Greater Expectations

For information about further related project work, such as the Think Smart Project, please follow this link. 

We hear a lot these days about the need to ‘upskill’ our workforce and many initiatives have sought to plug the gap; the Train to Gain service, for example, links companies to appropriate learning providers. However, no matter how effective the brokerage or the training, many learners face difficulties in completing courses and achieving awards.

This problem is particularly acute in small businesses that lack the infrastructure to support learners. Work-based learning is often remote from providers; even the assessors can only be on hand for short periods. The key to success must lie in the workplace itself and more specifically with the learner’s colleagues.

This is the thinking behind Greater Expectations. With LSC and European Social Fund support, the project is training work-based coaches who are following a bespoke programme called Smart Business Coaching (see box). This links business planning with employees’ personal and professional development needs as well as wider sustainability issues. The ultimate aim is to develop skilled workers and adaptable companies.

The 3 principles of Smart Business Coaching: • The business as a ‘system’ – inter-connected internally and with its wider environment • The learning organisation – where learning is continuous, supported and shared • The value-able organisation – clear about the values it promotes and demonstrates

The Greater Expectations team Jakki MacPhail and John Gibson.

What’s involved?

The project recruits and trains Smart Business Coaches from small and medium-sized enterprises across the region. Each Coach supports learners within their company who are undertaking work-based training at Level 2 or 3. By honing their listening skills and understanding employees’ various motivations, the Coach will help learners to achieve their qualifications.  

Learning Organisation: SAM Tooling, Coleford, Gloucestershire: Operation Manager and ‘Smart Business Coach’, Ernie Young (right) supports John Hering in completing his NVQ in Business Practice Improvement which he is taking with Royal Forest of Dean College.

By project close in December 2007, we will have trained 89 coaches who will have supported 313 learners. To achieve this we are working with colleges and private providers, supported by a committed team at headquarters. Providers have worked in sub-regional ‘Patch Teams’ with some citing this high degree of co-operation as a major benefit of the project.

The Smart Business Coaching programme has been accredited by ABC Awards at Level 2 and Level 3 so it can followed by as many people as possible. Further details of the project including the training materials, are available on the project website:
www.learning-southwest.org.uk/moodle (when you enter the site, login as ‘guest’).