Sue Higgins - Strategic Director, Resources at the London Borough of Sutton says:
"Around 100 of our managers have achieved qualifications at Levels 3, 5 and 7 over the past three years, and we know that they have had to apply what they learned. With this group we have seen positive results in terms of greater internal promotion, and improvements in confidence, team motivation and performance."
When was the last time you promised an employee a job for life? That doesn't happen any more. The social contract we have with employees today isn't "keep me employed", it's "keep me employable". More so than ever we all accept that we can no-longer offer employees a job for life. However finding and keeping good people is one of the key challenges for larger organisations. The social contract your employees have with you is therefore less about "keep me employed" and more about "keep me employable".
Development opportunities are highly valued by staff, and whilst an unaccredited internal programme can be excellent in terms of content and outcomes, it is not as valuable to your employees as a nationally recognised qualification - some of which are equivalent to degree level.
These programmes are not designed to be a passport to a new job - they are designed around your business and your organisational development needs - but the fact that they are accredited means:
The attendance and completion rate is very high - they have everything to gain by staying the course.
The qualification enables you to measure your organisation against a national benchmark. How many of your current managers are actually qualified to "manage" as opposed to qualified to "do" - or indeed not qualified at all for example?
In order to achieve the qualification, your managers have to provide written evidence that they have taken on board and applied the learning by completing written work-based assignments.
