Latest news

Launch of the new national Register of Career Development Professional

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:19:00 GMT

The Careers Profession Alliance (CPA) launched the new national Register of Career Development Professionals earlier today. It is central to the mission of the CPA to raise the professional standards of all career development professionals and assure quality and public confidence in career development activities and services across the UK .

The CPA site is now accessible through the web-sites of the existing CPA member associations. In the case of ICG this is www.icg-uk.org/careers_profession_alliance.html or you can go directly to https://www.cparegister.org .

The registration process is in two stages:

Express your intention to sign up to CPA as the new professional body: this will create the basis of the new institute's membership and allow you to take part in the first elections within the new body.
Join the Register: please note that you cannot join the Register without expressing your intention to sign up to CPA as the new professional body.

Registration is voluntary and open to those with a CPA approved career development qualification at QCF Level 6 and above or an alternative qualification at QCF Level 6 and above with robust evidence of competence equivalent to Level 6 and above against a recognised competency framework aligned with the National Occupational Standards for Career Development originally developed by LLUK. Practitioners with NVQ Level 4 in a specified career development qualification can be conditionally registered and will be expected to achieve QCF Level 6 units in Career Guidance and Development or the equivalent HE modules within two years.

Work on the creation of a new professional body, the Career Development Institute, continues apace and we will keep members up-to-date with developments. The principles underpinning the new body are:

It will be a professional membership organisation.
A simple constitution will be developed which reflects best practice of other professional membership organisations.
For the purposes of governance, there will initially be five professional sub groups reflecting the functions and client groups of the existing membership of the CPA organisations
An elected council will manage the professional issues relating to members of the CDI and of the organisation itself.
Its business will be led and managed by a small board of directors, of whom half will be elected.

In the meantime, please visit the CPA site to build the new professional body and get involved. This can be done even if you do not currently qualify or want to join the Register.

New speaker at MemCom 2012

Thu, 10 May 2012 14:44:00 GMT

We are pleased to welcome Jonathan Bass, Managing Director, Incentivated, as speaker at the event. He will be presenting Mobile Strategy – How to create one; do you need one?

Jonathan has been involved in building businesses since he graduated from Cambridge with a BA (Honours) in Economics. Initially at corporate strategy consultants LEK Consulting (www.lek.com) he worked on projects such as the launch of the Prudential bank in the UK (later Egg) and online strategies for media companies in Los Angeles in the mid 90s. Jonathan is a full Member of the Institute of Direct Marketing and contributed to the IDM's Practitioner's Handbook. He also sits on the IDM's Digital Marketing Council and the DMA's Mobile Marketing Council.

Incentivated is an independent technology company with 10 years' experience operating exclusively in the mobile marketing services sector, helping an international client base engage with their customers by designing, developing and delivering integrated acquisition, retention (CRM) and transaction (mCommerce) campaigns and services for mobile. Clients include: The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), Waitrose and the British Heart Foundation.

Membership organisations using Twitter

Thu, 03 May 2012 16:07:00 GMT

This was an interesting post which we discovered on Slideshare. It comments on activity from the CIOB, ICAEW and others.

http://www.slideshare.net/simonsaysso/twitter-for-membership-organisations-pdf

CIPD finds that managers lack leadership skills

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:34:00 GMT

New research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has found that three quarters of employers report a lack of leadership and management skills and too many managers have an inflated opinion of their ability to manage people. In response, the CIPD is urging Government and employers to recognise that just a small increase in capability amongst the UK’s eight million people managers would make a significant contribution to productivity and growth.

According to the CIPD’s research, 72% of employers report a deficit of leadership and management skills*. However, the CIPD’s quarterly Employee Outlook survey of 2,000 employees, released this week, also suggests that one problem in tackling this skills deficit is that many managers don’t know how bad they are at managing people.

Eight out of ten managers say they think their staff are satisfied or very satisfied with them as a manager whereas just 58% of employees report this is the case. This ‘reality gap’ matters as the survey finds a very clear link between employees who say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their manager and those that are engaged – i.e. willing to go the extra mile for their employer.

Ben Willmott, Head of Public Policy at the CIPD, comments: “Leadership and management capability continues to be an Achilles heel for UK plc, despite mounting evidence that these are ‘skills for growth’ essentials. Our research shows almost three in ten people (28%) - equating to about eight million people across the UK workforce - have direct management responsibility for one or more people in the workplace, and yet only just over half of employees are satisfied with their manager. A small increase in capability across this huge population of people managers would have a significant impact on people’s engagement, wellbeing and productivity. However, too many employees are promoted into people management roles because they have good technical skills, then receive inadequate training and have little idea of how their behaviour impacts on others.”

The CIPD research found a significant contrast between how managers say they manage their people and the views of their employees.

