One of the largest collaborations of its kind, involving 20 local authorities right across the north east of England, is set to ensure our key future public service leaders and customer facing staff have the skills they need to deliver the high quality services we want.
Working with top web-based talent management technology providers, JGP (publishers of Jobsgopublic.com), these pioneering local authorities are joining forces to conduct a skills audit for 1500 key middle managers and 1500 customer service staff using JGP’s Skills Portal.<!–more–>

The targeted staff are asked to assess themselves using the Skills Portal online with their line managers validating the results. Immediately, these results can be analysed and skills gaps or underused capacity identifed; training or development targeted and resources deployed more effectively.

The managers’ skills audit, funded by the Regional Improvement Partnership for North East Local Government, aims to ensure staff have the necessary skills to implement effective change across the region in response to the improvement agenda and local government reorganisation.

The customer services skills audit funded by the Learning and Skills Council, North East Region will enable an in depth understanding of customer service levels, skills gaps and the regional and sub-regional demand for NVQ’s and other learning resources.

Mark Henderson, Northumberland County Council’s Chief Executive said: “Middle managers are tomorrow’s leaders and are critical to organisational success. They will make or break initiatives, so investment in them is vital for the future of public services in the north east which is why this work is essential”.

Mick Brodie, Director of the North East Regional Employers Organisation said: “This project represents a fantastic opportunity for two funding bodies to work collectively, achieving their own goals while capitalising on each others investment”.

The partnership also benefits enormously from the agreement to all use the same skills and competency frameworks, allowing for a more efficient approach, and the ability to share and pool development resources when addressing any skills gaps. Understanding staff in common terms like this paves the way for more effective talent management, including consistent career pathways, recruitment and succession planning.

Some of the features and benefits of the Skill’s Portal are as follows:
• Hosted online and accessible through a normal web browser eases collaboration between councils and remote access
• Easy to use assessment screens provide a consistent and fair way to reach staff
• Self assessment conrmed and validated by managers ensures consistency and understanding of the standards that need to be achieved
• Detailed reports and analysis in order to identify and risk assess skills gaps and tailor learning
• Economies of scale in regards training and development costs as well as shared standards and actions

JGP’s Founder, Richard Tyrie, said: “By creating a North East Skills Portal we can ensure that key managers and customer service staff will have the training they need to enable them to deliver first class public services right across the region – great news for all public sector service users”.

The project launched in December 2006 will continue throughout 2007.