Thirty managers at motoring organisation the AA are taking part in a pilot training and development programme that can lead to a degree-level qualification.
They are among the first managers to undertake the Capability Improvement Programme (CIP) being run by Coventry University’s (CU) School of Lifelong Learning. The scheme uses ‘development angels’, who observe the managers and provide on-site teaching and coaching programmes, which lead towards a management studies degree. It means staff can gain a degree in the workplace.
CU lecturer Andy Birch, a former traffic policeman, has been appointed personal learning and development consultant on the AA programme. He’ll spend the next year with the AA managers and will attend meetings with them and observe them at work.
The learning and development consultants spend four days a week in the organisation they serve, and will work – if required – at different locations and will fit around local shift patterns. The CIP programme is also being implemented at heavy plant maker Caterpillar, and one will start at the Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust in the next two months.
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The CU initiative is part of a government-backed £3.5m scheme to open up university-level learning to people at work.
Go to www.coventry.ac.uk/cu/soll for more information.
