In order to make the organisation effective we have designed Options to have only 4 levels of operational staff – Support Worker, Team Leader, Development Manager and Chief Executive. We believe this provides clarity of purpose, good communication (in both directions), and prompt decision-making. We recruit on the basis of character, values and beliefs and then invest heavily in staff training and development to ensure they have the skills for the job.

Support Workers

We have 200 Support Workers who receive:

• The Learning Disability Qualification (LDQ) Induction training comprising The principles of learning disability support, Your role as a support worker, Health and safety, and Protection from abuse
• The NVQ Level 2 in Social Health and Care
• The NOCN Diploma in Inclusion (including values and beliefs, person centred thinking, inclusion, enabling, and outcomes delivery)
• Team specific training as agreed by the multi-disciplinary team.

Team Leaders

We have 26 Team Leaders who directly oversee the services for people we support. They ensure that staff are supervised and the key documents for people we support are kept up to date, which ensures that outcomes are achieved. The Team Leaders receive:

• The Learning Disability Qualification (LDQ) Induction
• The NVQ Level 3 in Social Health and Care
• The Person Centred Leadership course (5 Days)
• The NOCN Diploma in Inclusion
• Team specific training as agreed by the multi-disciplinary team.

Leadership Team

Our Leadership Team consists of five Development Managers, Chief Executive, Personal Assistant and Special Projects Lead. They receive:

• The Learning Disability Qualification (LDQ) Induction
• The Person Centred Leadership course
• The NOCN Diploma in Inclusion
• Individualised higher level training – 2 currently are on a university diploma course in strategic leadership, others NVQ Level 4 or 5.  Current post holders already have qualifications in teaching, health studies and disability studies at degree level.  Equally important are 100 years of experience between the members of the Leadership Team, in addition to family experience of learning disability.

The Chief Executive holds a Masters degree in Education and a Masters in Business Administration.  He has advised the Valuing People Implementation Team and consulted in Europe, the US and Africa on leadership and learning disabilities.

Office Staff

Based at our offices are the senior operational managers and personnel, finance, administration and training staff, along with the Inclusion Co-ordinators, and other specialist roles.

Trustees

We have five trustees who together are dedicated to safeguarding Options’ mission and values. All our trustees work for different organisations within the field of disability, which brings a variety of professional experiences to Options. Several of our trustees have family members with disabilities, which brings personal experience to Options.