WELCOME TO FOOD FOR THOUGHT: The blog that offers ideas for inspirational leadership & recipes for the food to fuel it… Food & Leadership, two things we all have experience of whether our preference is to cook or wash up, lead or support.
Grow Your Own
Over these past few weeks, I have facilitated a range of training & development activities with staff teams, management & service users. So the concept of “growing your own” staff has been on my mind. For some people, academic study is the right journey for their professional & personal development. For others, vocational (or work based) training is a more appropriate option for their learning style or financial situation. In the social care sector – people are often employed without formal qualifications.
Your staff are your organisations most valuable asset.
Val·u·a·ble – some definitions.
- Having considerable monetary worth; costing or bringing a high price.
- Having qualities worthy of respect, admiration, or esteem.
- Of considerable use, service, or importance.
Not all gardens need to be huge, professionally landscaped & full of expensive tropical blooms. Not all training needs to be provided through costly external facilitation. There are many ways to support peer learning. Identify the strengths your team has. Provide opportunities for observation – particularly for new staff & those who frequently lone work. Ensure there is time for handover between shifts or if this is not possible, record audio or video handovers. Use technology. Start on-line learning & discussion forums. Use Skype to enable meetings with teams from other areas. Make your organisation a safe place to learn. Encourage sharing of what has worked well & what has not worked so well in team meetings. Encourage staff to facilitate sessions at staff days. Measure outcomes so that you know whether your organisation is making a difference.
Sometimes you do need to bring in external expertise. When this is the case – choose your facilitator & training courses carefully. Get as much staff input as possible. Meet with (or at the very least talk to) the facilitator prior to booking the training & let them know what your needs are. Help them to make sure that the content is appropriate. Remember to consider organisational values or culture & whether this is something you are seeking to maintain or whether you are using training as part of a process of change. Think about how you will support staff to make those changes & implement the knowledge gained in their practice. If you are a small organisation for whom bringing in external facilitators is a struggle financially – partner with other organisations. Not only to share the costs, but to learn from each other too.
You know that you need the right environment, regular water, good soil & occasional pruning if you want your flowers or veggies to thrive. Organisations need to take the same care with staff.
I speak from experience. As an enthusiastic 22-year old I was employed as a Help Desk Assistant in a UK Youth Support Service. My role was to provide information & signposting. My goal was to progress to working with a caseload of young people in need of one-to one support. I had no relevant qualifications but I had well-developed people skills, appropriate personal values & a great desire to learn. I found my initiative, drive & desire to develop was supported & rewarded.
The organisation had an intensive programme of training for those who came to them with the right skills but without a relevant qualification. There was an on-going programme of training bought from external providers covering relevant underpinning theories, models & current practice, that all staff were expected to access. It also included a 3 month practice development process: one month of observing experienced workers; one month of working with clients while being observed & supported by experienced workers & in the final month, a requirement to achieve the stringent minimum practice standards adhered to by the organisation in three formally observed client support sessions (assessed by my line manager). Peer observation was encouraged as an on-going development process. The organisation supported potentially vulnerable young people & recognised the importance of quality training to ensure empowering, person centred, safe practice & avoid risk averse or institutionalising approaches.
Five years on, I commenced my first management role, in a large London based Youth Homelessness Organisation. Once again I was fortunate enough to have internal & external training around both the nuts & bolts of management (from writing enticing job adverts to developing & managing budgets) & leadership practice & theory. In both organisations, development was reinforced by effective, regular, structured supervision & appraisal.
However, I find that my story is disappointingly rare in the social care & NGO sectors. Staff that support our most vulnerable people & respond to our most pressing societal issues are frequently doing so with the most basic of training. Managers of such services are often individuals who have been promoted internally because they were great at their previous job, with minimal support given to enable them to develop into effective, confident leaders. This can result in staff at all levels feeling undervalued, under-skilled & disengaged. But we can change this story. Yes – training can be expensive & time consuming. However, this is nothing compared to the costs, risks & stresses associated with managing poor practice, low motivation, service user complaints & high staff turnover. Training your staff can also help your organisation to stand out in an increasingly competitive funding environment.
Of course, professional development is also the responsibility of the individual. So if you do not feel you are being developed, as you should be – speak out. Seek opportunities. Attend conferences & forums – many are low cost or even free. Seek peer review. Suggest ways that you can learn from your colleagues &/or partner organisations. Offer your knowledge & experience – developing others develops you too. Turn your head to the sun, stretch your roots, find the fertile soil you need & enable others to take cuttings from your strongest blooms.
Even the smallest gardens can be tended & nurtured. In this & my last home, I managed time & space restraints with window boxes & baskets. It took a little creativity – but in London I really enjoyed eating my balcony grown cherry tomatoes, herbs, baby courgettes, chillies & micro greens. I could taste the love & hard work I put into them. The recipe below is so simple; it is one that I have tweaked from Nigella Lawsons Express book. It was something I could make from what I grew (& for a fraction of the cost of buying them in the supermarket, although you do need to plan to make them in advance). I hope I have as much success on my windy Wellington deck.
Sun Dried Herby Tomatoes
- 500g cherry tomatoes from the garden (or other baby tomatoes)
- 1 to 1.5 Tsp salt
- A good sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper
- 0.25 Tbsp white sugar
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- A small handful of roughly chopped fresh herbs, suitable for roasting – thyme (any variety – use a mix if you have more than one), rosemary, sage, marjoram & oregano all work well. (You can substitute this with a tablespoon of dried mixed herbs)
- Preheat the oven to 220°C/gas mark 7/450ºF
- Cut the tomatoes in half & sit them cut side up in an ovenproof dish.
- Sprinkle with the salt, sugar, herbs, black pepper & olive oil.
- Put them in the oven, & immediately turn it off.
- Leave the tomatoes in the oven overnight (or for 6-8 hours) without opening the door
Tips & Tweaks
- Great as a side dish
- Fabulous as a topping for fish or meat
- Lush stirred through pasta or cous cous
- Yummy on Pizzas
- Spread them on crusty bread. Nyom.
- Add some dried chilli flakes to the herbs if you like things spicy
