Provide learning opportunities for colleagues
Overview
Who is this unit for?
This unit is for team leaders, first line managers, middle managers and senior managers.
What is this unit about?
This unit is about supporting colleagues in identifying their learning needs and helping to provide opportunities to address these needs. Encouraging colleagues to take responsibility for their own learning is an aspect of this unit as is your role in providing an environment', for example in your team or area of responsibility, in which learning is valued.colleagues' means those people for whom you have line management responsibility.
For the purposes of this unit,
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
P1 promote the benefits of learning to colleagues and make sure that their willingness and efforts to learn are recognised
P2 give colleagues fair, regular and useful feedback on their work performance, discussing and agreeing how they can improve
P3 work with colleagues to identify and prioritise learning needs based on any gaps between the requirements of their work roles and their current knowledge, understanding and skills
P4 help colleagues to identify the learning style(s) or combination of styles which works best for them and ensure that these are taken into account in identifying and undertaking learning activities
P5 work with colleagues to identify and obtain information on a range of possible learning activities to address identified learning needs
P6 discuss and agree, with each colleague, a development plan which includes learning activities to be undertaken, the learning objectives to be achieved, the required resources and timescales
P7 work with colleagues to recognise and make use of unplanned learning opportunities
P8 seek and make use of specialist expertise in relation to identifying and providing learning for colleagues
P9 support colleagues in undertaking learning activities, making sure any required resources are made available and making efforts to remove any obstacles to learning
P10 evaluate, in discussion with each colleague, whether the learning activities they have undertaken have achieved the desired outcomes and provide positive feedback on the learning experience
P11 work with colleagues to update their development plan in the light of performance, any learning activities undertaken and any wider changes
P12 encourage colleagues to take responsibility for their own learning,
including practising and reflecting on what they have learned
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
Knowledge and understanding
You need to know and understand: General knowledge and understanding
K1 the benefits of learning for individuals and organisations and how to promote these to colleagues
K2 ways in which you can develop an `environment' in which learning is valued and willingness and efforts to learn are recognised
K3 why it is important to encourage colleagues to take responsibility for their own learning
K4 how to provide fair, regular and useful feedback to colleagues on their work performance
K5 how to identify learning needs based on identified gaps between the requirements of colleagues' work roles and their current knowledge, understanding and skills
K6 how to prioritise learning needs of colleagues, including taking account of organisational needs and priorities and the personal and career development needs of colleagues
K7 the range of different learning styles and how to support colleagues in identifying the particular learning style(s) or combination of learning styles which works best for them
K8 different types of learning activities, their advantages and disadvantages and the required resources (for example, time, fees, substitute staff)
K9 how/where to identify and obtain information on different learning activities
K10 why it is important for colleagues to have a written development plan and what it should contain (for example, identified learning needs, learning activities to be undertaken and the learning objectives to be achieved, timescales and required resources)
K11 how to set learning objectives which are SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound)
K12 sources of specialist expertise in relation to identifying and providing learning for colleagues
K13 what type of support colleagues might need to undertake learning activities, the resources needed and the types of obstacles they may face and how they can be resolved
K14 how to evaluate whether a learning activity has achieved the desired learning objectives
K15 the importance of regularly reviewing and updating written development plans in the light of performance, any learning activities undertaken and any wider changes
K16 how to take account of equality legislation, any relevant codes of practice
and general diversity issues in providing learning opportunities for colleagues
Industry/sector-specific knowledge and understanding
K17 industry/sector requirements for the development or maintenance of knowledge, skills and understanding and professional development
K18 learning issues and specific initiatives and arrangements that apply within the industry/sector
K19 working culture and practices of the industry/sector
Context-specific knowledge and understanding
K20 relevant information on the purpose, objectives and plans of your team or area of responsibility or the wider organisation
K21 the work roles of colleagues, including the limits of their responsibilities and their personal work objectives
K22 the current knowledge, understanding and skills of colleagues
K23 identified gaps in the knowledge, understanding and skills of colleagues K24 identified learning needs of colleagues
K25 learning style(s) or combinations of styles preferred by colleagues K26 the written development plans of colleagues
K27 sources of specialist expertise available in/to your organisation in relation to identifying and providing learning for colleagues
K28 learning activities and resources available in/to your organisation K29 your organisation's policies in relation to equality and diversity K30 your organisation's policies and procedures in relation to learning
K31 your organisation's performance appraisal systems
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Behaviours
- you recognise the opportunities presented by the diversity of people
- you find practical ways to overcome barriers
- you make time available to support others
- you seek to understand individuals' needs, feelings and motivations and take an active interest in their concerns
- you encourage and support others to make the best use of their abilities
- you recognise the achievements and the success of others
- you inspire others with the excitement of learning
- you confront performance issues and sort them out directly with the people involved
- you say no to unreasonable requests
- you show integrity, fairness and consistency in decision making
Skills
Listed below are the main generic skills which need to be applied in providing learning opportunities for colleagues. These skills are explicit/implicit in the detailed content of the unit and are listed here as additional information.
1. coaching
2. demonstrating
3. providing feedback
4. mentoring
5. motivating
6. setting objectives
7. prioritising
8. planning
9. empowering
10. reviewing
11. leadership
12. valuing and supporting others
13. information management
14. communicating
Glossary
Links To Other NOS
TDASTL65 Allocate and check work in your team TDASTL68 Support learners by mentoring in the workplace TDASTL69 Support competence achieved in the workplace
Origin of this unit
This unit is taken from the National Occupational Standards for Management and Leadership where it appears as unit D7.