National Management Trainee Scheme Frequently Asked Questions for hosts andy.williamson@nsasocialcare.co.uk 2012 Frequently Asked Questions Who can host a trainee? Host organisations come from the private, voluntary and statutory sectors in England. Some will be providing care services for a locality, some are national organisations with a policy and strategic remit and others are local Councils. They are all committed to social care in its many forms. We ask that all host organisations are members of the National Skills Academy for Social Care. http://www.nsasocialcare.co.uk/membership/ What placement opportunities will I need to offer my trainee? Trainees will learn through a variety of roles with their host organisation, with the expectation that their learning curve will be steep. The roles they take up will need to extend their knowledge of adult social care and develop the management and leadership skills necessary to achieve excellence in their careers. We ask that each Trainee is suitably challenged by being given real responsibility in their placement. How long does the placement last? The programme lasts for 12 months during which time, (in addition to the time spent on work-based placement within your organisation), the Trainee will need: An estimated 23 days leave for attendance at scheduled learning events and Action Learning sets. An additional 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays. It is anticipated that some of this time will be used for study/reflection during the year’s training. What are the benefits to us of hosting a trainee? Hosts - receive: High quality additional resource for their organisation Full-time 12-month paid placement Access to leadership and management development for their own staff Skills Academy training and support Potential pool of new staff Benefits to hosts include: - Access to a centrally funded high quality Graduate who has gone through a robust recruitment process 2 National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ | T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk | Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828 - - A graduate who will bring enthusiasm, new thinking, and intellect to your organisation, and who will have been recruited for their potential to improve services Access to Leadership Development Training for the designated “Placement Supervisor” Support in performance managing the trainee from the National Skills Academy for Social Care Access to leadership and management development, as Trainees bring the training they receive as part of the scheme back to your organisation The opportunity to develop and subsequently recruit someone with the potential to become a future leader in social care An opportunity to contribute actively, collectively and coherently to leadership and management development across social care Promotion of your organisation as being in the vanguard of leadership excellence in adult social care Will the trainee be an employee of my organisation? No. Participation in the Graduate Trainee Scheme does not constitute a contract of employment. You, the National Skills Academy for Social Care and the trainee will sign a placement agreement. In addition to this agreement you may want to ask your trainee to read and sign your organisation’s Code of Conduct for employees by way of affirming their agreement to abiding with its contents. In particular, we would expect you to make your trainee fully aware of your safeguarding and whistleblowing policies and procedures. How does the NSA select trainees? We advertise for potential trainees on graduate recruitment websites and of course on our own website. Applicants are required to have a minimum of a 2:2 degree (or equivalent), or above. Applicants are screened using online psychometric tests, and then we invite a number to day-long assessment centres. We take up references and enhanced Criminal Records Bureau clearances for all prospective trainees. Whilst we can’t promise that your participation as an assessor at our assessment centres will guarantee you a trainee, we welcome the participation of potential host organisations in the selection of the pool of trainees. How does the NSA match trainees to host organisations? It is vitally important that the placement is mutually beneficial. The Graduate Scheme Manager and key stakeholders (both internal and external) will match 3 National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ | T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk | Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828 trainees to the placements available across the country, giving consideration to the following: Organisational commitment to quality through membership of National Skills Academy for Social Care (mandatory) Participation in National Skills Academy for Social Care Leadership & Management Programmes Quality of placement experience, based on expression of interest form submitted by organisation Spread of organisations across the country to ensure national coverage Individual circumstances of trainees New organisations are given an opportunity to participate Previous experience and support to Scheme, including through recruitment process Quality of experience of previous trainees hosted by organisation, e.g. exposure to senior management environment, organisation of an effective induction programme, productive learning environment and opportunities, real responsibility, return on investment opportunities. Commitment to Tripartite Agreement How are the trainees funded? Each trainee will be paid £18,000 p.a. as a bursary. This will be paid in twelve monthly installments through the National Skills Academy for Social Care. This will not constitute a contract of employment. The payments will be conditional on active participation in the scheme and would cease immediately if the training place was terminated for any reason by the Trainee or the National Skills Academy. The trainee will be responsible for their own living expenses, including travel to the host’s base site. The host will reimburse the costs within their own expenses arrangements of carrying out placement responsibilities. The costs of learning sets, learning events and enrolment on a management and leadership training programme will be met by the National Skills Academy for Social Care. Is there any cost to us of hosting a trainee? There is an administration fee of £3,500 to host a trainee. This helps to cover the NSA’s administration costs, and also covers the cost of the Placement Supervisor attending a day’s Leadership Development Training. This cost covers the whole year, and all other costs are covered by the NSA with the exception of placement-related Trainee expenses. If you are interested in hosting more than one trainee, additional costs may apply. 