l&d strategy v1

Learning and Development Strategy

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Learning and Development Strategy 2011-2012

V1.1 January 2011

Document Control Document Reference Number V1.0

Title of Document KFG Learning and Development

Authors Name Andrew Stotts

Authors Job Title People and Performance Manager

Dept/Service Human Resources

Doc. Status Draft

Based on KFG Visit Jan 2011

Signed off by Board

Publication Date 10th January 2011

Next Review Date Pending

Distribution Kevin Martyr

Version Date Consultation

V1.0 10th January 2011 Kevin Martyr

V1.1 18th January 2011


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Table of Contents

KOUT FOOD GROUP ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED.

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY 2011-2012 1

V1.1 1

DOCUMENT CONTROL 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

KEY SUMMARY POINTS OF THE STRATEGY 4

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUCCESSFUL LEARNING FUNCTION? 6

2.0 KEY PRINCIPLES UNDERPINNING THE STRATEGY 7

2.1 EQUITY OF ACCESS 7 2.2 MEASUREMENT 7 2.3 FLEXIBILITY 7 2.4 PROTECTED LEARNING TIME 7 2.5 PARTNERSHIP 7 2.6 SHARING KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS 8

3.0 IDENTIFYING LEARNING NEEDS 9

4.0 DEVELOPING CAPACITY FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING 9

5.0 DEVELOPING INNOVATIVE LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT METHODS 9

6.0 RECORDING AND MONITORING LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT 10

7.0 MANDATORY, STATUTORY AND INDUCTION TRAINING 10

8.0 LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT 10

RESPONSIBILITIES 11

LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT TEAM 11 OPERATIONAL MANAGERS 12 EMPLOYEES 12

APPENDIX 1

THE 9 BOX RATING: 14

APPENDIX 2

Q & A SHEET – TALENT REVIEW 9 BOX MATRIX 16

Key summary points of the strategy 1.1 Learning and Development needs to be an integral part of our practice

and culture. It should be available to all, flexible to suit different learning styles and work patterns. It should meet the needs of the individual, the team and the business, both now and in the future. It must be linked to improvements in the quality of services and business profits.

1.2 An annual appraisal of all employees is central to the strategy. The process and paper work must be simple and fit for purpose.

1.3 Every employee requires a set of core skills to enable them to carry out their job. Basic skills in literacy, numeracy and communication will be essential. A commitment to these skills will support all employees gain recognized qualifications.

1.4 Protected learning time and resources must be supported, to ensure that people have the opportunity and flexibility to develop their skills and knowledge. A variety of learning methods will be promoted, including work based learning and e-learning. Access to a comprehensive library and knowledge service is essential. (Books 24/7)

1.5 Multi-Professional and team learning will be encouraged, including peer support groups. The promotion of mentoring and coaching skills for managers and employees in the position of leadership will be supported to develop others.

1.6 It is essential that relevant mandatory, statutory and induction training is provided for all employees.


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1.7 To meet the future needs of the business, we must develop our teaching

and training capacity. There must be strong links between education, training and development, career progression and reward for all employees. We will develop a career paths process that will map our employees to our 8 competencies:-

Delivering Excellent Customer Service–Delivers a personalized experience

to customers and key stakeholders in a professional manner, by identifying with them and building a relationship to make them feel valued.

Developing Self and Others –Develops self, other colleagues and teams to

optimize potential and support the achievement of business objectives.

Delivering Business Performance –Takes responsibility for managing self

and others to deliver enhanced business performance.

Embracing Change –Welcomes change as part of working life and actively

looks for ways to improve business performance.

Makes Informed Decisions –Analyses and interprets data and situations to

make informed business decisions.

Communicating and Influencing –Communicates and influences openly

and effectively and has a positive impact on others.

Planning and Organizing –Plans, manages and organizes time, tasks and

resources to achieve business deadlines and targets.

Passionate About Kout Food Group –Having a genuine positiveattitude

towards Kout Food Group, its products, people and services, which leads to actions which support Kout Food Group and its reputation.

1.8 Management and leadership development are key to continuing success

of the business. We will create the KFG Spiced Academy (SA) that will focus on 5 essential employee development areas:-

Orientation Trainee to Crew (SA1)

Crew to Supervisor (SA2)

Supervisor to Assistant Manager (SA3)

Assistant Manager to Store Manager (SA4)

Store Manager to Senior (SA5)

What are the characteristics of a successful learning function?

A coherent, well resourced learning strategy

A system of appraisal and personal development planning for all employees linked to business and individual needs, regularly reviewed.

Demonstration that education and training, and access to learning is available on an equitable, non discriminatory and flexible basis to all employee groups.

Use of a variety of development processes, with the founding belief that simple is best.

