Turn underperformance into high performance

The benefits of qualifications and accreditations

Qualifications and accreditations can be a useful indicator of the skill levels staff members have achieved. Many courses are run to industry-wide or national standards, so the results attained by your employees can provide a useful measure of how their skill levels compare with averages in your sector.

Qualifications can assist you in setting training targets and measuring the progress individuals are making. The successful completion of an accredited course gives you objective verification that existing skills have been improved or new skills developed.

Aside from the obvious benefits to your business of any new skills that your employees learn, enabling people to study for qualifications can also increase their sense of commitment to your business, and this can have knock-on benefits in terms of improved productivity.

National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (NVQs and SVQs) are an important category of qualifications. These are based on workplace assessments and can be used to plot an employee's progression from competence at basic routine tasks (level 1) to competence at a supervisory level requiring significant responsibility and accountability (level 5).

More senior staff may have or seek professional qualifications in areas such as accounting or marketing. For small businesses, training or recruiting people with formal skills in these areas can mark a significant step forward.

Bear in mind the limitations of qualifications as a guide to how well an individual will perform. They only give an indication of likely performance. The only real test of a person's performance is an on-the-job appraisal.

Subjects covered in this guide

• Introduction
• Benchmark the performance of your business
• Identify skills gaps holding you back
• Make the most of the skills your staff already have
• The importance of leadership
• Use staff training to improve performance
• The benefits of qualifications and accreditations
• The new Investors in People Standard
• Practical considerations

 

 Print This Page

Source - Business Link; Crown Copyright.