2003/1

Minutes of the TEC meeting of 24.04.2003

Present: I. Bejar Alonso, M. Burri, P. Carvalho Correia, S. Datta Cockerill, A. Desirelli, G. Deroma, F. Eder, J. Ferguson (Chair), F. Fluckiger, S, Foffano (Secretary),

A. Fontbonne, J. Schinzel, T. Shave, P. Sievers, M. Storr, M. Taborelli, M. Veyrat,

D. Vite

Excused: M. Mazerand, E. Mosselmans, L. Orr-Easo, J-M. Saint-Viteux

1.      Introduction and welcome

J. Ferguson opened the meeting introducing himself as JTB & TEC Chairman replacing Alberto Scaramelli since 1/4/2003. There was no approval of the minutes of the last meeting of December 2002 as they were not available.

Action: J. Ferguson to contact S. Weisz via the HR Divisional hierarchy to ensure that minutes are available for the next meeting.

J. Schinzel expressed concern that the individual training plan presented at the last TEC meeting should not be forgotten. J.Ferguson confirmed that a discussion would take place on the subject to review the past and plan the future, and that this would be part of the general JTB review which was planned.

2.      JTB and TEC membership and changes

J. Ferguson reviewed membership of the JTB and explained that a review of the CERN Training Plan and resulting actions including the Individual Training Plan would be carried out by the JTB and reported on at future TEC meetings.

The new TEC members Alberto Desirelli representing TIS Division and Jean-Marc Saint-Viteux representing AS Division were welcomed. Concerning the logistics of meetings he proposed that the TEC should meet no more than 6 times a year with the next meeting taking place early in June.

3. Information from HR-TD

S. Foffano explained that she had replaced S. Weisz as HR-TD (Training & Development) Group Leader since 1/1/2003 and was therefore now secretary of the TEC. As this succession was not known at the time of the last TEC meeting it had not been possible to announce anything. S. Foffano thanked S. Weisz for his work in the past TEC meetings.

Futhermore the HR-TD group will merge with the HR-PM (Personnel Management) group on 1/5/2003 to become HR-PMD (Personnel Management & Development). In this new group there will be 4 sections with 2 dedicated to the TD activities; 1 for Management, Communication & Language training with S. Datta Cockerill as Section Leader and 1 for Academic & Technical Training with Mick Storr as Section Leader.

The Section Leaders are members of TEC.

A status report was then presented from each of the programmes.

Language training: A. Fontbonne reported that a recession had been strongly felt during 2002 due to the budget crisis, however the situation seems to be improving in 2003. The language training test evaluation system was also presented as it represents a heavy investment of time and is currently free of charge. M. Veyrat commented that FI Division appreciated these language tests and had noticed a change of attitude since their introduction. P. Sievers questioned if there was much self-study by language training students – this is now obligatory as part of the higher level language courses however only 4 or 5 students are learning via self-study alone.

Management & Communication training: S. Datta-Cockerill reported that also in this programme it was felt that the situation was better than last year. There was a clarification on the 1-LM training in the programme as it has led to some confusion; 1-LM consists of 2 modules 1-LM-1 which comprises 8 sessions with basic information of use to managers and 1-LM-2 which is more hands-on and offered to people taking on new management functions. Due to the 1-LM-1 not being delivered for a few years there is a back-log and currently there are some participants following 1-LM-1 who have already followed 1-LM-2; this situation should be corrected soon as it is advised to follow the first module before the second.

Information was presented on the Core development package for Managers which aims to create a CERN-wide common management practice offered as compulsory (at the discretion of the Divisional Management) training for Group Leaders, Supervisors and Project Leaders as a complement to the regular Management & Communication training programme. The package proposed for Group Leaders comprises 3 days of residential training and 3 days of non-residential training on a number of modules including Development counseling, Project Management, Manpower planning etc. For Supervisors and Project Leaders 3 days of modules on the supervisory role are proposed with an additional 2 days for either MAPS or Project Management.

