The Leadership and Management scheme offers grant funding of up to £1,000 for small and medium scale businesses. It is branded at “Leaders First” by Train to Gain.
With the new financial year funding appears to be refreshed. £4.9m has been allocated for organisations in the Sout East. In the East Midlands there is a little more flexibility when it comes to companies with just 3 or 4 employees (previously 5 was a strictly imposed lower limit).
Focus has been able to help many smaller organisations access funding for accredited training courses such as PRINCE2.
>> Find out about the scheme and how to access your £1,000 grant
>> PRINCE2 Training Courses
Blogalot - May 2010
More Training Courses Funded by Grants and Loans
As the recession bites, Focus has seen a significant increase in the number of training courses for project management and IT professionals supported by a variety of government initiatives.
We’ve added several pages to our website to help explain what help is (or is not) available.
>> Funding for Individuals
>> Funding for Businesses
>> ELCAS Enhanced Learning Credits for the armed forces
We find a lot of inconsistency across the country and we’re sure that many people are not aware of the possibilities. Let us know if you come across other funding sources which we have not mentioned.
Blogalot July 2009
Oh dear.
“The Learning and Skills Council exists to make England better skilled and more competitive.” It’s England’s biggest quango with an annual budget of £12 billion. Unfortunately it seems that it can’t do is own sums.
New schemes are announced with a fanfare. Learners and providers react with enthusiasm. Then the plans are scaled back or aborted. First it was the capital building programme for many colleges; now its the adult apprentice scheme.
Fortunately, it seems that the highly targeted funding scheme to help small and medium sized businesses with Leadership and Management training is running smoothly - though qualification criteria are being applied more strictly than when first launched. Focus has been able to help clients with training such as Project Management (PRINCE2), IT Service Management (ITIL), and IT governance.
>> £1,000 grants for Leadership & Management training
>> Listen to BBC’s File on 4 investigate the LSC funding crisis
Blogalot June 2009
Have YOU claimed your £1,000 from the Government?
There is a really good scheme operating across England which is designed to help organisations with 5-250 employees improve their management and leadership skills.
It’s flexible, fast and not too bureacratic. In conjunction with your specialist skills advisor YOU choose the training which is right for you. This might well include accredited project management and service management courses such as PRINCE2, MSP, MoR and ITIL. Equally it might be tailored training, coaching or mentoring.
You can get £500 free training with no strings - and £500 on a matched funding basis.
The only disappointment is that there’s only one allocation per organisation.
It was launched as part of the Train to Gain initiative - though this is now being integrated with business support services co-ordinated under the Business Link umbrella.
>> FIND OUT HOW TO APPLY FOR YOUR £1,000
Blogalot May 2009
1. Prioritise
Rate your various training requirements according to “business criticality”.
All organisations will vary but the “Business Critical” training needs usually fall into one of the following categories:
a. Skills which will have a direct impact on underperforming business metrics eg Effectiveness of Project Delivery, Negotiation of Higher Prices, or Quality of IT Services.
b. Skills which are pre-requisites or enablers for the effective introduction of technology or other investments eg enhanced IT systems
c. Investment in the people who will be leading the organisation in 2 to 5 years’ time
d. Skills which are truly essential for regulatory compliance (eg Health & Safety, or Information Security)
2. Be Creative
Can the learning need be met in ways other than a course.
Remember training lesson number one – training does not need to mean a course.
a. Job shadowing is often used for new recruits, but can be a more viable option for more experienced employees when time is not being intensively utilised.
b. To tackle practical, everyday aspects of personal performance use coaching or mentoring by line managers (or perhaps by an older employee who is opting for early retirement).
c. Train the trainer: in areas such as IT it is sometimes sensible to invest in one (or a few) individuals who can then cascade their knowledge to a wider team.
d. Job Swaps. Employees often find 1 to 3 month job swaps a stimulating and rewarding way to develop new capabilities and build business awareness.
e. Knowledge Banks. Consolidate key information which is often taken for granted using intranets or knowledge management tools.
