Securing the necessary tools for the job was one of the key reflections of the CIPD’s People Profession 2020 report. HR practitioners and business leaders are now seeking ways in which they can add value and contribute to the performance of their business in long-term sustainable ways. This has never been as relevant given the recent challenges experienced globally, where developing new or existing skillsets to meet the demands of today’s world of work is critical for success.
Following many months of planning and preparation, 2020 sees the launch of Focus HR’s professional training program targeted at the HR community and business owners or managers with people responsibility. Director Katie Bellingham (pictured) said: “for some time now we have been looking at ways to provide top quality human resources training to the HR Community and Senior Managers, being mindful of what is already available and, where we can assist, fill this gap. As HR professionals ourselves we have benefited over the years from professional qualifications available locally as well as excellent industry updates and best practice overviews provided by legal firms and other professional bodies. What we aim to achieve through this program however is in-depth, interactive training on specific areas of HR practice, targeted at those individuals who already have some experience but who wish to engage in further professional learning with a very practical focus. By running courses in very specific subject areas and with a small number of attendees, we are able to cover subject matters in depth in a way that is not always possible in other formats”.
At the end of 2019 Focus appointed John Ioannou-Droushiotis to their team of HR consultants who brought with him experience within the employment tribunal service and on the project team for the recently approved discrimination legislation. His appointment and experience within previous roles further emphasised the need for greater professional training on island for the HR and business community in dealing with complex HR matters.
Working in conjunction with ACAS trainer Paul Beard, the “Focus on…” training program, commencing in October 2020, will look at specific subject areas including capability and conduct, managing long-term absence and attendance, followed up with a three part series in early 2021 focusing on handling disciplinary, investigations and grievance. John Ioannou-Droushiotis added “Paul is an experienced ACAS trainer and conciliator. This coupled with his background as a UK barrister and his commercial experience sees him well placed to provide training of this calibre. With the pending discrimination legislation and smaller body of tribunal cases, appeals to the Royal Court and precedents in Guernsey, Paul brings a wealth of knowledge of the UK employment legislation, and English tribunal case law which the Guernsey tribunal look to when precedent in lacking in Guernsey. He is already well known on Island for providing such training and we are delighted to be partnering with him on this project.”
Katie Bellingham added “we see the delivery of this training as Focus being able to give back to the HR community which we have been a key part of for the last 13 years. We recognise the importance of lifelong learning, and the need for quality professional skills updates. We wish to play our part in upskilling and developing HR practices in the Channel Islands”.
The (chargeable) five course training series is set to begin on Friday 23 October with ‘Managing attendance and complex absence’ and due to run into Quarter 1 2021. The sessions can be attended as a series or as standalone sessions.
