Reed Learning joins forces with ASTD to offer accredited programmes & membership for L&D professionals

Training & development provider Reed Learning has been chosen by the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) as the international partner to manage their membership and qualifications in the UK.
The ASTD Certification Institute's qualifications include the Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP).
A range of ASTD programmes are in the process of being mapped to the Qualifications & Credit Framework to offer a training programme for L&D professionals at QCF Level 5.
The partnership was launched in London yesterday by ASTD's president and CEO, Tony Bingham, and Reed Learning's managing director, Hugh Greenway.
Tony Bingham said: "ASTD is committed to supporting the global community of learning and HRD professionals to advance the field. We share our excitement and enthusiasm in joining Reed Learning in a new partnership focused on the UK."
Eleanor Maimane, head of faculty at Reed Learning, said: "We recognised a clear need for a membership organisation and suite of programmes to specifically cater for UK L&D professionals. We are immensely proud to be partnering with ASTD to offer greater accessibility for ASTD's membership and training programmes."
Reed Learning will be leading a delegation of UK members to the ASTD international conference in Orlando, Florida in May 2011.

External links

To find out more about Reed Learning and the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD), visit: www.reedlearning.co.uk/ASTD

UK agencies join IDM Summer School programme

OgilvyOne, Rapp and EHS 4D Group have joined the line-up of companies involved with the 2011 IDM Summer School.
The Summer School is the Institute of Direct Marketing's week-long introduction to the direct and digital profession for graduates and undergraduates.
Each year, the Institute receives some 200 applications to attend the programme from which around 30 candidates are selected to go through to the free-to-attend course
Together, the agencies will give the Summer School attendees a perspective on what it's like to work agency-side in the direct and digital profession, and will give the students the opportunity to work on real case studies from their client portfolio.
Sam Williams-Thomas, managing director at OgilvyOne, said: "It's a real privilege to be involved with the IDM's student Summer School. The fantastic work that the Institute does to make sure that we keep a continuous stream of bright graduates coming into direct marketing is still one of the profession's best-kept secrets. It shouldn't be. And more organisations should be coming on board to ensure the IDM can keep up the good work!"

External links

Summer School applications are still being taken by the IDM, but are due to close on Friday February 25 2011. Interested students should visit: www.urthebrand.co.uk/summer-school.aspx to apply.

Now Recruitment announces second intake of graduates

Now Recruitment's graduate training programme has taken on its second intake of trainees following a successful pilot scheme last year.
Now Recruitment, which is based in Birmingham and has offices across the UK and Australia, completed its second round of interviews and assessments in December and has offered two trainees permanent positions at its Birmingham and Newcastle branches.
Tracey Androlia, Now Recruitment's development director, said: "We've been delighted but not surprised by the level of interest our graduate scheme has received.
"Recruitment is a tough industry to get into without experience. Our scheme offers not only the chance to get that experience but also a structured training programme so that our graduates develop the skills and confidence they need to build a successful career in the industry."
The new trainees took part in a month long induction and training programme at the beginning of the year where they were given instruction in all aspects of recruitment from basic telephone skills through to handling client meetings and taking references. They will continue to attend individual and group training sessions throughout their first year.
Now Recruitment's trainees have the opportunity to specialise in one of the company's divisions – Construction, Accountancy, Education, Trades and Labour, Mechanical and Electrical and Rail.
Since the launch of the scheme in September 2010 the company has taken on seven graduates who are based at branches in Birmingham, Newcastle, Cardiff and Edinburgh.
Now Recruitment is planning a third intake of graduate trainees in the summer.
Managing Director Gary Redman says: "We aren't constrained by having a certain number of places to fill each year so any graduate coming to us with talent, a determination to work hard and succeed will be given the opportunity to work with us.
"This approach, and our training programme, has worked fantastically well so far. Our first intake of graduates are proving a real asset to the company already. We're committed to continuing with the scheme and are looking forward to finding some of the industry stars of the future."