3. Explore
Don’t just go to the trainers you know and love. Surf the net.
You’re concentrating on the important, you’ve found creative internal routes to satisfy some requirements – but now you need to source the rest from third party providers. Your first thought is that list of trainers you’ve been using for the past 10 years – even though you know the feedback on some of them was less than perfect. Before you do, SEARCH THE WEB.
4. Negotiate
You can often get the same training for less.
It’s a competitive environment for your organisation – and it is for trainers too. If you are booking multiple courses, or your booking will impact the viability of a training event then you may be well positioned to obtain discounts from training providers.
5. Consolidate
There may be on-site options or more scope to negotiate.
Group the training needs within your organisation. Look across multiple departments. Steer employees to satisfy similar learning needs with a common solution. Use industry standard certification courses rather than tailored one off training. If you can group together those who need particular types of training then there are significant cost saving opportunities including onsite courses.
6. Find Funding
There’s more public funding than ever before.
The good news is that the government will assist all companies to develop employee skills and there are schemes which are likely to be of direct financial benefit to most organisations. The bad news is that there is a lack of consistency so available help can vary according to location, size of business, type of training and industry sector. More Information about Training Funding
7. Evaluate
Make sure you have solid data on the costs and benefits.
Yes. Painful but essential. When times are tough it is more important than ever to ensure you understand which training has been most effective in meeting the needs of the organisation. Most HR professionals will be systematic in obtaining feedback on the training itself and its relevance to the work of the delegate. Perhaps the “watchout” in this area is to check that you are truly assessing value to the business rather than just the individual.
Blogalot - 10th February 2009
A little publicised announcement by Skills Secretary John Denham recently advised that “small businesses will be the focus of £350m of Government funds to help them train their staff”. This marks one of a series of steps by government to extend and simplify business training support.
The bad news is that there is a lack of consistency so available help can vary according to location, size of business, type of training and industry sector. Whilst there is a huge Learning and Skills Council bureacracy behind government funded training it is difficult for individual businesses to see exactly what training will be supported. With rules changing all the time and variability across the country many companies decide it is just not worth the effort.
If you do want to explore available options the first port of call should be Train To Gain (or the corresponding services in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). You will be assigned a skills broker who is funded by the Learning and Skills Council. These advisors are generally very pragmatic and will do all they can to assist you in identifying needs and selecting appropriate training providers. Use the links below to reach your relevant contact.
Traditionally, government support has focused on support for training of young people seeking their first Level 2 (equivalent to 5 GCSEs) or Level 3 (equivalent to 2 A-Levels) qualifications. There is full funding for all businesses in these categories for 19–25 year olds – and indeed some opportunities for Level 4 qualifications. Since the Denham announcement in October 2008 the guidelines are less prescriptive, especially for private sector businesses with up to 250 employees.
There is significant support for developing Leadership and Management within SMEs. The current scheme provides funding of up to £1,000 for this purpose; the first £500 is in the form of a grant and the remainder is on a matched funding basis. This means that valuable training and certifications such as ISEB Business Analysis Diploma, Change Management, or ITIL can be funded for a minimal outlay.
From January 2009 private sector SMEs can also get support for focused training programmes in subjects such as business improvement, IT support and risk management.
Other schemes support those affected by recession. As well as support to individuals made redundant, the ReAct programme in Wales provides assistance with training of new starters when recruits have been subject to redundancy. There is considerable flexibility as to the type of training which can be supported.
For companies with more than 5,000 employees advice is provided by the National Employer Service. Companies which have been helped with large scale, sustainable training programmes include Sainsbury’s, Vodafone, Tesco, Royal Mail, Rentokil Initial, Ford, McDonald’s and BAe Systems.
Blogalot
Learning & Development, Training Funding | admin, May 12, 2010 10:59 am | 
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