In a collaborative approach, all 15 members of West Sussex Council’s (WSCC) waste team took part in a CIWM bespoke training plan, including the head of commercial services, the communications team and contract team.
The aim was to help the team understand the wider impact of their roles, further increase industry knowledge, and be up to date with current ‘hot topics’ affecting the waste and resource sector. Other drivers were to provide personal development, increase confidence and to highlight other roles in the sector for career progression.
WSCC were keen not to have an ‘off the shelf’ course, rather an approach that incorporated exactly what the organisation wanted, in the way they felt employees would best learn. CIWM were chosen for the quality and relevance of our courses, our flexible approach and our ability to craft a bespoke programme, perfectly tailored to WSCC’s requirements.
“As a Chartered member of the CIWM, I was aware of the quality, relevance and the appropriate level of the available CIWM training courses and modules. The CIWM team were also flexible in their approach and facilitated all training to be carried out at our offices. The ability and willingness of the tutors to be prepared to go ‘off script’ was also a key factor in choosing the CIWM as I felt as much can be learnt from a group discussion, context provision and challenge than from just delivering a formulaic syllabus. I wasn’t prepared to provide staff training for the sake of it and wished to create a training model that actually worked and that could be ‘picked up’ and used elsewhere.
Jim Perkins – Head of Service for West Sussex County Council
Benefits of In-Company Training
The team felt both valued and empowered, showing increased confidence, a clear understanding of their own roles and their fit in the wider organisation in addition to an increased interest in professional development. WSCC are now looking at additional courses to further increase their employees’ skills and confidence, and to make sure they are championing best practice as a local authority.
“Following the completion of the training programme, the use of external technical advisors has been greatly reduced in West Sussex County Council. Through their increased knowledge and confidence, projects and significant procurements have been delivered by the County’s waste team with only minimal support, creating significant savings to the County and further developing the skills of staff.
Jim Perkins – Head of Service for West Sussex County Council