HM Prison Service –bringing staff up-to-date
Delivering IT training to HM Prison Service staff within tight deadlines.
The brief
EDS, which had fully upgraded IT at the HM Prison Service (HMPS)as part of its 12-year partnership with the service, asked us to train staff across the service in the new features of the upgraded desktop environment. The challenge The training involved 48,000 computer users across all the prisons and HMPS offices in England and Wales. In total, we were asked to train staff at all levels at more than 200 sites, many of them high security.
The challenges
We built a flexible, scaleable and security-cleared team to train staff through both presentations and floorwalking. Training took place at prisons and HMPS offices.
The solution
We built a flexible, scaleable and security-cleared team to train staff through both presentations and floorwalking. Training took place at prisons and HMPS offices.
The execution
Trainers had to be carefully selected because they would be required to go into all security levels of establishment, coming in contact with prisoners and abiding by strict security procedures. Because of these procedures, especially for high security establishments, the trainer pool had to be fixed and allocated trainers could not be altered.
The verdict
Managers were very pleased with our work. Their many comments include the following:“The project has been demanding. The ‘shining light’ has been the training team who have had to give awareness presentations and floor walking before and during implementation.” “I would like to add my thanks to your team of floor walkers. The service has been excellent and the comments from our staff have all been favourable.”
- More than 48,000 computer users working in prisons and HMPS offices across the country were to be trained during the course of this project
- Trainers had to cover early, late and evening shifts so that as many members of staff as possible could attend the presentations
- A thorough and efficient approach to security clearance was key to the project’s smooth running
- Trainers were asked to record future training potential during the project so that gaps in knowledge could be analysed for future training requirements
- All findings where reported back to EDS at the end of every establishment sign off