M. Taborelli questioned the time investment as the current 2 day MAPS training is already considered too long. T. Shave questioned evolution for a Supervisor who then becomes Group Leader. S. Datta Cockerill confirmed that unless the change of role happens within a very short time it would be expected to follow first the supervisor/Project Leader training then the Group Leader training which would serve as revision of some subjects, and introduction of other new subjects. The training is aimed at all existing managers or within 6 months of taking up responsibilities. For existing Group Leaders priorities will be defined by the Divisional Management.

S. Datta-Cockerill explained that the content of the modules had first been discussed at the Management & Communication Working Group then presented to the TEC in 2002. The results of the questionnaire launched in the Autumn of 2002 had also helped to confirm the content. The cost is CHF 1,600 / participant based on current 200 CHF/day + 135 CHF/day estimated residential cost. P. Sievers questioned the amount as CERN trainers are being used. J. Schinzel questioned the use of internal trainers only. External consultants have helped define content, however HR & Divisional specialists will deliver with a continual assessment of quality and level.

The projected schedule is to propose the package which has been endorsed by the JTB to the Management Board in May 2003 for approval. The plan is to run a pilot session with 1 Group Leader per Division in June 2003 then launch with existing Group Leader’s from September 2003 to March 2004 with sessions organized for newly appointed Group Leader’s from September 2004 onwards. The Supervisor/Project Leader package would be launched in 2004 with a Pilot session before the summer and the launch from September 2004 onwards.

As Chairman of the Management & Communication Working Group J. Ferguson commented that now is the time to take the proposal to the Management Board to get support. While time investment and cost will probably be discussed he remains convinced of the value and the appropriate timing of such training.

F. Eder questioned if some modules could be replaced by Web based training to offer more flexibility to busy Group Leaders. It was felt that this would be more useful as a follow-up, and that the exchange and networking were important aspects of the training which implied a group approach. J. Ferguson commented that it must be possible to find 6 days in a year to follow training, and that currently not enough time is being spent on training for a research laboratory.

M. Taborelli made reference to the External Review Committee report and questioned if the messages about management and improvement necessary could be used as a basis to help sell the proposal. J. Ferguson found the idea interesting and will review this in preparation for the presentation of the proposal to the Management Board and will report back on this at the next TEC meeting.

I. Bejar Alonso commented on the ambitious time scale and lack of detail and progress since the last presentation at the TEC. She asked for names to be provided and more detail on the content. The cost was compared to that of the ST Workshop organized where she felt there was a greater learning opportunity for less money. Until Management Board approval it is difficult to plan too much although the content is currently being defined by a specialized working group. For the pilot run names can and should already be provided.

Action: S. Datta-Cockerill in collaboration with the DTO’s and the Division Leader’s should identify representative Group Leaders who are available for the Pilot Session.

J. Schinzel suggested that an alternative could be to have a pilot session with DTO’s not all of whom are Group Leaders, however they could help sell the training within their Division if they had followed it themselves.

Academic & Technical Training: M. Storr presented the Academic Training Programme which is overseen by the Academic Training Committee chaired by M. Mangano. Several Academic lectures are run during the year; all are free of charge. The Programme is based on a questionnaire available to everyone via the CERN home page. DTO’s were asked to encourage people to complete the questionnaire which will remain open until 28/4/2003. A new objective of the programme is to improve the information, publicity and accessibility of the programme. The goal of Academic Training was questioned by M. Taborelli; a way to.keep physicists, engineers & scientists up to date in the forefront of their field and to stimulate new ideas. M. Burri commented that the recent series of lectures about Project Management had been a good way to introduce new people to the Academic Training Programme lectures.

On the Technical Training Programme M. Storr commented that while safety training is. technically managed by TIS, technical and administrative support is offered by HR representing about 20% of the Technical Training workload.

In addition to Web-Based training possibilities, 32 sessions of Technical Training have been run since the beginning of the year which is less than normal. M. Storr questioned the reason for this - Is there a drop in demand for Technical Training? Is the reason financial, are people too busy to follow training or is the programme not attractive ? It was felt the problem was not due to budget however without reliable MAPS training data or discussions with supervisors it was difficult to determine the real need. DTO’s will be contacted on an individual basis in an effort to collect this information. 

