Now I must admit that I have never been a fan of accredited training and all that is associated with it.  For many years, even the merest mention of “NVQs” & “Level 3’s”, “CPD” and “Certification” made my heart sink.

This was no doubt partly due to the fact that we couldn’t really offer our clients anything along these lines, but more so due to my belief that this type of training was the very antithesis of everything that makes Phoenix special.

Our focus has always been on delivering practical, results based training where the emphasis is on what gets done differently once participants return to work, not on how many credits they have been awarded or what type of certificate they will receive.  In my experience, too much training is simply commissioned on the basis of what form of recognition the participants get.  Traditionally, this is meant to provide some form of motivation but if the training is not up to scratch, then no matter what they receive at the end, participant levels of engagement will still sink very quickly.

Having said all that, we have often wished for some kind of independent recognition for the quality of our delivery and content and who better to provide this than the Institute of Leadership & Management – the world’s best known accrediting body.

Through their endorsed award scheme, the ILM have provided us with the ideal solution.  Phoenix have been able to retain all the best aspects of our programmes’ content and delivery, whilst adding an assessment section that ensures the participants put into practice everything that they have learnt on the course.  In many ways, the additional assessment has really strengthened our offering and it fits perfectly with our results focussed training.  Now participants and their colleagues will see exactly how the learning has been used, as it has to be documented on a regular basis over a six week period.  A 500 word case study is also required which again will indicate the participants’ understanding of the content and how best to use it.

On successful completion of both the course and the assessment, participants are indeed awarded an ILM certificate however, for most participants this is only a subsidiary benefit.  The real prize is becoming a better manager and leader and being able to demonstrate this to their colleagues.

Phoenix currently deliver ILM Endorsed open courses in Essential Management Skills & Inspirational Leadership and are about to offer endorsed modular programmes in both Management & Leadership Skills.  Our unique approach, style of delivery and focus on results will remain as strong as ever, but with the ILM’s Endorsement our products are now even more attractive to a wide range of clients & participants across the world.

I will always believe that good training should be about improving performance and delivering results, but if you can achieve this and also provide participants with some kind of appropriate recognition then perhaps we have an ideal solution.

Written by Oliver Osmond – Sales Director