Not-for-profit (otherwise known as Third Sector) organisations have their own set of challenges and needs when it comes to L&D.

In this series, we will hear from several charities and organisations on what their learning priorities are for the coming year, what their pain points are, and what they've been finding effective in the development of their staff.

Harriet Candy is a Technical Training Specialist at Victim Support – an independent charity which last year helped 1.2m victims of crime in England and Wales.

We caught up with Harriet to hear how the organisation structures its training programme and which methods have been working for them so far.

What are your development priorities for the year?

Our main priority is to create flexible learning interventions, leveraging the benefits of learning technology in order to make training more accessible to people.

We’re expanding our development of eLearning packages, webinars, self-directed workbooks and videos in order to achieve this.

We’re also developing a range of effective learning aids to facilitate learning in the workflow.

What are your biggest challenges when developing employees?

The biggest challenge we have is that we have a geographically dispersed workforce so bringing people together for training is often logistically difficult and costly.

We also find it difficult to release people from their roles to attend training sessions.

What have you found most successful in developing your teams?

A combination of eLearning modules and workbooks. The eLearning is produced in short, bite-sized units and ensures we get a consistent message across to people. The workbooks provide a medium for reflection and discussion amongst the teams. 

These methods allow learning to take place in short bursts, in the learner’s office. This easily fits into the normal working day and some managers have even used it as a focal point for team meetings.