Rossendale Borough Council calls on Burnley College for staff development

Expert tutors from Burnley College are leading tried-and-tested, innovative management and professional development training sessions with senior managers at Rossendale Borough Council.

In a bespoke offer, tailored to the needs of the council’s experienced management team, tutors are delivering Covid-safe training sessions at the council, as well as offering online training and one-to-one coaching and support.

Sarah Condren, staff development manager at the college, which is rated Number 1 in England in the latest government achievement tables for students aged 16-19, who led the training, said: “Our training is aimed at maximising the potential of every individual manager within the council’s senior management team, as well as the team as a whole. Everyone taking part is already experienced and successful but are driven to be even better – which is great to work with and offers some amazing opportunities for development.

“As a new team, this training is offering them a true 360-degree view of how they operate together, how they communicate and how they can take their working relationships to the highest possible level, to benefit the council and the communities they serve.”

Many of the activities which are continually adapted to ensure they meet the developing needs of the council, are based on the highly-successful leadership training programmes which have seen the College recognised as one of the best in the UK, for its drive and innovation.

Training is also led by Sarah Crossley, head of A Levels at the College, and Will Shepherd, business lecturer and management guru, who has worked with some of the UK’s top brands. A recent training session also included Diane Burridge, Chief Executive Officer of Moneyline, who shared her own professional experience to further bring the learning to life.

Paul Sharples, of Burnley College, added: “Through in-depth conversations with Rossendale Borough Council, we’ve been able to identify exactly what they want to gain from the training and have created a truly bespoke training package – over a flexible timescale that is tailored to their needs – to help them achieve their goals.

“We’re constantly monitoring the progress made by individuals and the team as a whole to make adaptations as necessary to ensure that the training is relevant, cost-effective and focussed on success.

“One size does not fit all with this high-level training and we’ve got the expertise and experience needed to create and deliver tailored training packages in a wide variety of specialist areas to businesses and organisations in all sectors and industries.”

Neil Shaw, chief executive of Rossendale Council, said: “Rossendale Council recognises the importance in investing in our staff to ensure the continuing development of their skills so they're able to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

“We engaged Burnley College specifically to support the development of our corporate management team. Their support and input has been creative, constructively challenging and has enabled us to grow as a team. We’ve used their facilitation to gain greater insight into how we work as individuals and how we can improve as a senior management team.”