Keystage Housing staff benefitting from new in-house training Knowledge Hub

Keystage Housing staff benefitting from new in-house training Knowledge Hub to meet all their training needs.

Developed in-house by Quality and Training Manager Jan DeVyott and Learning and Development Co-ordinator Michelle Whitley, the hub offers new and existing staff the chance to improve their knowledge and skills through online learning.

Keystage Housing was previously using an external provider for staff training but Jan recognised an opportunity to provide training in-house instead, with courses tailor-made and designed to perfectly meet the needs of our workforce.

Jan and Michelle spent four months creating a catalogue of online training courses, which can be accessed by all staff as and when they need it.

Staff work through the short training courses, which last between five and 20 minutes, and are awarded a certificate on completion.

There are various topics and pathways for both managers and frontline staff which have been split into 53 packages.

Online courses available include a diverse range of topics such as finance, safeguarding, and health and safety, giving staff the confidence and skills needed for their work.

Jan said: “It’s a life-long learning hub which will equip staff with the knowledge and skills they need at work but also help them to develop personally.”

Each course is designed for the learner to read information about the topic before watching a video and then completing a quiz to test their knowledge.

Jan said the feedback from learners who have used the Knowledge Hub has been positive.

Michelle added: “It ensures that they know how to do the job but also why they do certain things – that’s more important than anything else; that they know the why and that this is across the board. Everyone needs to be learning the same and everyone needs to be progressing.

“The learning is designed to be uplifting and fun rather than a chore.”

The Knowledge Hub can be expanded and added to with different courses, something which has already happened since its launch with requests for courses on the menopause and gender identity.

“It can grow and change as our needs do and it is about being responsive to those needs,” said Jan, adding: “When you purchase training externally it’s not tailor made. But this fits our needs perfectly. It belongs to Keystage and having that identity stitched through what we are offering is personalised and that’s top down which is really important.

“The courses are designed so that people are learning without feeling like they are learning. That’s the magic. Learners become immersed in what’s happening and it doesn’t feel like learning because they are focused and engaged and committed. It doesn’t feel like they have been on an arduous journey – that’s not what we wanted.”

Jan said that training underpins everything at Keystage Housing and that creating an internal Knowledge Hub was therefore a natural progression.

“We want to help people to be the best they can be at work,” she said, adding: “Training underpins that and equips people and helps them feel more confident.”