The biweekly efficiency and improvement bulletin is produced by the South West Centre of Excellence (SWCoE) on behalf of the LIFT SW Partnership (GOSW, IDeA, SWLGA, SWCoE).
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Business Transformation Skills Development Programme – 2008 Public Courses and On-Site Offering
We are delighted to announce the launch of a full compliment of courses following the selection of our 2008 course provider partners.
The selection process was carried out using West Midlands Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnership (WM RIEP) Business Process Improvement frameworkThis framework is available to all English local and regional Public Bodies. For more information visit the West Midlands web site http://www.wmcoe.gov.uk/index.php?page=331
Our 2008 syllabus of courses includes all of our 2007 courses:
- Association of Project Management – Introductory and Professional Certificate
- 1- day Fundamentals of Lean Systems thinking for senior executives, change and transformation leaders
- 1-day Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) overview
- 1-day Rough-cut Activity Based Costing in support of Business Transformation
- 3-day SPRINT Business Process Improvement (BPI)
In addition, we have expanded our offering to include two NEW courses:
- Fundamentals of Change Management
- Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) Foundation Course
All our courses continue to be offered monthly in three locations around the region – Taunton, Bath and Plymouth. All our courses remain heavily subsidised.
In addition to our public course offerings we are offering councils the opportunity to run many of the above courses on-site at their own locations.
Councils are invited to bid for the second wave of on-site funding. Bids are invited between 15 February and 15th March 2008.
Download additional information for our public and on-site courses from the following link: http://www.swce.gov.uk/skillsdevelopment
For further information contact:
Natalie Aldrich - 01305 757236, n.aldrich@dorsetcc.gov.uk
New NVQ scheme takes off
Four south west councils have now embarked on the workplace-based NVQ (Level 2) in Business Improvement Techniques. The pioneers are Bournemouth, Caradon, West Somerset and Mendip, and many more south west councils have expressed interest in the scheme. This NVQ is currently 100% funded by the Learning & Skills Council, so there is no charge to the local authority other than staff time (around 7 days over 10-12 weeks). Please note that this is an opportunity for a group of 10 trainees working as a team, not for individuals working alone. Participating staff work together with colleagues on a ‘real world’ improvement project, so there are organisational benefits as well as individual development benefits.
Download additional information from the following link:
http://www.swce.gov.uk/skillsdevelopment/
For further information contact:
Peter Shields - 01647 432748, peter.shields@idea.gov.uk
Last Few Places – Customer Focused Transformation (CFT) "Sharing Agenda" Conference - 25th February 2008, Taunton
Do you have a "Sharing Agenda" to share or collaborate on any services? Are you struggling with some fundamental questions such as:
- Where should we start?
- What are the options?
- How should we organise for success?
- Who is doing it well and what does good look like?
- How do we engage the wider network of stakeholders not least of all our customers?
- How do we set about building the business case for change without creating a monster of an exercise?
- What are some of the typical benchmarks, the lessons learnt and the best practices?
- How do we make our existing processes ready for sharing?
- How do we address the change challenges that lie in store for us?
If you do, then you can’t afford to miss our FREE CFT conference on Monday 25th of February 2008 at Sandy Park Conference Centre (http://www.sandypark.co.uk/), Exeter from 09:45 to 15:45.
Only a few places remain so sign-up now to avoid disappointment.
Download additional information and book your place online from the following link: http://www.swce.gov.uk/Events/forthcomingevents.htm
For further information contact:
Anita Tadayon - 07885 363408, anita.tadayon@yahoo.com
Understanding Agency Staffing Seminar - 12th March 2008, Taunton
LIFT SW Partnership is hosting a seminar with support from OGC to help authorities understand and manage their use of agency staff. This event is specifically geared for both Procurement and HR colleagues: please forward this invitation internally. The session will include:
- how to understand the agency workforce
- how to reduce your dependency on agency staff
- how to ensure you're getting the best value for money
- how to reduce the legal risks associated with using agency staff
- what other local authorities in your region and nationally are doing
- what collaborative deals and best practice are available
- what belongs in an agency staff policy
- how to get free advice and support, including devising your strategy
- how to get cashable savings back for your local authority!!
This is a full day event with lunch provided and is free to public sector attendees.
Download additional information from the following link:
For further information contact:
Gillian Brindle - 01305 757232, g.brindle@dorsetcc.gov.uk
Finding and Growing Future Talent For Your Authority - 12th March 2008, Taunton
This event is intended forCorporate service managers, HR, OD, and people who take action on recruitment, retention and the shortage of talent.
The objective of the event is to discuss ways in which we can reduce the risks of failing to maintain specific council services or activities through lack of employees with the right skills.
Why should you attend this event?
- If you are forecasting that there will be a significant number of employees retiring in your authority within a few years and you have yet to develop plans to address this
- If your existing approaches to recruitment and retention are not working
- If your salary costs are spiraling because you are "buying" your neighbour’s employees
- If you are not identifying what external activities and events will have an impact on your ability to attract and retain employees
- To hear what other people are doing, share your experiences, take some new thinking back to your authority
- Possibly find a partner to share a problem and find a solution
For further information contact:
Jenny Bryant - 01823 42520, jenny.bryant@southwest-ra.gov.uk
Change Management in Action – Industry Visit Opportunity 14 March 2008
Following our 1st October Business Transformation Conference where Clarks International shared their change management learnings and best practice from their Fusion Project, (clich here to view event documentation) for archived presentation), a number of delegates requested an action learning visit to Clarks to explore their learnings in more detail and share your experiences and best practices.
Based in the famous Clarks Village Outlet Shopping in Street, Somerset http://www.clarksvillage.co.uk/), we are delighted that Clarks have agreed to host a visit for up to 15 executives from South West Local Authorities to meet the core change team and share and learn from them.
Download additional information including the agenda for the day and how to sign up from the following link:
http://www.swce.gov.uk/Events/changemanagementinaction.htm
For further information contact:
Anita Tadayon - 07885 363408, anita.tadayon@yahoo.com
A guide to Sustainable Supply Chains for Procurement Professionals
DEFRA have produced a guide to sustainable procurement which provides practical help and advice for procurement professionals looking to implement sustainable procurement in supply chains.
Download additional information from the following link: http://www.swce.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/4140CC96-FBA4-4C7B-8A85-E4201605520E/0/GuidetoSustainableSupplyChainsemailversion.pdf
LAAs: Effective Partnerships and Improved Outcomes
Effective partnerships are crucial to the success of the new LAAs that are currently being developed and negotiated. A series of case studies have been produced which demonstrate how successful partnerships between councils and local organisations have delivered improved outcomes for residents.
Download additional information from the following link:
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=7675065
OGC Collaborative Framework Agreement for Purchasing Financial Reports
OGC has recently implemented a new framework agreement for the purchase of financial reports on suppliers to assist public sector bodies with the supplier financial appraisal process during their procurements.
Download additional information from the following link:
http://www.ogc.gov.uk/procurement_resources_financial_reports_framework.asp
