Keeping up the standard
For more years than I like to remember, I have worked with a type of qualification known as Vocational Qualifications or VQs. I've worked with them and their ilk in very different organizations since I first came across them in the early 90s. The VQs have their fans and their detractors, but what is not often realised is that they are based on something called standards of competence, which in themselves can be very useful to employers.
Let me apologise here for the unavoidable jargon - it's one of the reasons people take against VQs and who can blame them?
Nevertheless a standard of competence can be a very useful thing indeed to an employer of any size. It can help to define what should be included in someone's job role; it can outline the skills and knowledge a person needs to do that job well. In other words, it can form a really useful basis for recruiting, training and appraising staff. It is, of course, possible to write your own standards, and some organizations do that, but it's much easier to take them off the shelf and customise them or not, as needed.
Standards of competence have been written for just about every sector there is, so it's well worth taking a look to see how they might help your organisation up the ante in terms of its people skills and performance. To see what I mean, have a look at the Scottish Qualifications Authority website , click on the SVQ icon and search for the information sheet to get an idea of what the standards contain.
For more help with standards-based learning, click here or telephone 07834 70 65 53 for a chat.