CERN HR Training pages

TEC Meeting on 26/10/2001

Participants: André Arn, Isabel Bejar-Alonso, Gerrit Jan Bossen, Francois Fluckiger, Sue Foffano, Andrée Fontbonne, Alain Guiard-Marigny, Erwin Moselmans, Linda Orr-Easo, Paula Ribeiro, Alberto Scaramelli, Josi Schinzel, Tony Shave, Peter Sievers, Mick Storr, Mauro Taborelli, Marc Tavlet, Sylvain Weisz

Excused: Margrit Burri, Enrico Chiaveri, Francoise Fabre, Friedmann Eder, Myriam Veyrat, Davide Vite

1. Towards Individual Training Plans in the PS Division

Josi Schinzel has developed a Web-based form to edit a training plan for each PS staff member. The staff member, its supervisor and the training linkmen (each PS group designated a person to liaise with the DTO for training related matter) would fill it. This provides a simple data collection into a separate training database and allows for a dynamic update of the records. Josi described the editing of a training entry with an attractive and user friendly set of interactive Web questionnaires. The first information concerns the activity for which the training would be requested and the purpose of this training: a breakdown of PS activities and projects is proposed, but one can also enter other choices. Next come the training type and training request together with a scheduling information. The courses already taken by the person concerned are also indicated on its training plan, the system being interfaced to the CTA database. The procedure is almost ready and the objective is to get a provisional Divisional Training plan by end 2001 that will be completed during the MOAS exercise. The next step will be the provision of reports and statistics to exploit the information that has been collected.

The TEC was obviously impressed by the quality and functionality of this system and many asked if they could use it in their Division. Josi is of course ready to share the application but she admitted that the installation requires some expertise in database management. Besides, a CERN wide implementation is of another degree of complexity: the project is much more a test bench to gain experience and inspire a set of specifications for a standard CERN system to be provided and maintained by AS.

2. Individual Training Plan: feed back from the EST Group Leaders

Mauro Taborelli presented the activity of the TEC and the stake of individual training plan at a Group Leader Meeting in EST Division. He used the canvas proposed by Isabel at the previous meeting (28/09/01). There was some concern that this would add another administrative burden on top of the MOAS exercise. Besides, the technical part of the form has to be developed to take account of the activities of the Division, and it was felt difficult to plan years in advance what the needs will be in these fields. There was no great enthusiasm but EST GL are ready to participate and would need some guideline to quantify the level of competency that should be reached.

The EST GL also made a request for an enlargement of the language programme to German, Spanish and Russian. This is clearly in contradiction with a long lasting policy to concentrate on professional needs and thus to the language officially used at CERN: the persons responsible for the language training programme can however give advice on external courses available in the Geneva area.

3. WG on Computer Tools to present Individual Training Plans

Sylvain Weisz summarised the evolution of the Individual Training Plan content since the TEC meeting in June. The working group in charge met on October 12^th and agreed that, ideally, the Individual Training Plan should contain 5 pieces of information:

1) The general information on the person

2) The past experience and skill inventory

3) The training already attended

4) The training activity already registered

5) The training foreseen for the next 3 years

The “Training Overview” document that Sue Foffano developed and installed in Web-HRT contains part 1,3 and 4 and it is adequate to collect background data. Part 2 (past experience and skill inventory) corresponds to the information available with the “Skill” document that is also available in Web-HRT, but the content of the HR database is quite scarce on these matters: a real skill inventory is a project by itself and we have to start without it. The priority is thus to concentrate on a procedure to collect information on training foreseen for the next years and to exploit such data. The WG identified that:

- New training request will come as text in free format;

- It would be useful to know about the activity for which the training is requested;

- Internal and external training must be handled together: a large demand may result in the organisation of training sessions on site;

- There must be an indication on the timing/degree of urgency as well as on the expected level of expertise, but the format still needs to be agreed;

- Training needs are discussed during MOAS/MAPS interview and our tool must be ready for the next exercise.

