Staff Training and Development Policy

This policy was adopted by the Board on 13 December 2023 and reviewed and updated by the Head of Finance & Operations in November 2023. It is part of a series of Staff Policies.

Supervision

1.1 Supervision enables line managers and the staff for whom they are responsible to evaluate the staff member’s work and agree, where appropriate, new targets for completion of tasks, ways of achieving them, and the staff member’s development and training in relation to current and future work plans.

1.2 The purpose of supervision is to provide staff who have case work responsibility with the support and structure they need to manage their work load, and provide guidance and support in the next steps of their clients cases. For this purpose staff supervision may be divided between case supervision and staff supervision.

1.3 Line managers should arrange to meet on a formal basis with their staff every four to six weeks. A list of those areas which can be covered during those meetings is outlined below. However, it is not expected that each area will be discussed at every formal supervision meeting.

Guidelines for supervision meetings

• to monitor and evaluate work and performance
• to provide a private, special time to focus on specific areas of the staff member’s work
• to clarify priorities and to plan and negotiate new tasks and timescales
• to provide support, guidance and, where applicable, resources
• to share information and provide two-way up-dates about work
• to provide an opportunity to discuss how the staff member and manager feel about the work, providing constructive feedback about performance
• to receive feedback about the quality of supervision provided by the manager
• to highlight information, support, development and training needs
• to identify and deal with existing or potential problems
• to provide an early opportunity to resolve conflict
• to discuss external factors and non-work issues (where applicable) which are impacting on the staff member’s performance, attendance and/or quality of work
• to deal with issues which might otherwise become potential grievance or disciplinary matters
• to ensure that the staff member’s work priorities are consistent with Wikimedia UK’s objectives
• to discuss and agree changes to job roles and responsibilities.

2.1 It is suggested that managers and staff agree a standardised agenda to work through during supervision sessions and where appropriate to link supervision to ‘To Do Lists’ . It would also be useful to refer to the Annual Appraisal Form at occasional supervisions to see if objectives are being achieved.

Training and Development

3.1 Wikimedia UK wishes to support the development of its staff through learning opportunities which are relevant to their work and career aspirations.

A sum is set aside annually and the training provided and funded by Wikimedia UK is prioritised in terms of:

• its requirement as part of the post holder’s current work or work to be undertaken in the near future
• its requirement as part of a general training need within the organisation.
• its relevance to the organisation’s Equal Opportunities Policy Statement
• its relevance to the post holder’s career development/progression

3.2 Staff training may take many forms:

• On the job training
• Attendance on external short courses
• Internal courses
• Long term study

Long term study

4.1 A certain amount of study leave may be available, or flexible hours offered, depending on the relevance of the course to the work. It must be discussed and agreed with a line manger.

Requests for Training

5.1 Any requests for training should be discussed by the line manager, Chief Executive (if different) and the Director of Finance and Operations in order that the nature and cost of the course can be assessed against the priorities for staff training and the training budget.

5.2 In the event of the staff member leaving Wikimedia UK within twelve months of the training taking place the staff member may be subject to repayment of course fees.

Annual appraisals

There will be an annual appraisal for each member of staff undertaken by their line manager with a Chief Executive responsible for signing it off. In the case of staff managed by the Chief Executive, the Chair of the board or another trustee will need to sign it off. The Chief Executive's appraisal will be conducted by the Chair of the Board with another trustee acting as second reviewer.