Website Improvements Continue

It's months sice I last updated this website (News7) way back in September. At the time I was complaining just how long it was taking me. What's more, I'm not finished yet! There are more improvements on the way.

The Internal Verifier V1 Workbook has been updated, but more importantly, the size of the file has been almost halved in order to make it easier to download. The A1 Assessor Workbook has undergone a similar process, but less successfully: I was unable to reduce the file size by anything like as much.

Management. Now that we are accredited to offer the new Management NVQs, new pages are being added to the website describing how we will assess the new Management Standards. The main assessment tools will be Professional Discussion supported by relevant and appropriate documentation, but that part of each Unit which requires us to assess Behavioural Outcomes caused us to think a wee bit more carefully. Because it is unlikely that i shall have the privilege of working in the same company with any potential candidates, how am I to assess things such as my candidates' utter lack of any managerial bloodymindedness, or other undesirable ways for managers to behave? The answer we came up with was to devise a Witness Statement pro-forma document. The requirement is for at least two persons who work with the candidate to provide a reliable Witness Statement in respect of the Behavioural Outcomes, however, rather than simply having to tick the boxes on the form, respondents are asked to give a score (0 - 5) and where appropriate to add comments. This arrangement seemed to work well in the case of Stephen Butler (middle column). For more information, please visit Management.Notes

Learning and Development. Next on my list to revise and update will be the Learning and Development Workbooks at Levels 3 and 4. At present these contain many materials of which I do not own the copyright, therefore before I can release them into the public domain, I must get busy and clean them up. Keep watching the Resources page.

What I do best is to put people through NVQs and SVQs especially if I can try to make the process of gaining one of these qualifications as easy for them as possible. As the HomePage explains, we deliver NVQs and SVQs and specialise in MAKING THESE EASY; easy for candidates and other deliverers alike.Want to know more?

Chris McAllister

Stephen Butler from ZADCO in Abu Dhabi (he's the man on the left), recently gained his NVQ Level 5 in Management. Because we have only recently been accredited by EDI/Goal to deliver this qualification, Stephen was our 'guinea-pig" in exploring the systems, which, as with all our Middle east candidates, meant making much more use of recorded Professional Discussions over the telephone.

A Professional Discussion in progress at Alnwick Municipal Waste Disposal site, Northumberland. Terry Hodgson (right) assesses site worker Mark Planto for his NVQ in Waste Disposal. The detail of the NVQs in Waste Disposal can be found on the Albion Environmental website.

Amsterdam, 18/12/06

The 2006 International Conference of the Independent Association of Licensed Verifiers and Assessors (IVA) was held on 18th. December in the Grand Hotel Sofitel, Amsterdam. Our presentation, with the intriguing title of Professionalising the Professional Discussion was, very well received.

The next Podcast will be a "sawn-off" version of this presentation. It takes the form of a short Slideshow, plus a sound commentary. To find it, click here.

Some of the simplest ideas are the slowest to take root (in my brain at any rate), Why expect your NVQ or SVQ candidate to assemble his (or her) evidence all on his/her own, if you, like me, have spent years doing just this. The thing to remember (and which took a long time to dawn on me) is that we, not our poor candidates, who are the experts at this. So, let's go out there and make our expertise available to our clients.

I do this be turning up on my client's (or candidate's) doorstep armed with a digital voice recorder. All my candidate has to do then, are just two things; firstly he/she needs to talk about the job at which they are competent, and, secondly, provide me with paper (or scanned) documentary evidence which backs up what they say.

If I take away all this evidence with me, including the recorded Professional Discussion, I can then construct my candidate's portfolio for him or her. It's as simple as that. Check out the Podcast.

Chris McAllister