The editing and updating procedure has to be computer based: it could be similar to “External Training Request” in EDH but with different input fields. All information would then become available in the HR database for further treatment. In order to specify what we need and to be ready by end February, the TEC agreed on the following plan of actions and milestones:

1. Agree on a format for Part 5:

- additional training field and comments from DTOs

- merging of proposition by the working group (~ beginning November)

2. Pilot test:

- DTOs start collecting a sample of training plans in each Division

- Report on progress - additional comments at TEC (~ end November)

3. Definition of the specifications:

- Working group analyses the results from Pilot test

- Working group defines the specifications (before Christmas)

4. Procurement of the new tools in WebHRT:

- AS-IDS to set-up the new Web-based demand and reporting facility

(è February)

5. Communication with users:

- HR-TD to advertise the new procedure (MAPS training, article, mail …)

- Training of DTOs to be organised by AS-IDS

(~end February)

6. Collection of training data CERN wide:

- Staff, Supervisors and DTOs during the MOAS/MAPS exercise

- May be HR-TD could organise a help line (good way to get feed back)

(March-April …)

4. Technical Training : policy concerning pending training demands

Mick Storr proposed to review the Technical Training waiting list. The main motivations for doing it now are:

- WebHRT has become an efficient tool for both DTOs and HR/TD: we have to ensure that the information obtained with CTA and with WebHRT are consistent;

- We now have to proceed with individual training plans and it is the right time to revise one of their basic piece of information;

- We are approaching the end of the year and have to decide on the training requests to pass to 2002;

- CERN is confronted to a major budget problem and we must revise the priorities among the different training foreseen.

The idea is thus to look individually at all pending technical training requests that will not be met by the ~30 courses actually scheduled. Mick and Davide Vite would check if they are still valid, and contact the person if necessary: this could be achieved by November and they expect to be left with about 300 training requests. They would then ask the DTOs to revalidate the demands to keep them over in year 2002. The proposition was accepted.

Mick then proposed to define a service quality chart with a view to improve the communication with the users: whenever he could not meet a demand within a given amount of time (order of 2 months), he would come back to the user and propose alternative solutions (external or Web based courses). The demand would need to be revalidated to be kept on the waiting list. This raised some question about when to enrol in the future, given that the demand would have a limited period of validity: the answer is that people should enrol whenever they need a training but only if they are ready to follow that course.

Finally, Mick proposed access until the end of the year to our Web-based training package, free of charge to any one on the waiting list of a course for which there is a correspondence. However, past experience indicates that most people enrolled on Web-based training keep delaying their “take-off”: he would ask candidates to come at an induction session in the training centre where he would help them to start. After this first session (typically 2h), people would be free to access the courses wherever they like.

5. Contributions from DTOs for the Organisation of MAPS training sessions

Linda Orr-Easo gave a brief review of the latest developments concerning the AC#26 that describes the new career structure: the direct supervisor will have to apply the new scheme and they will consequently need to follow a training on MAPS. This concerns about 600 persons and 60 sessions, one day each, are actually planned from December 2001 to February 2002. The organisation of these sessions within such a limited time is a challenge and HR-TD will need the help of the DTOs. The first step is to identify the MOAS supervisors since the information is not kept in the HR database (a situation that was strongly criticised): the DTOs are furthermore asked to contact the group leaders to get the names of the supervisors in their group. Among the supervisors, we also need to know those

who attended the "performance appraisal" course (0LM-1) and those who have been recently (<1year) appointed. The list of supervisors must be ready and up-to-date by November 9^th at the latest.

6. Budget Crisis: impact on training

Sylvain Weisz informed the DTOs that the “shadow cut” of 10% would hit the budget allocated to HR-TD. Since 50% of this budget is used to subsidise Technical and Management courses (200 CHF charged when it costs 300 CHF on average), there is a potential impact on the price that will be billed to the Division from 2002 onwards. He asked about the intention of the Division concerning the budget dedicated to training, in view to insure that training does not get hit twice by the shadow cut.

It appears that most of the represented Divisions do not envisage a reduction of their central training budget (case of AS, EP, EST, HR, SPL and ST), and that in the case of LHC or IT, the cut would mainly affect external events (as Chamonix workshop) or external training. The policy is not yet defined in ETT (but the tendency is to cut on this budget too), PS and TIS (where training is charged to the groups).

7. AOB

The working group on “External Training and standardisation of procedure between Division” will meet Tuesday 30^th of October.

Sylvain Weisz