What training is most appropriate for each department?

When you have a wide range of staff working tirelessly, you want to reward them. One of the best ways to do this is by providing training and development opportunities to enhance career progression.

But with so many departments – administration, nursing and marketing, just to name a few – it’s easy to be unsure when searching for the most suitable courses. So join Hello Leaders as we take a look at the most appropriate training courses for your staff based on their role within aged care.

Nursing and direct care

Nurses form the core of any aged care workforce, from assistants in nursing (AIN) to nurse practitioners (NP). They bring an abundance of knowledge and their experience is invaluable which poses an interesting question; what new training is most appropriate for nurses with high-level qualifications?

You want training courses that will enhance knowledge and benefit your residents who require specialist care. One way to approach this is by evaluating resident needs and existing staff experience to identify potential skill gaps. Alternatively, talk to your nurses and find out what specialisations they would be interested in, such as:

• Degenerative health conditions (motor neurone disease, multiple sclerosis)
• Dementia care
• Palliative or end-of-life care 
• Chronic disease management (diabetes, Crohn’s disease, emphysema)
• Neurological care and assessment

Personal care workers should also be afforded opportunities to develop new skills and progress out of entry-level positions over time. E-learning courses can assist in building that foundational knowledge which could also be carried over into an undergraduate degree.

Administration

The role of your administrative team may vary depending on the size and scope of your resources. That doesn’t mean they should be restricted by what they can learn as there’s always an opportunity to upskill and invest in their talents.

Options for development include advanced courses related to programs and applications used on-site. Customer service and complaint-handling training are always beneficial for front-facing staff. Promoting career development is also essential for your admin team and important training for relevant departments includes:

• Accounts/payroll: Beginner, refresher or advanced training for software such as Xero, MYOB and Salesforce are always beneficial for error-minimisation
• Human resources: HR courses can be used to upskill existing admin employees, or you can conduct workshops to provide modern approaches to workplace issues
• Office management: Give your staff lifelong management skills, including effective/professional communication, organisation, dispute resolution and rostering/staffing management 

Management and leadership

Building a great manager or leader involves honing in on areas of improvement. Whether you are a young inexperienced leader, or someone higher up the hierarchy, working on your soft skills is something that will help you in the long run. This is where it’s great to look outside of the box and consider interpersonal development courses that help with:

• Public speaking
• Organisation, strategy and planning
• Mental health and well-being support
• Diversity and inclusion awareness
• Effective communication

Essentially, the focus needs to be on courses that will enhance abilities all-round and reduce stress. 

Marketing and communications

Most aged care providers have an effective marketing and communication strategy, which may include an internal team of experts. If you do have a marketing department, support them with training and education to help them keep up with trends and evolving technologies.

Great examples of training courses for your marketing team include Google Analytics and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) courses to help raise awareness of how your online presence can deliver crucial benefits, or photography and graphic design courses to upskill existing creative staff so you have more creative resources on call.

Leisure and lifestyle

Lifestyle workers have one of the most important jobs within aged care; providing enrichment for residents. So the last thing you want is for them to be stuck doing the same thing again and again. 

Training courses focused on person-centred care and innovative approaches for engaging residents with cognitive decline are always essential for your lifestyle coordinators and assistants. But there are other options that could support your residents and multi-disciplinary care teams, including mental health training to help staff better recognise changes in mood and well-being.