Business transformation is hard – here’s how to up the odds in your favour

06 September 2017 -

Degree and Higher Apprenticeships are helping organisations change the horizon for talent development to fit employees with skills, knowledge and behaviours relevant to and culturally aligned to their workplace

Guest blogger Carolyn Smith

McKinsey & Company’s Jeff Boudens reminded a CIPD OD conference last year that despite transformation being hard you can increase the odds by up to three times by working on the change.  Effective communication, active leadership, accountability and empowerment and continuous improvement were cited as means by which you can improve the odds in your organisation’s favour.

With Degree and Higher Apprenticeships, Coventry University: The Nationwide Apprenticeship University is supporting change to the talent development pipeline.  This can work very powerfully for all parties as the learner, the organisation and the delivery partner triangulate progression through the work-based degree.

Continuous improvement is a core element of all programmes where constructive alignment of learning with skill and behaviour based objectives is supported by regular review, feedforward and coaching sessions.

It is a win win situation.  Learners on these programmes can truly assess their passion and purpose for what they do.  They are proactively supported to develop effective workplace communication skills and are empowered to take accountability for their learning.  To this end they develop excellent personal leadership with a good understanding of the contribution they can make in their respective workplaces and who to go to for the right support when they need it. 

Engagement and retention is high; for example, over the past five years learners with one of our clients have achieved 100% successful completion of the Foundation Degree in Management & Leadership at Work, 80% completion of the Honours degree in the same subject, and 70% retention of talent.

One of the keys is that we are flexible enough to adapt what we do to ensure the best outcomes possible.  These outcomes marry higher education attainment with individual learner and organisational priorities. 

Knowledge that is relevant to learners’ work is assessed and evidence is manifested in real work-related projects.   These projects support professional skills development as an individual’s strengths begin to surface by exposure to key stakeholders and mentors within the business.

Drawing on the behaviours they experience from their colleagues, these learners make value judgements about how they wish to behave towards colleagues and peers.  Supported by the organisation’s values, they begin to develop a vision of their own leadership styles and how to apply this to various situations to influence successful outcomes. 

Ultimately they may begin to contribute to a change in culture, but right now they are helping to change perceptions of the Apprenticeship landscape and employers’ options for developing the talents of future employees.

Find out more about Degree and Higher Apprenticeships with Coventry University: The Nationwide Apprenticeship University:

Telephone: 024 7765 4960

Email: uaw@coventry.ac.uk

Website: www.apprenticeship-university.co.uk

Twitter: @ApprenticesUni

This is a sponsored advertorial for Coventry University