External links

Now Recruitment

Public sector L&Ds optimistic despite budget cuts, says survey

According to research from e-learning company Brightwave, two thirds of UK public sector L&D and training professionals expect to improve the level of service they can deliver to their organisations by increasing e-learning and collaborative working.
The survey found that 88% plan to increase their use of e-learning in order to meet new government cost reduction targets. A further 58% predict more collaborative working and 49% will reduce classroom-based training to help cut costs.
Brightwave says the projected increase in the use of e-learning has continued to grow, increasing by 76% since the company started its benchmarking survey nearly two years ago. At the start of 2009 only half of L&D professionals expected to increase the use of e-learning, whereas 88% currently anticipate an increase. In addition, Brightwave says more L&D professionals expect to collaborate - rising from 42% saying they expect to take this approach in 2009, to nearly 60% who currently expect more collaborative working.
Brightwave's survey polled HR, e-learning and training specialists in local government during September 2010.
Charles Gould, managing director at Brightwave, said: "The age of austerity is clearly having a deep impact on the way we all work, both in the private and public sector. The role and anticipated use of e-learning is growing, but we must be careful not to look at learning technologies as simply a way to cut costs. Quality e-learning initiatives with engaging content that address clear organisational objectives are crucial to delivering real value.
"In fact, many Councils are already working together and building their e-learning services to deliver engaging and effective training. We recently met a number of Scottish Councils in Glasgow for an event on 'delivering change'. They are embracing this technology and finding ways to collaborate."
City of Edinburgh Council, who contributed to Brightwave's recent 'delivering change' event, established the City of Edinburgh Council Interactive Learning (CECiL) service four years ago to provide online learning for Council employees using Brightwave's Local Government E-Learning Service as its platform.
Paul McGhee, leadership and development manager at the City of Edinburgh Council said: "Our e-learning platform, CECiL, has substantially reduced the costs in providing training. To date savings have amounted to over £800k.
"It has enabled high volume training delivery at lower cost and greater speed, facilitated a quicker response to educating policy and procedural change, and improved the quality and diversity of training and development options available. It has also freed up valuable time enabling the corporate learning team to move to a more consultancy led, bespoke service, adding increased value across the organisation."

New road safety evaluation website launched

A free website that aims to help road safety practitioners evaluate their education, training and publicity activities was launched today by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) and the Department for Transport.
At the heart of the Road Safety Evaluation website (www.roadsafetyevaluation.com) is 'E-valu-it' - an interactive tool designed to help practitioners plan, carry out, and report the results of education, training and publicity (ETP) evaluations. The site also includes background information and guidance about evaluation.
It was developed after it was found that, while evaluation of road safety engineering was already an established discipline, road safety practitioners faced difficulties in evaluating their ETP activities.
Mike Penning, road safety minister, said: "In the current economic climate everyone wants to make sure they are spending taxpayers' money in the most effective way. To do that it is vital organisations can accurately evaluate all activities - whether they are road engineering measures or education campaigns.
"This new website will allow local authorities to assess the value of education, training and publicity activities, which will in turn help them to design high quality schemes and target them where they will have the most impact. I am delighted that we have been able to work with RoSPA to develop this invaluable tool and I hope it will be widely used by road safety practitioners."
Kevin Clinton, RoSPA's head of road safety, said: "It is recognised that it is much harder to evaluate road safety ETP than road safety engineering. But it is more important than ever that we are able to demonstrate the effectiveness of what we do. The sharing of such information is also important - road safety practitioners have much to learn from each other about interventions that have worked and also those that have been less successful."
To enable knowledge to be shared, RoSPA says E-valu-it encourages users to publish their final reports on www.roadsafetyevaluation.com, as well as on the Road Safety Knowledge Centre website and their own organisations' websites.
Twelve regional workshops, involving the DfT, RoSPA and local authorities across Britain, are being held as part of the website's development.

External links

Road Safety Evaluation website
Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
Department for Transport

UK businesses are failing employees on training, says survey

According to research commissioned by IT and business skills provider Global Knowledge, businesses are failing to meet the career aspirations and training needs of their employees.
The survey found that despite 72% of employees viewing learning and development opportunities as just as important as salary when choosing their next job, many still face barriers from their employers in getting the training they want.
The survey also suggests that many businesses risk wastage by failing to effectively monitor the return on investment of their training.
The results were taken from over 700 respondents who were either responsible for learning and development, or employees within IT and commercial departments. According to the research, 57% of employees claimed they weren't being given the budget for learning and development opportunities. A further 49% of those surveyed stated they couldn't get the time off work to train.
Of the businesses that did invest in training, Global Knowledge says many fail to effectively monitor the ROI of the investments they're making:

• 21% of businesses said their company didn't check that learning had been effective
• 53% said they relied on observation to check new skills. Just 5% of employers asked employees to complete online post-learning assessments
• Only 26% had follow-up discussions with staff to assess the value of the training they'd done

Allan Pettman, UK managing director of Global Knowledge, said: "The survey shows that individuals and organisations are on different wavelengths when thinking about training. Employees value training yet it's sad to see that many employers are failing in their responsibility to match employees' passion to learn and develop.
"In tough economic times, it's more important than ever that employers help their staff to grow and innovate. Failure to invest in training places a burden on employees, many of whom are relying on their skills to remain employable and maintain career progression. These results would suggest that employers are badly letting them down."
The survey also assessed the uptake of the Skills Framework for the Information Age (SFIA). The SFIA can help organisations to identify the skills they need and match them to relevant courses. While 57% of organisations wanted to know about the SFIA, only 9% were in the process of implementing it and just 13% said it was already widely used the SFIA.
"Initiatives like the SFIA can help in aligning IT training to business goals so it's surprising that so many companies are failing to adopt it in a climate where you would have expected them to be accounting for every penny," Allan added. "It's clear that employers really should be doing more to invest in training, otherwise they'll face challenges of staff retention, motivation and encouraging innovation."

External links

Global Knowledge UK