Over the last year, St Catharine’s has taken every opportunity to review how we invest in and support our staff and remains focused on the recruitment, development and retention of staff, who are vital to the continued delivery of the College’s charitable objectives.
St Catharine’s staff benefit from a blended learning approach to training and development: in 2022–23 alone, 97 members of staff completed 740 courses using our online learning platform (known as iHASCO) and 128 individuals attended in-person professional development and training courses.
The College’s investment in training and development extends to longer term commitments. These include apprenticeships, qualifications in professions such as accountancy, and other courses that may take a year or longer to complete – all of which enable staff to learn and develop alongside their duties at St Catharine’s.
To find out more, the Maintenance Team kindly shared their experience as just one of the departments pursuing these opportunities to support their development and the College’s operations.
Why is training and development so important for the team?
Mel Kydd, Head of Buildings & Maintenance at St Catharine’s, explains:
“Maintaining the College’s mix of historic and newly built properties requires an ongoing commitment to training and development. We need to stay up-to-date on the latest skills and also give valued colleagues room to grow. Our team is regularly completing short courses across a wide range of subjects, from electrical and plumbing qualifications to how to use scaffold towers safely. Longer courses like apprenticeships take careful planning but mean we can reward and retain our team for everyone’s benefit.”
How is the College investing in apprenticeships and other courses for the team?
Mel adds, “I am excited that we are now funding two apprenticeships to support staff gaining new qualifications: one for an existing employee (Terry Bull, College Electrician) and one for a newly created post (Jack Francis as Painting and Decorating Apprentice). In 2017, the UK government introduced the Apprenticeship Levy, which requires employers to set aside 0.5% of their total annual pay bill to spend on apprenticeship training. Other teams at Catz – such as catering and HR – have leveraged this pot of funding for apprenticeships in previous years and it is great to use it for my team now.
“In addition, a third member of our team (Sam Wolfenden, Maintenance Supervisor) has enrolled on management training courses, funded by the College. Catz does not have any endowed funds that could pay for the Apprenticeship Levy or staff training, so it is a big commitment from the College to set aside budget for these activities every year.”
“On top of the financial side of things, these opportunities require a significant amount of time – a commitment from the team member themselves but also everyone in the team around them as we try our best to protect the days required for training and development.”
What do these opportunities mean for the team?
Terry Bull and Jack Francis
Jack is working towards his NVQ Level 3 in Painting & Decorating, which is scheduled to take three years and requires a day every week at the Cambridge Regional College. He comments:
“Everyone at Catz has been so supportive since I started my NVQ Level 3 in September. The course has started with getting the basics right and I’m looking forward to it building up over time.”
Terry started an 18-month management apprenticeship this year, which will result in an NVQ Level 3 in Management. He says:
“I’m a few months in now and really enjoying the online course. It has been a challenge juggling how to make the time, but it has been so much easier with all the guidance from Mel and support from the rest of the team.”
As part of ongoing professional development, Sam completed courses such as ‘An introduction to management’ and ‘Motivating and managing your team’. The College also recently funded 9 months of professional development for Mel that resulted in her achieving a Certificate in Construction Project Management from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
She added, “Thanks to support from Helen Hayward (2018), Operations Director at St Catharine’s, this certificate enabled me to maintain my Chartered Manager status and should reduce the need to outsource project management responsibilities to external suppliers in the future, saving the College money in the long run.”
