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6. Coaching to support Train to Gain

Train to Gain — the facts

Following a number of employer training pilots, Train to Gain was launched nationally in 2006. The Train to Gain service is a key part of government plans to build a more skilled and better qualified workforce that will enable Britain to compete globally. Train to Gain represents a huge opportunity for the further education system to offer businesses the learning they really need to improve their employees’ productivity and performance.

As part of the drive to meet Public Service Agreement targets for 2008 and 2010, the Train to Gain service is targeted to achieve:

  • engaging with 33,000 employers in 2006-2007
  • engaging 53,000 employers in 2007-2008 and in successive years to 2010

At least 51% of these employers will be classified as ‘hard to reach’.

Engagement is defined by the LSC as the employer becoming involved in skills development activity as a result of Train to Gain.

Employers are working with skills brokers to identify training needs in their organisation. These skills brokers have access to a wide range of learning and support services, but do not actually deliver them to the employer they are advising. Instead, the employer and the broker design a training package, which the employer then commissions from one or more providers. The broker stays in touch with the employer to monitor the quality of the training received.

Funding for training delivery is available through LSC regional contracts with providers. For small and medium-sized businesses there is also funding for leadership and management training, as well as for a range of other smaller initiatives. You can find out how Train to Gain is funded from the LSC, or by contacting your local LSC regional office.

How the LSC summarises the programme:

Train to Gain puts employers at the heart of the drive to close skills gaps and boost productivity. Training providers will ensure that top quality training is adapted to the needs of employers and their staff and is delivered in a targeted and flexible way within the workplace, from basic reading and mathematics up to key technician level and beyond.

LSC Press Release 13 September 2006

You can find out more from the Train to Gain website

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Organisational demands of Train to Gain

Whatever your experience of training for employers, with Train to Gain you’ll find you have some new or continuing challenges:

  • meeting the expectations of employers by providing industry-standard resources and appropriately skilled individuals to facilitate the training
  • delivering ‘just in time’ training for employers where and when they want it
  • playing a part in convincing employers that training is an investment
  • maintaining the quality and impetus of the training you offer
  • measuring the impact of the training, with emphasis on its contribution to the business objectives of the employer.

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Challenges for managers

Whether you’re a senior or middle manager, a curriculum or business support manager working in a college or a work-based training provider, Train to Gain may have an impact on your role. Here are some of the ways in which Train to Gain may affect you.

  • Appropriate resources will need to be in place.
  • Your staff will have to be suitably skilled and prepared to work flexibly in a range of environments and contexts.
  • Your teachers and trainers will have to work with learners who have been out of formal learning for some time, and some of these learners may need encouragement and additional support.
  • Your teachers and trainers should motivate, engage and inspire learners by designing high quality, focused and customised materials — you will have to lead and assure the quality of this process.
  • Some of the learners involved may need support with skills such as literacy, numeracy, ICT and communication before they can benefit from vocational training.
  • Train to Gain is essentially a demand-led process: all providers involved will have to understand the strategic and operational implications of this.

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Making the most of your investment — How Subject Learning Coaches can contribute

Coaches can support colleagues across curriculum and programme areas in the following ways:

  • being a role model for good practice in learning. For example, Subject Learning Coaches can demonstrate tools and techniques that link vocational theory to practice. They can select activities from the teaching and learning resources that encourage learners to work effectively in teams, to think, challenge, question and solve problems. These are the skills that employers actively seek and should underpin any training package that you design
  • coaching them to develop skills in dealing directly with employers
  • reviewing methods to measure impact with teachers, trainers and others, and helping them to understand what changes are needed as a result of impact evaluation
  • motivating individuals to undertake their own continuing professional development (CPD) and increase their vocational competence, which will give them greater confidence and credibility when liaising with employers and employees
  • taking any concerns and questions to subject coaching networks where Subject Learning Coaches can draw on the expertise and experience of other teachers and trainers, who may have just the solution.

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Subject Learning Coaches working with managers

Subject Learning Coaches can work with managers and join you in leading the implementation of Train to Gain, as well as supporting many processes in your organisation. Why not consider the following ways in which your Subject Learning Coaches can contribute?

  • Helping to transfer good practice in working with employed learners from one part of your organisation to another
  • Supporting teachers and trainers who find it more difficult to adapt to working with employed learners
  • Coaching the front-line staff who are your initial contact with employers
  • Taking questions and issues to subject coaching networks to see if other Subject Learning Coaches have answers
  • Getting involved in resource development, including designing training packages that contain e-learning and blended learning
  • Using their knowledge and expertise to make learning on Train to Gain more effective and more efficient — for example by embedding Skills for Life and key skills in vocational training

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