Mike puts care training on the map
Lancashire-based care home leader Springhill Care Group has appointed a Learning and Development Co-ordinator to take the training of its employees to an even higher level.
Mike Lakins joins the team at Springhill Care Home to help in the development and management of the organisation that employs over 450 staff spread across its three sites in Accrington, Skelmersdale and Bristol.
Mike started his career in the aircraft sector before moving on to the care industry where he has enjoyed a number of different roles from assessor and internal verifier to trainer, training manager and house manager as well as running his own health and social care training company.
He said: “It was an easy decision to join the organisation – I like the emphasis on quality, the importance of continually improving and developing, and the core values.
“The company is constantly moving forward, embracing change, something that in my opinion is imperative in this current economic climate, particularly in the care sector.”
Recently, the group was awarded the Investors in People Gold Standard after being assessed against the revised standard, and has developed its own Leadership Development Programme, employee engagement programmes and employee steering committees.
Springhill is also committing to apprenticeships, Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) programmes and internal learning and development schemes.
Donna Briggs, Managing Director of Springhill Care Group, said: “Mike adds a further dimension of expertise in training and the development of our employees with his experience and his passion for the industry.
We believe anyone entering Springhill can have a career here and learn and develop along the way to gain the skills and qualifications they need. Our people are the most important asset we have, and we are creating our very own centre of excellence.”
In the recent IIP Gold award, assessors noted that Springhill ‘outperforms the health and social care sector average’ in many areas of people management practice and that the group ‘is a leading organisation in its field.’