Generic skills
The core training programmes fall into the following categories:
Mandatory training
Health & safety
Basic lab skills
Information technology
Equipment
Research
Teaching
Personal and professional
Management
The specific courses suggested for these generic skills are outlined in the training resource matrix for you to use to personalise for each technician, varying according to their role.
Each face-to-face course has a course descriptor with aims and
learning outcomes, which you can find using the Trent booking
system when looking up a course:
http://www.exeter.ac.uk/staff/services/selfservice/
Specialist skills
Technicians will also need specific skills to learn for each agreed
technical role. The training resource matrix can help identify
these, working from the job description and individual needs.
The University is an institutional member of HEaTED which
provider tools, courses and professional support for technicians... Details of how to access this support can be found on
our website:
www.ex.ac.uk/staff/development/technical/
3 Summarising what’s needed
A Personal Development Plan (PDP) is used to summarise
what’s required from the matrix along with any needs identified
from the competency framework.. The PDP also provides a
way of evaluating progress and success of any training by providing feedback from the technical manager.
You should meet your technical staff on a regular basis (at a
minimum, every six months) to monitor progress against their
training plan and identify further training as appropriate for the
role.
The PDP can also be used alongside annual PDRs to help you agree
an agenda for discussion and to help you review the progress made
throughout the year.
Technician’s Training
Programme
Download a copy of the PDP from our website:
www.ex.ac.uk/staff/development/technical/
4 On-track review
After 6-9 months, prior to the end of probation, Staff Learning and
Development (SLD) will arrange to have a 1-1 meeting with each of
your technicians to review their progress against their training plan
and any other needs identified in their PDP.
Quick Guide for
managers
5 Development Centre
As part of this training programme, after two years from joining,
your technicians will be eligible for feedback against a further set of
generic competences (which are mapped to the Professional Services Competencies).
From this they will receive 1:1 quality data and feedback. This
should improve self awareness with pointers about areas of strength
and areas to improve on; all of which are useful for discussion at
PDR.
6 Career planning
After two and a half years to three years of joining, your technicians
may wish to access SLD’ s career planning.
This career planning helps to create a career plan to develop staff in
their role and identify career goals for the future.
This Quick Guide has been developed to
support not only induction, but also to
provide your technicians with a framework to develop in the role and provide
the skills to have a long and successful
career.
Your technicians would undertake a number of online questionnaires (360o) and psychometric testing) and receive 1:1 coaching
from a trained member of SLD. They will receive a career plan
which can be shared with their line manager. It may help staff to
identify a work based project to add to their CV.
Staff Learning and Development 2011
Introduction
This flowchart gives you a summary of the 3-year
training programme for technicians from recruitment
to career development . Details on each section are
provided below.
1 Technicians competency framework
Recruiting and selecting staff
Technicians
competency
framework
1
The Technician competency framework builds on the
University's competency framework with additional
competencies for technical staff.
You can use the framework’s definitions to inform
which technical skills are essential for the role prior to
recruitment and selection. On appointment and subsequently at PDR, you can individually identify skills that
need to be developed.
Each competency is broken down into three
‘development levels’. These can be used as a starting
point for discussion about development activities.
Each job role may have a combination of skills from
each development level for each competency.
These competencies focus on technician development
in the agreed job roles. They are not intended as a tool
for promotion or job re-grading.
Using the training resource matrix, you can identify the
levels of technical skills required over three years for
the role for each technician vacancy. On joining an
individual training plan can be agreed at induction.
This matrix describes generic training for technicians,
endorsed by an internal focus group of technical staff
and managers from the College of Life and Environmental Sciences (CLES).
These generic skills are mapped against current
courses, filling in the gaps with a mix of local and central provision.
Use during recruitment
Use to help identify areas
for development
Years 1 and 2 - Induction and 6 monthly reviews
Training
resource
matrix
2
Use to identify specific
training needs in different
skill areas
On-track
review
4
Independent review of
progress against PDP
(carried out by SLD)
Using the framework you can agree with each new
technician the required levels of general competence
for the role at the end of three years. Identified needs
arising from this can be discussed with the technician
concerned to create a succinct Personal Development
Plan (PDP) described in section 3 below. Importantly
the PDP describes how any training will happen.
2 Training resource matrix
Identify levels of technical
skills required for role
Refer to HERA graded job
description/person specification/
Personal
Development
Plan (PDP)
3
A summary of what has to
happen, by when and how
Created with the technician
concerned
Use during reviews to check
progress
Year 2 – consolidation
Development
centre
5
Based on generic behavioural competencies
Informs development plans
Use at reviews
Year 3 – planning the future
Career
planning
6
360o feedback
Psychometrics
Career Plan