What’s waiting to be discovered in your workplace?
As the economic recovery continues, employers continue to be challenged by recruiting and retaining skills and talents. But do we know the skills, aptitudes and competencies already in our employ and how best to lever that existing resource?
As the Executive Director of the Alliance of Manitoba Sector Councils, I am initiating discussions with Manitoba’s sector councils on how to uncover, develop and recognize the prior learning that already exists in our work place. One particular area of my interest is understanding how Recognizing Prior Learning (RPL) can support and strengthen Manitoba businesses as employers of choice.
In our personal journeys, each of us continuously acquires skills, knowledge and experiences – in the workplace, through our community volunteer work and by pursuing personal interests and hobbies. Our job descriptions and daily work tasks rarely require all our learning. Just think about the potential power of understanding and levering that collective expertise and experience in the work place.
So how do we get there? In the education system, formal systems have been set up to document, test and recognize prior learning for academic credentials.
Some workplaces are building on that RPL experience to understand and document training needs, formally and informally recognize credentials and to improve recruitment, retention and performance management practices.
The benefits are two-fold:
- As individuals, we are motivated by recognition and further development of our personal learning.
- As organizations, workplaces that encourage ongoing learning are more productive and adaptable to changing economic conditions.
This spring, I will be furthering this discussion with sector councils and employers – how can RPL help us uncover our hidden talents and build better workplaces?
Beverlie Stuart
Executive Director – Alliance of Manitoba Sector Councils
The Alliance of Manitoba Sector Councils (AMSC) is a network of industry sector organizations that is funded by the Province of Manitoba. AMSC, focusing on human resource development for small, medium and large organizations and their current and future employees. AMSC promotes cooperation, coordination and collaboration amongst its members to increase effectiveness by initiating and supporting joint initiative.
