Since summer 2008, few words have appeared in the headlines as much as the credit crunch - skills, however is one of them. Despite facing the most challenging economic circumstances in recent times, employers across the UK are being urged to keep training their staff. Recently, Chris Humphries CBE, Chief Executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), said:
"Encouraging employers to invest in skills can be the key to business success, as research shows that companies that don't train are more than twice as likely to go out of business as those that do.’
The emphasis on skills has also been noted elsewhere. Recent research by UKCES, entitled ‘Working Futures’ makes clear that changes in the UK economy over the next 8 years will demand significantly higher level skills than the UK workforce currently possess. However, despite numerous findings compelling employers to move in one direction, what happens next is far from a foregone conclusion. Fundamental questions arise about both employer demand and the supply of training; the resulting situation is crystallized in ‘A Lifelong Skills Strategy For Scotland’:
’Employers are pragmatic and will invest in training when they see a need for it, which again underlines the need to create employer demand for skills and develop a flexible learning provision to meet their needs.’
Looking at employer demand, just over three quarters of establishments (77%) recently surveyed for ‘Skills for the Workplace: Employer Perspectives’ have funded or arranged training for their employees and 65% of establishments had done so in the 12 months prior to the survey.
Interestingly, it wasn’t the cost of buying training (in its strictest sense) that was reported as the biggest barrier by employers. Whilst this still featured in this research, more than three in five organisations (62%) reported disruption of work patterns as a more significant barrier to investing in training. Furthermore, a lack of knowledge about the range of provision available was also reported as a significant barrier to further training (46%). This view was particularly high amongst those considered non-trainers and ‘lapsed’ trainers (i.e. which have trained in the more distant past but not in the last 12 months) by the survey.
It’s these challenges which have driven the development of the Training Quality Standard. A new standard, which for the first time offers something all those delivering training to employers can aspire to. Furthermore, the recognition of how complex it can be for employers to identify good quality training provision led to one of its original objectives - for it to be the single national mark of quality training for employers.
Despite having its roots in the 2006 government white paper, ’Raising Skills, Improving Life Chances’, the Standard’s scope is much broader than further education. The Training Quality Standard has been used by a number of organisations, including those not funded by the Learning and Skills Council, Higher Education Institutions and employers that deliver their own training.
The Training Quality Standard launched in June 2007 and there are now over 100 organisations that have achieved the Standard. The flexibility to attract private training providers, colleges, universities and employers is achieved through a non-prescriptive assessment framework that defines what responsive training providers should be doing, rather than how.
The Training Quality Standard was developed through a year-long process of research, development and testing that involved over 600 employers, 200 training providers and a representative body of stakeholders. From the outset, the focus on employers has been central to the design, evolution and assessment of the Standard. It is the only standard for training providers which has employers’ needs at its core; making it truly unique.
The Standard assesses those providing training against a framework of criteria which focus on two qualities:
Employer responsiveness is covered by Part A of the standard, and vocational excellence, or a providers’ chosen sector specialism, is covered by Part B. It is important to note that a provider does not have to apply for Part B, however over half of those organisations that have achieved the Standard so far have done so demonstrating excellence in a particular sector.
The Training Quality Standard does not stipulate how a high quality provider should operate, but sets out what a provider must do to be high quality, and allows them to explain their operations against this. This is how the Standard remains non-prescriptive; starting with the provider’s strategy, assessment focuses on their approaches and outcomes.
Training Quality Standard Certification is not easy to achieve, nor is it ‘static’. The Standard is very much about continuous improvement and the approaches an organisation takes to ensure its training delivery evolves alongside employers’ needs.
The focus on employers’ needs continues with Training Quality Standard providers ensuring that it not only delivers training but also a number of wider tangible business benefits to the employer.
It is clear that Certification against the Training Quality Standard is not easy to achieve. The Standard is therefore something which organisations can both aspire to, and be proud of when they achieve it.
CFE has provided support to the Learning and Skills Council, since May 2006, in its programme of research, development, testing and implementation of the Training Quality Standard. CFE is a not for profit organisation and drew on its expertise of providing research, policy development and project management to a range of government departments, agencies and providers, specifically in the area of the delivering the skills agenda.
Raj Patel, Senior Manager responsible for the Training Quality Standard at CFE said:
‘Whilst the Standard is challenging for applicants, it’s about more than demonstrating an ability to meet rigorous requirements - in a way, that would miss the point of what a responsive organisation is.
We’ve worked alongside the Learning and Skills Council to develop a Standard that’s also about continuous improvement and the approaches an organisation takes to ensure its delivery will evolve alongside its customers. It’s also a chance to think about what it is you want your training to deliver to customers.
Responsive training providers won’t just meet a need; they’ll also test the extent to which this need has actually been addressed. In other words, did their training make the desired impact on the employer?
From all the work we’ve done so far, this is where training providers struggle the most. We feel that it is this ability, to measure the impact of training, that will really set providers certificated with the Training Quality Standard apart from their competitors - particularly in these more challenging times as customers become increasingly concerned with return on investment.’
Organisations are continuing to register for assessment against the Training Quality Standard and CFE is also working to take the Standard into new areas such as local authorities and more higher education institutions. As demand for a more responsive skills system grows, the aspiration is that the Standard will be used as much as a quality improvement tool as it is for assessment and Certification.
More information about the Training Quality Standard and a full list of Certificated organisations can be found at www.trainingqualitystandard.co.uk.
Raj Patel
Head of Team: Skills & Innovation (FE)
The above article appeared in the publication, Broadcast, the voice of Scotland's Colleges.