"We'd tried increasing pay; recruiting from Canada and the USA and via UK agencies, but nothing seems to solve the problem of people moving on so fast. So we decided to tap into the local community and encourage not only workforce development but diversity and regeneration. We're encouraging black and ethnic minorities and on our current cohort seven out of eight are BEM. Our OU home-grown social workers are genuinely interested in really caring about the local communities they work with. Meanwhile we get buy-in and loyalty so it works all round. It's all part of strengthening workforce development so we can deliver better services across the whole organisation."
Laleh Nourbakhsh, Corporate Training, London Borough of Camden
A major reason for choosing The Open University to deliver education and training is the flexibility of our curriculum. But did you know that this flexibility extends to other aspects of the partnership? We can:
- time fee payments to fit with your financial year
- help you make the most of unspent year-end monies by arranging for fees to be paid in advance
- accept sponsorship bookings, whether for a single student or for hundreds.
We can also work with you locally about making your training budgets go further and how to address training needs and workforce priorities:
- Do you have a training need not met by current provision, either in the OU or elsewhere?
- Are you looking for more flexible education and training solutions which don’t entail sending staff off-site?
- Do you need your staff to invest some of their own time in professional and career development?
- Would you like to run an OU module (course) in-house, tailored to meet specific workforce priorities?
- Are you keen to involve your own staff in developing and supporting others learning?
Our curriculum has become increasingly informed by the needs of employers and the professional regulatory bodies. We plan to work more directly with employers to meet your specific needs, sharing development and delivery costs. We are therefore pleased to hear about any workforce development issues which we might help you address.
