Staff Training and Development Policy

Staff Training and Development Policy

This policy was developed in 2017 Updated in 2023

Staff Training and Development Policy

1. Staff Training and Development Policy 1.1 Aġenzija Żgħażagħ (AŻ) is committed to developing a strong learning culture in which everyone can achieve their full potential and enhance job satisfaction, and support career development. 2. Aim 2.1 This policy aims to set the direction for staff training and development since AŻ is committed to providing training and development opportunities for its staff, which meet the organisation’s functions and strategic objectives, as well as individuals’ learning aspirations and needs. 3. Who is it for? 3.1 This policy applies to all full-time staff without discrimination. No individual will be excluded from training and development on the grounds of gender, marital or family status, religious belief or political opinion, disability, race or ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation, age, or any other criteria which could be deemed to be discriminatory or divisive. 4. Training Provision 4.1 Training provision may arise from needs identified by the management team and the staff through a training analysis needs assessment executed every two years and the performance check-in and review reports done annually. 4.2 A 2-year training action plan arising from the training needs identified will be agreed upon with the individual members of staff, the Head of Corporate Services and their line manager. 5. Training Delivery 5.1 The selection of the training delivery method depends on cost-effectiveness in terms



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of achieving the training outcomes. In their majority, the training activities will be delivered in a combination of the following forms: • Formal training sessions (individual or corporate). • Training provided by internal and/or external experts. • E-learning. • Conferences/Seminars participation. • Job shadowing. 5.2 As part of the ongoing learning and development provisions, arrangements for books, subscriptions, or educational/resource material can also be availed of wherever applicable. 6. Training Courses 6.1 Training Courses are classified, accordingly: • Technocratic Skills: To develop skills and knowledge according to their role. • Soft Skills: To develop personal attributes that enhance staff’s interactions effectively with other staff members or counterparts. • Professional Certification: Training programmes that certify an employee’s specialisation. 7. Twofold Training Structure 7.1 Individual training to the Professional Officer/Senior Professional Officer Youth work grade. 7.1.1 An annual CPD allowance of 700 euros can be carried forward every other year for each memeber of staff of such grades. 7.1.2 Staff can attend as many training programmes as they want, provided they do not exceed the allocated budget and have the vacation leave requests approved unless they do the training outside office hours. 7.1.3 Approval from AŻ’s headship is neccessary before staff engages in training programmes as specified in the Continous Professional Development allowance procedures of AŻ. 7.2 Corporate training programmes for all grades. 7.2.1 AŻ commits itself to provide a minimum of 3% up to a maximum of 5% of the annual working hours as staff training, the percentage of which is equivalent to a minimum of 60 hours up to a maximum of 100 hours of the annual working hours to all its staff free of charge and offered as part of their working hours. 7.2.2 In such cases, AŻ will cover the training programmes’ entire cost, and staff does not need to pay or use their leave for these types of training. 2

Staff Training and Development Policy

7.2.3 These training programmes vary according to the role and assigned duties and may be provided for all the staff at AŻ or specific units or groups of people depending on the staff’s needs. 7.2.4 The training identified is obligatory and staff cannot apply for vacation leave unless they have a valid request presented and approved by CEO. To complement family measures, training sessions held outside working hours can be exempted if approved by CEO after a request in writing is made. 7.2.5 If the staff involved in training does not obtain certificates due to lack of commitment and attendance, the member of staff must reimburse the training. 8. Roles and Responsibilities 8.1 The responsibility for staff development and training rests with the Chief Executive Officer and the Head of Corporate Services, who will ensure: 8.1.1 The maintenance of confidentiality (with access to an employee’s staff development and training record is available only to that individual and the unit’s manager). 8.1.2 A coordinated and organisation-wide overview of and approach to staff development and training. 8.1.3 The effective implementation of staff development and training. 8.2 The Chief Executive will: 8.2.1 Ensure appropriate training for each Manager or Senior Manager to enable such delegation. 8.2.2 Assume direct responsibility for the Manager’s and Senior Manager’s development and training needs. 8.2.3 Delegate responsibility to the Head of Corporate Services for implementing staff development training and evaluating the impact of staff development and training. 9. Evaluation 9.1 Evaluation of staff development and training is the responsibility of the Head of Corporate Services. The evaluation replies should be recorded using the evaluation sheet attached and marked as Appendix 1 and returned to the Head of Corporate Services, whose responsibility is to monitor the overall effectiveness of staff development and training.



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APPENDIX 1

Evaluation of Staff Development and Training

You are kindly requested to fill in the questionnaire. Under the General data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679, the agency has the legal duty to protect any information it collects from you. Information contained in this survey is only intended to evaluate the agency’s staff training for 2023/2024. Thank you for your cooperation. 1. Name and Surname: 2. Name of the training which you attended:

3. Please rate your level of agreement about the process of the training course with each of the following statements (5 is the highest). 1 The training was adequate for my position. The training met my expectations. The content can be applied to my job. The training can enable me to perform my job better. 4. What did you like most about this training?

5. What didn’t you like most about this training?

6. How will you use this training on your job?

7. Other comments:

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Aġenzija Żgħażagħ St Joseph High Road St Venera SVR 1013, Malta Tel: 00356 2258 6700 Email: [email protected] Web: youth.gov.mt