Case studies
Secondment in Maldon
I've been fortunate enough to have been seconded twice, enabling me to progress my knowledge, experience and overall career. The first secondment was from Essex County Council to Chelmsford Borough Council to cover the role of Personnel Officer supervising a small team dealing with recruitment and contracts. I was also able to get involved in general HR issues. As I was responsible for recruitment I was dealing with senior staff at the Council, which was great experience for me.
The post was made permanent and after 4 years an opportunity came up at Maldon District Council. I moved to Maldon on a six-month secondment initially to job share the HR Manager role. Again this brought different challenges, as Maldon is a smaller authority with a HR team to match, so you get to deal with all aspects of HR and really develop your experience. This secondment is now permanent and I'm really enjoying working here. Overall both secondments have been a great opportunity for my career.
Team Leader Programme
Lynn works for Harlow Council as a Housing Team Leader this is what she had to say about the programme.
When I was told that I could attend a course for Team Leading I felt really pleased, as I was keen to learn new ways of becoming a better Team Leader. I felt a bit apprehensive on the first day, but it was really nice to meet other Team Leaders from different sections within the council. It soon became apparent that we all felt nervous not knowing what we had let ourselves into
The next twelve weeks went really fast. I enjoyed the interactiveness of the course, listening and learning from the other team leaders experiences as well as sharing my own experiences.
The course module included Developing yourself, Planning and organising your team, the role of the team leader, effective communication and motivating the team. Each week there was a different subject.
The one thing that filled everyone with dread was the fact that we had to carry out a presentation at the end of the course. Everyone was really nervous, but we all supported each other, even meeting up after the class to go through each other’s presentations where we gave each other feedback and encouragement before the big day!
I really gained a lot from this course and use the new skills learnt in my day-to-day working day. We all became good friends and would recommend the course to anyone who wishes to become a better Team Leader.