It is important for individuals to develop their skills and
abilities during times of economic uncertainty, an expert has
claimed.
It is extremely important for workers to take steps to improve their
abilities and gain new skills during the recession, according to an expert
in the sector.
Dr John McGurk, advisor for learning and talent development at the
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said it would be
best to be prepared for changes.
He said that to do this, workers need to continue learning and developing
their skills - something that might be achieved by enrolling in e-learning
courses.
The expert noted that this could involve taking on extra tasks to "stretch
yourself", which would help increase skill levels.
"[You could maybe develop] yourself through your own private study whether
it is reading or going online and learning more about something that you
have to learn about," Dr McGurk commented.
He added that as well as opting to learn online, individuals could develop
"more broad competencies", such as project management skills.
By putting greater emphasis on personal study through means such as
e-learning or taking on extra tasks, he said this could offset any lack of
availability of more costly learning options.
People who are already in work could find that an NVQ will increase their
ability to deal with tasks in the workplace.
According to recent research from Edge, there were 3.6 million vocational
qualifications awarded last year.
This represented an increase of 350,000 (11 per cent) compared to the
figures from the year before.
More than half (57 per cent) of the NVQ and SVQ awards achieved over the
last year were gained by people over the age of 25, while 26 per cent were
achieved by people over 40.
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