J. Ferguson questioned if all DTO’s had access to training information which launched an animated debate illustrating that practices vary greatly from division to division and that not all MAPS forms are processed electronically. In most divisions the MAPS training information is only available to the DTO in September. This subject will be raised at a future JTB in an effort to streamline and harmonise the procedure with the goal of collecting training data electronically from the MAPS exercise in May to plan for training from September onwards.

Finally M. Storr reminded DTO’s of some of the successful training sessions organized recently by retiring members of personnel in an effort to pass on their knowledge. DTO’s were asked to research in their Divisions if new possibilities for topics or trainers exist.

Action: DTO’s to research training possibilities within their Division.

4. Issues, comments or concerns from the Divisions

AB – J. Schinzel reported that each large group in the new division has a training linkperson and questioned if these people could be in the EDH Training Request signature chain. As this is not a Cern-wide practice, nor an official role it was not felt to be appropriate to implement.

J. Schinzel also questioned the CERN policy concerning Open University courses: is it encouraged, if so what support can be offered ? Referring to Administrative Circular 16 paragraph 14.2 J. Ferguson remarked that each Division has flexibility within the stated rules. He added that the circular was in need of a general update which would be another topic for the JTB. There was some discussion on the form used to request external training proposed by a working group of the TEC during 2002. Finally it was decided that first the external training policy should be clarified followed by a review of requests for external training such as Open University courses.

ETT – T. Shave reported on the need for some recognition for the guide training activity with some recognition to those who train the guides, and the guides themselves via the MAPS process. He also commented that more guides are needed especially in preparation for CERN’s 50^th anniversary.

EST – M. Taborelli explained that the strategy of the budget had changed with more responsibility given to the Group Leader who has an allocation per person for costs including informatics equipment, telephone charges, training etc. This provoked some discussion illustrating that again divisional budget allocations vary, some having centralized training budgets, other with distributed budgets.

ST – I. Bejar Alonso questioned the conclusion of the investment in Indivdual Training Plans and questioned which tool should be used for the handling of this information. There was some discussion on the tool developed in PS Division, and the analysis of other software packages as discussed at the TEC meeting of December 2002. J. Ferguson repeated the need for the minutes of the last TEC meeting at which this was discussed, and re-confirmed that this topic would be discussed at a future JTB meeting.

AT-  P. Sievers reported that visitors are spending as much as Staff Members on training therefore while MAPS can be used to help determine the needs it is not enough. He also concluded that there had been little correlation between requests recorded in the past MAPS exercise and training actually followed. Much time is spent learning new tools and new versions of software and he questioned the amount of time invested in this.

EP – M. Burri confirmed that the training budget for 2003 was very similar to the one in 2001 (before budget crisis). EP's budget is used to train not only Staff Members but also Project Associates, Fellows and long term Students, present at CERN for at least 1 year. A modification in the reimbursement of language training was introduced in 2003: non-Staff have to pay the first trimester.  A special training session has been organized for EP, AB and AT in collaboration with SPL to address contract and specification writing.

IT – F. Fluckiger expressed appreciation for the HRT tool and in particular the training reports which are considered very useful by supervisors to prepare for MAPS. He questioned if the tool was widely used throughout CERN. He also expressed appreciation for the Web Based Training campaign. The IT Training Budget covers training for to all members including short term visitors and Technical Students.

AS – S. Foffano representing J-M. Saint-Viteux expressed the need for Oracle 9 training. Soon there will be a launch of Oracle 9 training at CERN proposed by IT Division in collaboration with the Oracle community as part of the Technical Training programme.

5. Any other Business

J. Ferguson apologized for the long meeting, however it was felt to be normal after the absence of meetings since the beginning of the year. The next meeting will take place in early June, and any TEC member with comments, ideas or suggestions for future meetings is encouraged to contact J. Ferguson in advance of the next meeting.