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Chapter Four: Achieving Our Key Themes

Engaging the Team

During 2002/03 we invested £715,950 in training and developing staff. This represents an increase of 5.2% on the 2001/02 investment and is equivalent to 3.5% of the overall pay bill. However, the target of delivering 3,000 training days in 2002/03 was not met. The actual figure was 2,705, although this does not count informal training at local level. During the year there was a significant increase in the volume of technical training in court procedures.

Leadership Development Programme

The Agency's Leadership Development Programme was launched in November 2002. The programme is designed to improve the capability of current Agency senior managers and also to foster leadership skills among those managers who have been identified as potential future leaders of the organisation.

During the year the senior managers on the programme undertook 360º assessment of their capability against the Agency's Senior Management Competency Framework and developed a tailored learning programme to help improve their performance. Those managers on the Executive Programme conducted a similar exercise. Coaching and support is available from Eglinton Management Centre. The Agency also provides a number of leadership development modules that can be attended by all senior managers in the organisation. The introduction of the programme is supporting the introduction of the Agency's new senior management structure.

First Line Management Development Programme

During the last reporting year 42 Executive Officers (EOs) took part in this programme. The programme consists of a series of interactive workshops and provides information specifically designed for the first time manager. This includes team working, focusing on getting the task done, influencing and dealing with people, work-life balance, what to do when staff are not performing and motivating staff. The feedback from these workshops is consistently positive but in line with our efforts to constantly improve we will be evaluating this course in the next few months with a view to adding some of the more recent management tools such as QUIP and Charter Mark.

Assessment Centres and Identifying Potential

During January and February 2003 the Agency ran its first internal Assessment Centre to consider staff for promotion to the grade of Higher Executive Officer (HEO). This pilot exercise, run with the support of the Trade Union Side, allowed a number of staff to undertake exercises and simulations, which were regarded as relevant to the day-to-day work of the HEO grade. Those staff who attended the Assessment Centre viewed it as a very different and demanding test of their abilities. It has been agreed to extend this pilot for a further 2 years in order that it can be properly evaluated.