4 National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ | T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk | Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828 What supervision arrangements will I need to put in place? Placement Supervisors play an integral role in the success of the programme, supporting participants to make the most of the opportunity. As we’ve already said, it is vitally important that the placement is mutually beneficial. Host organisations will need to identify and provide a Placement Supervisor and details of the arrangements for effective management, placement induction, supervision, performance management and assessment. The placement supervisor will act as a line manager, overseeing the trainee’s work, their learning activities within the placement and meeting with a member of the NSASC’s Leadership & Management Team at the beginning of the placement and at least twice during the placement. Placement Supervisors are ideally placed to identify the trainees’ strengths and development needs, as well as being a key source of feedback on the programme as a whole. As such we value the relationships that we have with Placement Supervisors. What support will the Placement Supervisor receive? The Graduate Scheme Manager will provide day-to-day support to the Placement Supervisor via e-mail and over the telephone. They will also visit the Placement Supervisor and Trainee at least 3 times over the course of the 12 month period, for a Settling in Meeting and two subsequent Performance Review Meetings. In addition, the Placement Supervisor will be invited to attend a Leadership Development training day at the start of the Scheme. This will include information on the Scheme and will cover the role of Placement Supervisor in detail. What evaluation documentation will the Placement Supervisor need to complete? You will ensure that the Trainee has clear work objectives to work towards, and that they are reviewed at regular intervals. It is also important that the trainee has a Personal Development Plan which they will work towards with the support of the Placement Supervisor. You will evaluate the Trainee’s progress through regular planning and supervisory meetings. In addition, the Graduate Scheme Manager will facilitate two performance review meetings during the year. These will be recorded and will be used to determine whether the trainee is eligible to graduate at the end of the programme. We are happy for you to use your organisation’s supervision recording documents but, in addition, we will ask you to review the Performance Review Meeting form, which will be completed by the Graduate Scheme Manager, 5 National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ | T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk | Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828 following the Performance Review Meetings and the Graduation Criteria Evaluation form at the end of the Scheme. What academic work will the trainees have to do during their placement? Trainees register for an Institute of Leadership and Management Level 4 Certificate in Management. The qualification is undertaken in a group with the other national social care management trainees. Trainees will need an estimated 23 days leave to attend learning events, including facilitated learning sets and development days. In addition to this, we would expect you to provide your trainee with access to your own induction programme; and where relevant, to your in-house staff training and development programmes as appropriate. How else can my organisation support our trainee during their placement? As a host organisation we believe that you will benefit from having a capable and ambitious graduate management trainee within your organisation. In return we would expect you to make it possible for your trainee to have access to appropriate opportunities to observe your organisation’s governance in action and to shadow key individuals. Our experience of running the scheme has shown that the most successful placements take place within organisations that can offer trainees access to a broad range of learning opportunities and give them exposure to real responsibility. They do this by providing support, advice, information and motivation that enables the trainees to achieve their personal goals. We would also hope that host organisations continuously explore opportunities within to recruit the trainee permanently at the end of the Scheme. What happens if our trainee gets a job during their placement? The aim of the scheme is to attract bright and capable graduates into Adult Social Care management. Ideally we would want them to be securing employment towards the end of their trainee placement, rather than earlier. If they secure employment within the sector during the 12 month traineeship, we would look to the employing organisation to broker with us a set of arrangements that enabled them to continue with their supervised learning, whilst beginning to take up their employment. 6 National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ | T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk | Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828 If a trainees secures employment outside the sector that would be treated as a resignation and access to the NSA learning activities will be withdrawn. Who should I contact at the NSA if I want to discuss any issues about my trainee’s placement, or can answer any further questions that I might have about the scheme? Andy Williamson is the Graduate Scheme Manager. You can contact him by telephone on 020 7268 3274 or by e-mail andy.williamson@nsasocialcare.co.uk 7 National Skills Academy for Social Care | 85 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 4TQ | T: 020 7268 3277 | E: gradscheme@nassocialcare.co.uk | www.nsasocialcare.co.uk | Charity number: 1131969 | Company registration: 6996828