Regular publication, evaluation and monitoring of learning activity


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2.0 Key Principles underpinning the strategy

2.1 Equity of access

All employees should be able to access the appropriate learning and development regardless of their job role, hours of work, previous education, age, race, religion etc. Access to training resources must be fair and equitable, and should balance the needs of the individual, the team and the business.

2.2 Measurement Effective use of appraisal, development review and personal development planning are important for all staff, and are central to the strategy. The introduction of a balanced score card, Service, Quality, Customer. All employees will be measured using the 8 competencies and the 9 box grid. See Appendix 1

2.3 Flexibility A variety of flexible, blended approaches to learning to suit different learning styles and work patterns are needed. These will include: workplace and work based learning, internally and externally taught courses, shadowing, e-learning, secondment, coaching and mentoring.

2.4 Protected learning time

There must be a fair and consistent approach to time off for learning. The principle of protected learning time must be supported, to ensure people have the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge.

2.5 Partnership Effective learning and development requires that employees and managers work in partnership. Employees are expected to take responsibility for their own learning and make the most of opportunities offered. Managers, supervisors and leaders are responsible for the development needs of their teams and must fully understand that they are the greatest benefactor from this approach.

2.6 Sharing knowledge and skills Within KFG there is a wealth of knowledge and many employees are already involved in teaching colleagues as part of their job role. This is recognized as a core skill by the business and should be developed at all levels, encouraged and supported.


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3.0 Identifying learning needs For employees the annual cycle of appraisal and development review and agreement of personal development plans will be the core process for identifying individual learning needs. The personal development plan will take into account development needs based on the specific brand or company competencies. This will be a two way process which ensures that employees receive regular feedback on their performance and this will enable them to plan their learning activities for a set period. The process used will be simple and user friendly. To support this process, it is essential that all supervisors and managers who are responsible for appraisals and personal development plans receive the appropriate training. The role of managers is critical for the success of this process. Managers and supervisors need to have effective appraisal skills to enable them to realize, support and harness the potential of their teams. Learning needs will continue to be identified in other ways, such as incident reporting, complaints management, risk management, mentoring and coaching.

4.0 Developing capacity for teaching and learning

To support learning it is essential to develop the capacity by improving the ability and capability of teaching and learning amongst our employees. All KFG employees have the responsibility to share their knowledge and skills to enable others to develop. The promotion of coaching skills for managers and employees in position of leadership, will help support the development of others. Managers will be given guidance and advice to enable them to play a key role in the promotion of work based learning.

5.0 Developing innovative learning and development methods It is important that KFG uses a number of innovative methods to drive learning and development. Academic and traditional education will be assessed, however they should be complimented by work based methods. We learn about and develop customer service when disciplines work and learn together.

6.0 Recording and monitoring learning and development It will be the responsibility of each employee to record their learning and development in a portfolio, and to ensure that their personal development plan is kept up to date for inspection by supervisors and managers.

7.0 Mandatory, statutory and induction training

Mandatory, statutory and corporate induction training is provided for all KFG employees. To ensure that this is relevant a mandatory, statutory and induction training policy will be developed and implemented.

8.0 Leadership and management development The development needs of junior and first line managers must not be over looked. Development of cohorts and development programs, followed by graduation will be a priority. Topics such as “How to get the best from your team, Appraisal training, Positive Discipline, Time Management, Delegation andCommunication skills”


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Responsibilities

Learning and Development Team It is the responsibility of the Learning and Development team to :-

Ensure that induction, mandatory, statutory and update training is provided for all KFG employed staff.

Develop and provide in house learning and development in support of KFG, departmental and individual requirements identified during the appraisal process. Advertise these throughout KFG using a schedule, flyers and posters

Provide support and advice and guidance to employees and managers to enhance the development of learning in the workplace

Actively seek external sources of funding for learning and development

Develop and maintain a learning and development data base to enable reporting to board and operations

Effectively manage the training budget to ensure that resources are fairly allocated, monitor any training contracts with training providers

Evaluate the effectiveness of learning and development activities

Operational Managers We will work in partnership with the Operations team to deliver the strategy, we will develop leaders where they can track the progress of each employee and create the proper enrichment, interaction and intervention for each. We will create an environment where if we ask a store manager about an employee, their dreams and aspirations, struggles and achievements, the manager will be able to have a meaningful conversation about the employee and their personal and business goals.

To aid this process it will be the responsibility of the Operational team to:-

Identify the priority learning and development needs of their employees to enable them to deliver outstanding service and meet relevant operational needs, objectives and targets agreed by the business.

Collate the learning and development needs of their departments and forward these to the learning and development team.

Ensure that employees attend relevant required statutory, mandatory, induction and update training.

