Since its launch, FDA Learn has helped thousands of public servants with their career development. Scott Dobson speaks to two members who were inspired to join their union after attending training events.

Kemi Aina

Working as a VAT trainer in HMRC, Kemi provides new starters with classroom-based training. Working with new colleagues to build their understanding across a whole range of issues, including procedures and relevant legislation, she helps enable them to take on their role effectively.

When Kemi first discovered the work of the FDA, it was in the days before the union’s Keystone section for HEOs and SEOs had launched: “I first found out about the FDA many years ago from going to Civil Service Live. I went over to the stand but unfortunately at that stage, the union only accepted Grade 7s and above.” However, Head of FDA Learn Neil Rider told her that the union were at that stage thinking about expanding to cover civil servants at HEO and SEO level, and promised to let her know as soon as she could join, “so right from the beginning, I was there!”

Kemi says what really made her want to join was the quality of the training available: “The training programmes and courses that were on offer were of a higher quality than I would have found with other unions.” She was impressed with the breadth of the topics covered, including events on leadership and skills that would not only equip you for the workplace, but out in the wider world too. Kemi highlights that FDA members can be confident they are undertaking training “that is right for you” – including around competencies and interview skills.

Kemi feels she has seen a real benefit to her own career progression thanks to the training offered by the FDA. She highlights that when the new competency system was being introduced in the civil service, FDA Learn really thought about how best to equip members for it. She points out that, even before the new system launched, she was attending “courses on writing competency statements and smart examples… I was going on these courses even before the FDA decided to start Keystone”. Having now been a member for a number of years, Kemi says she remains “on the lookout” for opportunities and still makes regular use of the training offer available to members.

She has also witnessed the complete transition of FDA Learn from predominantly classroom-based to entirely online over the last two years, and says she continues to find the training on offer very useful, though she misses the “personal touch” of training in-person with colleagues.

Reflecting on what has kept her in the union over the last few years, Kemi argues that being an FDA member “gives you the opportunity to see beyond where you are” and that it has given her the confidence and conviction that she can progress in her career: “if someone else becomes an SCS (senior civil servant), so can you”. To colleagues considering joining, she says that the FDA offers its members “far more than it says on the tin”. 

Romana Ahmed

Romana Ahmed works in the Home Office’s Homeland Security Group, looking at national security issues, particularly counter-terrorism and how best to prepare the country for a potential terrorist attack – working on the ‘Prepare’ strand of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy.

She joined the FDA at the end of 2021, first getting involved when FDA Learn ran a session in the Home Office for BAME individuals: “Neil (Rider) did a session on interviews and applications that I thought was very interesting so I reached out to him, and he told me about other courses along the same lines – courses looking at behaviour and strengths, which I found really helpful.” After finding out a bit more about the work of the union beyond the learning offer, Romana was confident that the FDA was right for her.

The training offered by the FDA is really interesting, argues Romana, “as it makes you frame application writing and interviews in a way that you’ve not necessarily been told before, and it certainly serves as the basis of how I prepare for applications and interviews now”. With a background in the National Crime Agency, which she notes is more focussed on law enforcement, she is relatively new to the core civil service and as such has found the learning opportunities helpful in equipping her for her future career.

Romana doesn’t feel like the remote nature of events since she joined has hindered what she has learned from her training courses – indeed, she thinks the potential negative impact of long travelling times to get to events is something that was underestimated before the pandemic.

The FDA’s learning offer is “not the kind of offer you would necessarily associate with trade unions”, Romana adds, pointing out that while she would expect her union to be campaigning on vital issues such as pay, she “never quite thought it would have a learning strand like this”. She describes it as “absolutely crucial” to attracting people like her, saying it adds to the impression that the union has a “holistic offer” for potential members, beyond simply offering support in times of difficulty.

“I have spread the word and talked at length to colleagues about the FDA’s learning offer,” Romana says, and while she has yet to fully explore the full range of benefits available as part of her membership, she will be seeking out some pensions advice when time allows. She is pleased to be part of the union and believes that, as members continue to face a range of challenges – not least around pay and the increased cost of living – the role of the FDA “will be ever more important”.

Find out more

FDA Learn provides a range of learning and development opportunities as part of the FDA’s package of benefits to its members, but also works with employers across the public sector to deliver high quality training to staff.

It provides:

• regular webinars, open to all members, on topics ranging from Civil Service Success Profiles to mental health and wellbeing;
• smaller, in-depth and fully interactive workshops;
• bespoke training designed for and delivered to staff in government departments, the devolved administrations and staff networks; and
• discounts for FDA members on a range of higher education courses, including at the University of London.

If you – or a colleague who isn’t yet a member of the FDA – would like to find out more about what FDA Learn has to offer, you can visit www.fda.org.uk/fdalearn, or contact our Head of FDA Learn Neil Rider at neil@fda.org.uk.