work based learning experiences to enable all our staff teams to develop their skills.
But we wanted to go further… So we introduced a new career development programme to support our staff teams in operations to see what their career development could look like. The Hft Operations Development Pathway was launched in June 2017. These year-long development programmes provide learning opportunities for employees wanting to move forward in their career at Hft. We support individuals to build their skills and experience so that they are ready to take a step up when the time comes.
The development programmes focus on building employees skills around leading staff and ultimately promoting positive outcomes for the people we support. And since its launch, 64 colleagues have signed up to take part in the development programme.
We spoke to three colleagues who shared how their participation in the development programmes has supported them to take the next step in their careers at Hft:
Grace, based at our Kent South service, was able to take the next step by becoming a Senior Support Worker.
“Completing the Hft development programme was really useful to me. The knowledge I gained was essential for my future role in becoming a Senior Support Worker.
“Going to different locations within Hft to complete training gave me a much broader horizon into different aspects of the job role itself. Since completing the programme, I have been successful in my application for a role as a Senior Support Worker. With the knowledge that I learnt from participating in the programme, I was able to complete my induction training on the Knowledge Centre in complete confidence! I also regularly use my training to assist me in my day-to-day role. Without the opportunities the development pathway offers, I may not be where I am today in my career within Hft.”
David, who works at our Devon service, is now a Registered Cluster Manager. He participated in the Senior Support Worker to Registered Cluster Manager development programme.
“Within three months of starting the programme, I began a new role as acting Registered Cluster Manager after which time I interviewed and was offered the job on a permanent basis. I would not have had this opportunity without the additional training that came with the development programme. The skills I learnt when working through the course also helped me in my CQC registration interview that followed. The programme enabled me to develop my skills while working, meaning that there was not a lot of additional work to do on top of my regular responsibilities.”
The programme also supported James, based at our Lancashire service, to become an Operations Manager.
“I completed the Registered Cluster Manager to Operations Manager pathway, and am currently working on the pathway to become a Regional Manager. Both programmes have supported me in gaining the knowledge and experience to comfortably move into the next role.
“I find great value in these programmes, not only for myself but for my teams in Lancashire. I currently have a number of people working towards pathways at differing levels and I fully believe that these programmes will help me to make sure a clear internal succession plan is in place. The colleagues working towards these will be our future leaders and managers who are able to ‘hit the ground running’ when a promotion opportunity becomes available.”
