Watch the latest Team Talk here Team Talk - Learning Organisation-20221130_154713-Meeting Recording.mp4
The latest Team Talk focussed on the Learning Organisation and participants had plenty to say about the culture of Learning within the council.
Jim Savege, Chief Executive, discussed the importance of the Learning Organisation and posed questions to participants about what they had experienced and looked to gain from the Learning Culture.
"We want to develop greater capability, strength and resilience of the workforce for greater flexibility," he said "We've got an 8% saving to make in our budgets next year and that will mean people will need to have different skills and different capabilities to be able to adapt.
"I do want to provide an opportunity people to develop and grow and so that brings me to ZigZag. We've got 12 people involved out of 16,000 people. Should that be 120? Should that be 1,200? So what is the scale of activity we need to have to deliver that flexibility and versatility?"
Morag Fraser, Training and Quality Assurance Officer, said this of a recent Zig Zag opportunity; describing it as a 'Really rewarding, delivering that experience and I am really looking forward to getting a range of different experiences in other sectors, to keep learning, keep agile.'
Scott Higgins, Engineer Harbours, on his introduction to working at Aberdeenshire Council, said 'From the very start my line management has been really supportive to get me up to speed with the way the Council operates. The whole recruitment process worked really well for me. The people I've met have all been open and willing to share their experience, not something to be taken for granted.'
Avril Nicol, Head of Service, Communities and Wellbeing, also commented: 'What people bring to work are not necessarily the skills that we pay them for, people are bringing a lot more with them. We are all products of our previous experience and it's sometimes having the opportunities, and creating the opportunities, for folk to come and use them to grow and flourish in different ways.
'We're afraid to make mistakes sometimes. That's understandable when you're the stewards of public funds; we don't want to be frivolous with that.'
Mike Healy, Programme Manager for The Learning Organisation, said after the Team Talk "The enthusiasm and positivity seen during the Team Talk was remarkable. Learning isn't separate from work it's what we do while we work. It's a win win for colleagues and the Council."
Would you like a ZIG ZAG development experience in 2023?
Over the last few months 12 people have requested ZIG ZAG opportunities. In addition to these, four people offered ZIG ZAG opportunities for anyone who might be interested.
ZIGZAG is a very simple idea. It gives people the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge beyond what they currently do through developmental experiences in other areas. It lets people develop their career through short term internal experiences in other parts of the council so that the variety of jobs they can apply for in future increases.
For more information about the Learning Organisation and the opportunities it can offer visit Aberdeenshire Learning Organisation - Home (sharepoint.com)
Or to discuss directly contact Mike Healy, Programme Manager mike.healy@aberdeenshire.gov.uk