Pragmatic partnerships between employers, non-profits and educators can make demand-driven work-based learning a lot faster and more effective.
Shane Sutherland is a Director of PebblePad, an engaging personal learning tool used in a wide variety of institutions and workplaces. PebblePad is the tool of choice for the initiative that he describes.
It seems like a few weeks ago, but July marks seven months since Dr. Peter Senge was in Winnipeg to launch the 1-day forum Reframing Manitoba’s Workforce: Uncovering Hidden Skills.
The forum brought together more than 150 stakeholders to learn and provide feedback on the practice of recognizing prior learning in Manitoba workplaces.
Workplace RPL is based on the premise that employers need a way to ensure workers have the knowledge and skills required to perform the work...and people need a way to communicate the workplace knowledge and skills they have.
But for to what end? Forum participants were asked – Workplace RPL – what benefits do you see for the workplace?
While there were the predictable responses about more effective training, better succession planning and employee empower, respondents also noted the following:
§ Increased employee loyalty - Active RPL communicates the message that employers care and want to provide opportunities for employees to expand their careers
§ Better team work – RPL can improve overall knowledge sharing and encourages individuals to see themselves as part of a network
§ Positioning organizations for growth and change – RPL identifies the collective of workplace talent and skills and in doing so, can potentially identify a larger pool of qualifications, skills and experience.
Stay tuned for the next blog when we discuss potential barriers to developing and implementing workplace RPL
