Is there a future for the TQS?

I’m asking this question because lots of other people are asking it. I’ve had telephone discussions around this theme with four providers this week, and this exact question, typed into the search engines, has brought this blog several new readers.

Welcome!

I don’t know if there is a future for the TQS, but I do know that the people who are asking the question are more likely to have the answer than the people in the funding agencies.

When people ask me if the TQS will survive, and if it will flourish, I now have my answer ready.

“It will if you value it.”

Do providers value the TQS?

Think for a moment about your own TQS journey. Did you decide to go for the TQS because of the value that you think it will add to your organisation? Did you decide to go for the TQS because someone was pushing you in that direction?

Your answers will shape your view of the TQS.

If you’ve decided that having a systematic approach to working with employers will help your business, then you know that the TQS will help.

You can use the standard and the framework to help you to devise systems and processes to support your work with employers. You can reorganise the way you work with employers. You can follow the principles of the TQS – all at very little cost.

If you’re just starting out on your TQS journey, I’d advise you to buy the Training Quality Standard Applicant Guide, if you can’t get one for free. It will set you back £30, but that will be the extent of your outlay.

You can then use the TQS as a development tool.

I remember getting on for twenty years ago now I spent a lot of time delivering workshops all around the country for MCI (Management Charter Initiative) helping people to see that the newly-published management standards could be used for more than gaining qualifications. They helped business, too, in organisational development, in recruitment, in performance management and so on.

I think the same applies to the TQS. You can gain a lot of benefit from using the standard without thinking of certification.

Does anyone say you must gain certification?

This is the thorny question. Do you need TQS certification in order to gain access to government contracts? Is the ground shifting beneath the sector?

In all honesty the answer matters less than you might think.

If you decide to work with the TQS and apply its principles, then gaining certification is a short additional step to take. You can take that step when someone says you need your certification to take part in the next round of contracting. You will have travelled a long way down the road towards certification using the TQS as a development tool. Gaining the plaque won’t be too big an additional job.

Is there really a future for the TQS?

There are some questions to think about.

• What else is there to put in its place?
• What are the feelings about the TQS in your part of the country? Does it have lots of advocates?
• Has the TQS passed that very important test? Does it actually add value?

It’s your decision.

See also:

Is the TQS still top of the agenda?

Do we have to have the TQS?

TQS Validation: What will you tell your employers?

Update on June 10th
We posted this article on June 8th and new information about validation was released on June 9th. You can read about it here.

Two changes to TQS assessment rules

Be that as it may, how are you preparing your staff and your employers for the fact that you're seeking TQS certification?

Original article

Quite a few of our clients are in the final stages of countdown to submitting their TQS application.

They are looking to have the option of achieving conditional certification and so they are finalising applications now.

Most of our clients are also starting to think about verification and validation. They are wondering how best to prepare their employers for the possibility of the validation telephone call. They want guidance on how to handle this activity well.

So, how should providers deal with the validation issue?

Here’s my advice.

Talk to your own staff first

Make sure every one in your own organisation understands what TQS validation is all about. You don’t want any incorrect messages out there, so make sure every one is clear what happens.

A useful starting point would be to make sure every one understands the concept of net promotion.

I’ve written about the concept of net promotion. Click on the term net promotion to view the post.

Decide what to communicate to employers

This needs to be an organisation-wide decision. It also needs to be implemented in exactly the same way in all parts of the organisation. It’s amazing how messages can get confused. There is scope for ambiguity and misunderstanding in all major communications activities, so make sure you minimise that scope by briefing your own staff on validation issues.

Give your own staff a document which summaries your approach to communicating the information about validation to employers.

Next think about your communications process.

• Are you going to send every employer a letter?
• Are you going to visit every employer?
• Are you going to speak to every employer on the telephone?
• Are you going to do a mix of the above?
• How often are you going to communicate your intentions?

What’s right is what works for you.

You can find the validation notification template letter on the TQS website. Click validation notification template letter to visit the relevant page.

What are providers doing about the validation issue?

We’re working with three organisations which are on the brink of submitting their applications at the moment. Each one has adopted a slightly different approach to preparing for validation.

• A small training company we are working with is visiting all of its employers to explain the validation process. The account managers are showing employers the validation letter on line and explaining the validation process.

• A large college we are working with has a timetable for telephoning all its employers about the TQS once the application has been submitted. In the ‘phone call managers will be alerting employers to the fact that they will be receiving a letter about the TQS in the post and reminding them to look out for it. In the case of this college the senior team has decided that, immediately after the verification visit, the top fifty employers will be telephoned again to remind them of the validation activity.

• Another provider we are working with is handing out a postcard about TQS assessment, verification and validation to its employers during a visit. On one side of the postcard is the TQS information. On the other side is a calendar of forthcoming networking events for employers.

What should you do about validation?

The short answer is that it’s up to you to decide what fits your own client base and your own methods of communicating with your employers best.

It does seem, however, that most providers are doing something, so perhaps you should, too.