Kasmin Cooney, MD of learning and development consultancy Righttrack, comments on news that McDonalds can now award its own national qualifications.
When McDonalds announced that they would be offering their employees qualifications that were on a par with traditional forms of qualifications, many people were more than a little sceptical and in truth more amused than anything. Quotes like "Would you like fries with that A-Level" were already doing the rounds in offices and across the media.
However, with closer inspection it seemed that quite a few people thought that allowing McDonalds, Flybe and Network Rail the opportunity to offer their employees their very own accredited qualifications was a good idea and one to be copied.
The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) deputy director-general, John Cridland said: "Today marks a significant milestone on the road to reforming qualifications so that they better reflect the skills and competencies employers and employees need."
"According to an opinion poll by the BBC, 62% of the general public believe that McDonalds should not be allowed to have their own form of A-Levels."
Kasmin Cooney, MD of Righttrack
Each year UK businesses invest £33 billion on developing their staff, but many organisations have long since dropped investing in recognised qualifications. In fact, only one third of businesses invest in official qualifications, with the rest believing that schools and colleges, in particular, are failing to give young people the skills they need for the real world. This was highlighted in the Leitch Review last year, which gave the shocking truth on the widening skills gap.
As the training industry has known for a while, organisations are turning more and more to external learning and development specialists. A large proportion of these organisations are favouring bespoke solutions, as they are built completely around their training requirements.
A new trend that has seen consistent growth in recent years is the number of organisations investing in development awards like the Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM). These allow bespoke programmes to be recognised and accredited by leading bodies in their field - in the case of the ILM they are Europe’s leading body in the field of management and leadership and so carry a lot of prestige.
This proves that it is not the actual idea of qualifications that makes organisations turn their backs on the traditional mediums of development but on the actual curriculum and subjects that they offer.
"Each year UK businesses invest £33bn on developing their staff, but many organisations have long since dropped investing in recognised qualifications."
For a long time now it has been highly evident that organisations are preferring to invest in specific business related courses, whether it’s off-the-shelf or bespoke. This is because traditional course subjects are just not meeting organisations’ needs today. With the increase of organisations wanting accredited programmes it shows that recognition for academic achievements is still high on the agenda.
Whether you are for or against these vocational qualifications, the fact that learning and development is high on the business agenda cannot be a bad thing and for this, McDonalds, Flybe and Network Rail should be commended for their open commitment to development.
Whether these new qualifications are a success will remain to be seen. According to an opinion poll by the BBC, 62% of the general public believe that McDonalds should not be allowed to have their own form of A-Levels. All the learning and development industry can do now is to wait and see.
Kasmin Cooney is the MD of Righttrack, a learning and development consultancy that works with organisations all over the world. Clients include The NEC Group, Littlewoods Shop Direct Group, Mercedes Benz and Gucci. More information can be found at: www.righttrackconsultancy.co.uk
To read how TrainingZone.co.uk reported the news that big guns like McDonalds can award their own qualifications: McQualifications Get the Green Light click here.
To have your say on this news story, go to the TrainingZone blog: www.trainingzone.co.uk/blog
TrainingZONE 04-Feb-08 Categories: Story read 1560
Unfortunately my experience of McDonald's is that there is very little commitment to learning and development for those at the lowest levels - but there is plenty of commitment to combatting the "McJob" image that they believe is hurting their ability to attract and churn employees at the highest rate possible to protect them from gaining employment rights etc.
It is sad that yet again a good idea is being highjacked by one of the worst companies in the world. Does anyone remember McDonald's hoovering up governement subsidies to put unemployed people to work in their kitchens so that the government could cover most of their wages. Despite the fact that the automated and simple processes applied by McDonalds in their business environment could be taught to a small child?
I'm all in favour of employer's offering their own qualifications - it is highly likely that these will be more "fit for purpose" than hopelessly generic qualifications provided by the education sector. Unfortunately the brand here may end up tarnishing the results for all.
And as an aside, Network Rail is another brand that most don't associate with high quality work either. Nik Kellingley
David Pardey , 05-Feb-08 The reality behind the news
I'd just like to add to Kasmin's comments because the approach she has suggested reflects the reality of the new Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) far better then the press stories. Unfortunately, the emphasis on McDonalds may well devalue the real opportunities that are now available.
The QCF is a new way of developing vocational qualifications, with individual units having a level (for example, Level 3 NOT ‘A Level’ – if the Government wants its new vocational qualifications system to be recognised they have to break out of using academic qualifications as the reference point) and a credit value (= their size). Qualifications are built up out of units, and so it becomes so much easier to accredit short training and development interventions, with participants being able to accumulate these credits towards a qualification.
The number of employers that will want to become awarding bodies in their own right will be small, because the processes are demanding and complex, whereas an organisation like the ILM has the expertise and resources to create generic units (its existing large suite of units will continue to grow in response to demand) and also to work with employment sectors or individual employers to develop customised units to meet their unique needs. By using ILM (or any other experienced and well-recognised professional body or awarding body) trainers and employers can benefit from their expertise and their market recognition - providing opportunities for managers to be accredited by us means that employers are more likely to attract and keep the best managers, who want to build a career. (It may seem counter-intuitive, but when employees are able to get qualifications that enable them to get jobs elsewhere they stay. Why? Because they feel valued and have a sense of security.)
As Kasmin suggests, we can accredit all types of training, with or without assessment attached to it, but only assessed learning can attract credit. ILM is already a credit-awarding body in Wales (through the CQFW), is now extending that ability to England and Northern Ireland (through the QCF) and is working towards being able to award credit in Scotland as well (which has a different system, the SCQF). Furthermore, given the links between these UK systems and the emerging European Credit system, multinational companies will find that they can have their leadership and management development accredited across the EU through a single professional body. That is the real story of the developments that were announced the other day, and it would be nice if that were to be given the prominence that was given to one small element.
Bridgette Schneider Browne , 04-Feb-08 Concerns for in house qualifications
When I first heard the news about MacDonalds etc being able to offer qualifications, I was pleased but withone reservation. I have experienced with some NVQ programmes, a great difference between what I would accept as a reasonable standard as a qualified external assessor and what internal assessors apparently thought of as sufficient. However, if this slight doubt on consistency and matching standards can be resolved, then I think it's an excellent idea. Many of my customers used to come to me because I could offer them a qualification that would be recognised outside their company, so I know it's wanted. Bridgette Schneider Browne
Karyn Romeis , 04-Feb-08 This is an interesting one!
Kasmin Cooney, MD of learning and development consultancy Righttrack, comments on news that McDonalds can now award its own national qualifications.
"According to an opinion poll by the BBC, 62% of the general public believe that McDonalds should not be allowed to have their own form of A-Levels."
