The Training Foundation announces the 150th TAP Partner Organisation

 

The 150th organisation has announced a policy commitment to the TAP Learning System, the UK’s leading training skills certification programme, administered by The Training Foundation.

Under the requirements of the TAP Partners programme, organisations commit to solely utilise the services of TAP qualified learning and development specialists.

Ron Mackrell, Director of the TAP Partners programme announced: “I would like to extend a my congratulations to Buckinghamshire County Council which has just become our 150th TAP Partner organisation.

Sarah Barnes, Training Manager for Buckinghamshire County Council commented: “TAP has enabled us to demonstrate that quality is driven through the whole training life cycle – from development to delivery and we firmly believe that it has assisted us in our drive for continual business excellence.”

The Buckinghamshire County Council ICT Training team are committed to delivering high quality training solutions to their user community of 4000+ employees plus school-based staff. The team of seven TAP trainers, plus two ICT Support Assistants, supports users on desktop applications which include: SAP, Microsoft, LiveSite, and two bespoke Social Care Applications Swift and Protocol.   A schedule of open courses is published every quarter with the team running on average 20 courses a week in one of five fully equipped training rooms or on delegate site if preferred. On top of this, the team runs specific closed courses for teams and other organisations as well as offering 1-1 support at the desk.

When making the announcement Ron Mackrell commented “The attractiveness of TAP partnership continues to grow and around six new organisations per month are currently joining the programme. This growing popularity reflects the unique nature of the TAP Partners programme, which provides an external endorsement of the skills of those charged with delivering learning services, rather than of the underpinning back-office structures and processes.”

“There has been a proliferation of Accreditation Schemes in recent years. Some organisations tell us that they have become disillusioned with annual reviews looking at the same internal structures and processes, most of which have not changed for years. Any organisation that adopts fairly standard quality management processes is more than capable of successfully achieving multiple accreditations. However such accreditations have a very limited bearing on the nature and quality of the learner experience.”

By contrast the TAP Partners programme demonstrates an organisation’s commitment to learning excellence ‘at the sharp end’ through a policy of solely employing the services of TAP-qualified learning and development specialists. Unlike an accreditation scheme, there is no fee for becoming or remaining a TAP Partner. Organisations simply need to maintain their commitment to the TAP standard.

The range of TAP Partner organisations is impressive, taking in the public and private sector, as well as a huge range of industries. A listing of current TAP Partners can be reviewed at The Training Foundation website:

http://www.tap-training.com/page/about/partners.html

TAP Partner organisations clearly place great value on their relationship with The Training Foundation.

At Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust the responsibility for planning, organising and delivering IT training to more than 2000 staff across 50 sites spanning three boroughs falls to IT Training Manager Diane Corrie and her team. With all trainers delivering to the TAP standard, Diane and her team have been awarded TAP Silver Partner status, an endorsement that is displayed with pride. "It shows that we are committed to upholding the highest training standards, which is also a reflection of the Trust's commitment to providing excellence in mental health care," says Diane. "We use the logo on as many promotional and course materials as possible and the certificate is up on our wall for everyone to see!"

Emma Harris, Associate Director of Client Training for TSYS is justly proud of her team who have also recently achieved TAP Silver Partner status. "The Training Foundation, its instructors and other members of staff have helped us to develop our team the right way. We hope to continue to strengthen our relationship with The Training Foundation, by ultimately aiming to attain TAP Gold Partner status.

Paul Ingleby, Regulated Sales Training Manager for AXA Sun Life is enthusiastic about the benefits of the TAP Partners programme.  With all trainers now delivering and designing to TAP standards, the team qualifies for TAP Gold Partner status, an accolade which has gained them credibility and respect with senior management across the business. More importantly, however, feedback suggests that enhanced training proficiency is translating into improved skills within the business, which is what really matters in Paul's book:

"It's great having TAP Gold Partner status because it demonstrates that we are specialists and professionals. In addition the entire team is working towards the TAP Diploma, which means we will not only be delivering but also designing and facilitating programmes to the highest quality standards. And this is what counts, because it is the quality of our training that can really make an impact on performance and outcomes for the business, as well as the customer experience."

Brian Pyke, Head of Learning & Development at Lombard is proud of the commitment to professionalism that earned his team TAP Gold Partner status, an achievement that won a plaudit from the firm’s Managing Director. "We started on our journey in 2007, knowing that we must develop the professional standards that would make us best in class," said Brian. " TAP  has not only helped us to achieve, but also given us formal verification that we adhere to Gold level standards as part of the TAP Partners programme. We knew that we were good at what we did and now we've got the external benchmarking to prove it."

Iain Lovett, Chief Executive of the international training provider Hemsley Fraser also expresses enthusiasm for the TAP Partners initiative: “The TAP skills certification programme, introduced by The Training Foundation in 1998, is important to us because it is increasingly becoming the certification of choice for many of our major clients. We have long believed that the learning sector is in need of recognised professional standards to safeguard quality and value for money for clients. The Training Foundation is taking on an invaluable role in setting these standards, with Hemsley Fraser as an early adopter”.