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Change, growth, and development do not happen overnight. They take time, investment, and patience. It can be difficult to prioritise learning when workloads are high, and daily task and needs are barely met. Stressed individuals do not learn.
However, sometimes carving out some time to learn, study and dive deeper can actually help in realigning priorities and managing workload. Rather than chasing the never-ending to-do list, deciding to stop and learn can create some much-needed inspiration.
Of course, balancing demands is a tricky thing to do, which is why organisations need to give permission to staff to identify their own needs and take the time for growth.
Training can take various forms; it can be a seminar style session with 5 to 10 people and adapted examples, or it can be a conference for hundreds of people with more generic (but not less valuable) teaching. Training can also be individually or informally between two or three colleagues. It can be planned or ad-hoc.
However, training needs place, it can serve the purpose of teaching something new, consolidating something recently learnt or refreshing long-known knowledge.
Each form of training serves it purpose and people might respond better to one form or another. Therefore, training should be offered in accordance to people’s needs and wishes.
It can be hard to take the time, but this can be influenced by the organisation culture. It does not hurt to actively encourage people to take time for trainings and even set reminders when that time is not taken.
If you would like to approach the topic of training with your team or manager, these reflections can help you formulate clearly in your mind why training is needed.
If you have the capacity to offer training to staff, these questions can help reflect on what good training looks like.
If you would like to access or find out more about relational training for Staff, you can contact Staf here - info@staf.scot
Relationships are an important part of everyone’s life. For example, everything we learn as children depends on others teaching us. But did you know that good relationships also have an influence on our physical and mental health (Griffith, 2017)? Relationship-based practice combines what we know about childhood development, trauma, resilience, and relationships to promote the best for children and adolescents.
Early life experiences shape our mind and body in ways that we are understanding more and more, especially when these experiences are traumatic. Trauma-informed practice takes this knowledge and creates a holistic framework for practitioners and organisations to create healing and safe spaces and ways of working.
First introductions matter. It matters when, how and where they happen. Many young people speak about transitions are often the most difficult times. In this Guide we explore how transitions can be done from the lens of relational practice.
What do IT systems and relationships have in common? Both usually run in the background and are easily taken for granted. Perhaps surprisingly, IT systems can have a big influence on the quality of relationships and relational practice in general.
When you know your goal you do whatever you need to do to reach it. But what if you defined the goal in the wrong way? In this Guide we explore how the goal affects your actions and how you can make sure that you are measuring your success in the right way. Are you meeting an outcome or are you filling a need?
One of the first things you learn when you start your job is when you need to arrive and when you need to leave. Have you ever considered that the pattern of your work affects the relationships you are building?
Organisational values influence the working culture. They can inspire workers to follow the organisation's mission. However, for them to have an impact they need to be developed with staff and young people.
As is often said, hurt people hurt people – it is even more important to consider the flipside: supported people support people. Working with young people and caring for them can be a demanding role, especially in under-resourced and stressful environments. A truly relational organisation also invests in the relationships between managers and staff, creating a positive environment for everyone.
Relationships do not just depend on one person, but rather on a network of people and the culture of an organisation. Sometimes one person who simple ‘doesn’t get it’ can put barriers in the way for an entire team to become less relational. So, it’s easy to see why recruiting the right people is so important to create and maintain a relational organisation.
All relationships take time and effort to build and develop relationships with young people with care experience is no exception, perhaps being even more difficult due to their backgrounds however with the right understanding and approach you could develop a strong and positive connection which will benefit both you and your young person.
Relationships are essential to all parts of life and encompass both our professional and personal lives. They are a vital part of the support networks for our young people and the stronger the relationship the better we can all do our jobs, perhaps making them feel less like a job and more like a vocation. And perhaps more importantly, the stronger the relationship the more important a young person might feel.