Ensure any learning and development activity is relevant to the job role, identified during appraisal, personal development reviews, and in line with the organizational, department and personal objectives

Ensure that employees have access to protected time for learning, as identified and agreed at appraisal, personal development review

Ensure that employees have the opportunity to prepare for their appraisal and personal development review

Employees

It is the responsibility of the Employee to:-

Attend and participate in mandatory, statutory, induction and update training, applying their learning in the workplace

Prepare for and participate in the appraisal and personal development review program

Maintain and develop the necessary knowledge and skills for their job role

Identify learning and development needs, discussing them with their supervisors and managers

Maintain a portfolio to provide evidence of their learning and development


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Appendix 1

9 Box/Talent Matrix Descriptions

Rough Potential •Bright and intellectually capable

•Delivers results erratically, lacks consistency - but shows occasional

brilliance

•Enjoys challenge, willing to take business risks

•May not always understand what delivers great performance but

could be developed

•May have strong ideas but not always able to follow through on

delivery

•May have high emotional intelligence but lacks maturity and

political astuteness

•May be in the wrong role or working for the wrong manager

•Has the potential to move up through the organisation but needs

help to do this

NOTE: "New in role" people will be included here, but

highlighted as such.

Inconsistent Performer •Delivers results inconsistently

•Needs direction and support to reach full job performance

•Limited drive, some lack of commitment

•May not be good at managing a team

•May be comfortable with some change but unable to cope with

uncertainty or ambiguity

•May have a number of development needs

•Limited drive and enthusiasm

Low Performer •Consistently fails to deliver targets, misses deadlines, only does the

minimum

•Needs regular direction, supervision and coaching

•Displays poor man management skills

•Unwilling or unable to learn new things, resistant to change

•Disorganised, overwhelmed or out of their depth

•No evidence of improvement in identified areas

•Action plans required to improve performance

Future High Potential •Consistently meets and exceeds expectations

•Knows the job well and enhances skills as appropriate

•Solutions focussed

•Strong people management and communication skills

•Takes a strategic view and priorities well

•Innovative in the face of anticipated change

•Politically astute, with good networks internally and externally

•Proactive in developing their team and themselves

•Prepared to challenge the status quo and take calculated risks

•Has the ability to take on new and different challenges (within 12

mths -24mths?)

Key Performer •Strong deliverer in current role

•Consistently meets expectations and delivers results

•Knows current job well and enhances new skills as appropriate

•Can adapt to new situations

•Provides stability, keeps the business running

•May be highly capable and hard working but with other life priorities

•May have the potential and ambition to move up in the organisation

•Important that we retain them in the business

Future High Professional •Consistently meets expectations, sometimes exceeds them

•Knowledgeable in current role

•Valued as future talent within their field of expertise

•Developing people management skills

•Wants to further develop their skills and expertise

•Key to the succession plan

High Potential •Outstanding individual -clearest example of superior performance and potential

•Consistently exceeds performance objectives, even in difficult times

•Has the ability and ambition to take on major stretch assignments in new areas

•Achievement orientation; highly motivated and ambitious

•Takes a strategic view and understands the bigger picture

•Intellectually capable and emotionally intelligent

•Demands excellence in self and others

•May currently be a mentor and coach to others in the business

•An ambassador for the business

•A powerful communicator with internal and external audiences

•Will challenge the organisation to provide growth opportunities

•Could step up significantly into a new higher level role or take on a major

project today

•Our competitors would poach them

Adaptable Professional •Consistently produces exceptional results and high performance ratings

•A strong contributor with cross functional skills and interest

•Knows the job well and continually enhances their skills

•Flexible with the ability to adapt to new situations as necessary

•Needs minimal direction and supervision

•Assimilates change and manages pressure well

•Reliable and trusted to get the job done

•Has well developed people management and interpersonal skills

•Could move up in their current field or across into another discipline at

their present level

High Professional •Consistently produces exceptional results and high performance

ratings

•Expert in their role and their field

•Highly valued contributor

•Disciplined and organised

•Willing to share knowledge and develop others

•Likely to stay in their field

•May not effectively adapt to new situations

•Would create a major vacuum if they were to leave

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(LO

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Perf

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(LOW) Potential (LOW) Potential (HIGH)(HIGH)

Appendix 2 GUIDELINES FOR COMPETING A 9 BOX RATING FOR THE PDR

Overall, remind yourself of the past performance and potential of each of your team members in terms of: PERFORMANCE – focus on results:

1. Previous PDR ratings, consistently over time, demonstration of KFG

competencies

2. Significant achievements in the last 12 months

3. Progress against their Scorecard objectives POTENTIAL/LEARNING AGILITY – does these things well:

1. A critical thinker who examines problems carefully and makes fresh connections

2. Able to handle tough situations

3. Likes to experiment and can deal with the discomfort of change

4. Delivers results in first time situations through team building and personal drive >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

