Training and development Critical companion A new shadowing scheme gives parking staff tailored feedback from experienced trainers, as Louise Parfitt finds out I nitially, the staff were dubious, and perhaps even a bit suspicious was it a bit like Big Brother? but they got on well with the observer, used his knowledge and advice, and have progressed and developed. Lorraine Martin, parking services manager at Cheshire East Council, is talking about a new training scheme, developed by Alpha Parking, by which trainers shadow staff as they work and give detailed, constructive feedback based on what they observe. The idea for the mentoring approach to training came after discussions among Alpha Parkings trainers about how they could support people once they had taken part in the core City and Guilds civil enforcement training session. It became clear that many local authorities would benefit from their staff having access to frequent, independent, and individually tailored feedback on their performance, says Penny Winder, director at Alpha Parking. The training can be adapted for the role the staff member is doing, be it frontline civil enforcement or back-office processing. During the shadowing stage, candidates are observed against standard assessment schedules for their knowledge, skills, behaviour and approach to their job, and any achievements or areas for improvement are noted and addressed. This is followed by a mentoring session in which individual candidates have the opportunity to discuss the results directly with their trainers and raise any concerns or questions. Rather than a general training course, this is much more focused on an individuals needs and career development, Winder explains. BPA training update There has never been a more important time to invest in the training and development of our parking people as we look to support further activity in the professionalism of our sector, says the BPAs Caron Fassetta. The new Parking Act gives us increased impetus to focus our energies to create more and improved parking specific courses, delivered through our excellent online learning platform, Litmos Pro. We will be announcing new developments as we bring them online, adding to the hundreds of courses already available to our individual and corporate individual members. Please visit our website or email membership@britishparking.co.uk to find out more. Potential for progress Ten of Martins staff have taken part in the scheme so far, and she has been particularly pleased with how the observers feedback is given. I received a lengthy phone call from the trainer, who then put all the information in writing, she says. We have been able to use the feedback to consider areas of good practice and development in one-to-ones. For Martin, the programme has potential both for new employees who have passed the initial training and for more experienced staff members. Things change and we need our staff to be as up to date as possible, she says. Obtaining objective and completely independent feedback is a great way for them to develop their careers. 32 britishparking.co.uk PN March 2022 pp32-33 Training.indd 32 22/02/2022 14:56 Traffe