ALLOCATING THE 9 BOX RATING: Review the PERFORMANCE AXIS first and using the criteria above select 1, 2 or 3:

1. Poor performer - does not deliver results, inconsistent, erratic

2. Good performer - knows the job well, enhances their skills as appropriate

3. Excellent performer - produces excellent results, expert in their role, enhances skills as appropriate

Then review the POTENTIAL AXIS and using the criteria select 1, 2 or 3:

1. Slow to adapt - does not adapt well to change or may be blocked personal learner

2. Can adapt – able to cope well with a range of situations

3. Drive for change – clearly demonstrates their future potential and readiness for their next role. Will challenge the organisation to take on growth opportunities


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Refer to the 9 box matrix definitions

Janaury 2011

Q & A SHEET – TALENT REVIEW 9 BOX MATRIX

Q. What is the purpose of the Matrix?

It is used to define an individual’s PERFORMANCE in their current role and their

POTENTIAL to move to a broader or larger role, including moving up to the next

level of the organisation. This is done using defined criteria and also takes into

account feedback from Performance Reviews.

It also enables the business to have an overall picture for a Department, a function, or any other part of the organisation.

It can used in Talent Review and succession planning discussions.

Q. What is it measuring?

It gives a rating of an individual’s performance and potential at a particular point in time. This rating may stay the same over time or it could change, based on the performance of the individual.

Q. Who fills in the Matrix?

Ratings on individuals are completed by their direct manager and these are then

reviewed by the manager at the next organisational level.

Q. Who sees it? How is it used?

It is shared with the other senior managers attending the Talent Reviews and resourcing Meetings. Each of the Regional’s at the meeting have a completed matrix for the GMs and AGMs and Supervisors in their Region.

At the Review each Regional Manager goes through the names on their matrix, the individuals are discussed, and the rating either confirmed or revised. This information is then used to build development plans and succession plans. Talent Development facilitates the overall process.

Q. How often will it be done?

The Talent Reviews take place regularly in each Area usually on a quarterly basis. The matrix is updated regularly.


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Q. Does the rating get reviewed at all? Can it change?

The ratings are discussed at the Talent Review session, where they are either confirmed or revised. They can change over a period of time based on an individual’s performance and the view of their future potential.

Q. To what extent is being “High Potential” a step change? What does an

individual have to do to move into that box? It means the individual is ready now to make a significant move up to the next level in the organisation.

Q. Do people move into another box when they change roles?

Where do new appointments fit?

Where the move is a promotion their rating becomes “new in role” for six

months (as part of the Rough Potential box) after which time it is reviewed again.

At that point they can be given any of the ratings. When someone moves

sideways into another role their rating may stay the same or be treated as “new

in role”.

Q. Is the rating absolute, or relative to the rest of the group of people being rated?

It is absolute against the criteria. However we will always take a sense check across the business to ensure there is continuity in the rating approach.

Q. What happens if someone could fit into two boxes?

They go in the box that best describes their overall performance and potential.

Q. To what extent should site/business performance be considered when the individual is being rated?

The matrix gives a rating for the individual, not the business. However the performance of their business unit should be considered in the context of how the individual has contributed to those business results

Q. Some people will not be geographically mobile – how should this be reflected in the rating?

The rating should be based on performance and potential in the first instance. Mobility will be noted and be discussed at the Talent Reviews in the context of succession plans and career moves. We will assume every individual is mobile unless otherwise stated.

Q. How does this connect with the Performance Review process?

An individual’s performance review will be a key consideration in deciding their rating for the matrix for Talent Review and succession planning purposes.

Q. When and how do we give feedback to the individuals?

Feedback should usually be given to individuals as part of the Performance Review process, unless there is a need to it earlier. We will look to time the Talent Reviews so that they fit into the Performance Review cycle.

Q. Who can help me in preparing for the feedback session?

Your local Learning and Development support will help you.


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Q. Can an individual challenge their rating?

An individual needs to understand their rating and have the opportunity to discuss it with their manager. Based on that discussion, the manager may then feel it is appropriate to revise the rating, although this would be a rare exception. There will be no formal appeal process as such. Individuals can move into other boxes at each Talent Review, based on their performance and our view of their potential.

Q. How will we ensure consistency in rating people – some managers are tougher than others?

HR and Talent development will support managers in the rating process and this will help to build consistency. The Talent Review sessions also ensure consistency as they are peer group discussions where each manager’s ratings are looked at and discussed in the context of the overall population.

Q. Where can I get more information on training and development activities to address any gaps that have been identified?

HR and Learning and Development will help you with this.

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