NHS Clinical Commissioners membership organisation launched

Thu, 03 May 2012 13:22:00 GMT

A new organisation, known as NHS Clinical Commissioners, was announced on Tuesday at the Alliance and NAPC's joint conference for CCG leaders. The NHS Alliance and National Association of Primary Care have formed this single membership organisation for clinical commissioning groups, CCGs, in conjunction with the NHS Confederation to represent GP commissioners' interests in the revamped NHS.

Dr Mike Dixon, chair of the NHS Alliance, told GPs at this week's conference: ‘The reason we're doing this is that over 80% of you said at a previous NAPC-NHS Alliance event you wanted a strong representative organisation that can make sure you're properly championed and that you're at the high table. And that's really where we need to get to – right up there.'

‘In order to do that the two organisations are also partnering with the NHS Confederation who will be bringing the support, some of the firepower that you will need in the new world to ensure you get all you require to get things moving.'

Dr Alessi the NACP chair said: ‘We weren't the best of friends for many, many years and now the relationship is quite cordial. We're forming an institution and organisation which will represent everybody, really a broad church because we need a voice for clinical commissioning especially during this messy transition.'

More details will be released in the coming weeks on how this new organisation will support the membership of these to organisations

Total Professions engineering review

Wed, 02 May 2012 15:54:00 GMT

Total Professions Careers Adviser bulletin, written by PARN, goes out to some 5,000 careers advisers providing careers information from the professional body perspective. 270+ Professional bodies have a free basic listing in the Profession Finder search function and these entries can be expanded with a payment which also supports the sites development and promotion.

Article of interest and more:

Why study engineering?

UK economy DOWN, marketers confidence UP, membership executives forecast....?

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:15:00 GMT

Yesterday the Bank of England gave UK GDP to go to – 0.2 %, this means technically the UK is back in recession. From a recent Linkedin post the latest IPA Bellwether report suggested that marketing executives have regained confidence in their companies’ prospects, which suggests business buoyancy is at a two-year high.

At the MemCom conference delegates from most membership sectors will consider how to make marketing budgets stretch further maximising interactive and mobile strategies whilst focussing the whole organisation behind a single brand vision.

IPA Bellwether report author Chris Willliamson pointed out that an increase in confidence led to the first rise in annual marketing spend in four years, with Internet advertising budgets getting the biggest boost with a 7.8 per cent average upwards revision.

While marketing budgets for the year are higher on average, the first quarter of 2012 has seen “the most cautious approach to spending for three years”. But the upcoming Olympics, Jubilee and Euro 2012 are set to boost UK marketing.

A cross section of those taking part in MemCom on May 17th includes:

Market Research Society
The Chartered Quality Institute
Chatham House
Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP)
Recruitment & Employment Confederation
The Camping & Caravanning Club
The Royal Society of Medicine
British Orienteering
Motor Sports Association
British Dental Association
British Mountaineering Council
Fire Protection Association
The Chartered Institution of Highways & Transportation
British Association of Snowsport Instructors
The Institution of Engineering and Technology
Institute of Directors

So if you haven’t booked and want to be sure your marketing planning is at the cutting edge click here

For a copy of the report visit here

Wales social care professional body to be first in UK

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 21:00:00 GMT

Historic plans to set up a professional body for people who work in social care in Wales will become a reality. The creation of the Academy of Care Practitioners was announced by Care Forum Walesat a conference at Glyndwr University, in Wrexham.The new organisation will be the first of its kind in the UK.

It will be officially launched at the Senedd in Cardiff on Monday, May 21, a t a reception hosted by the Minister for Health and Social Services, Lesley Griffiths, and the Deputy Minister for Children and Social Services, Gwenda Thomas.

The news was welcomed by social care worker Tracey Green, from Wrexham.

She said: "I think the support of a professional body like the Academy of CarePractitioners will be important to everybody who works in social care.

"We are currently one of the few professions, unlike social work and nursing, that does not enjoy the benefits of a professional body which will also help to raise the profile and the status of people employed in the care sector."

It was a sentiment echoed by Teresa Pritchard, a who took part in a pilot project for the Academy of Care Practitioners.

She said: "When you are promoting career pathways and personal development, an independent voice and somewhere where you can go for advice and support is veryvaluable. - sometimes you need more than just the employer or the regulator.

"As a concept, it's been widely supported for some time and the pilot project we have undertaken has shown overwhelming support of care practitioners themselves.

"It is widely acknowledged that professional bodies can be a real source of supportand greatly assist in promoting best practice and raising standards to the benefit of service users."

Mario Kreft MBE, Chair of Care Forum Wales, said: "We talk a lot about raising the status and the professionalism of the social care workforce.

"One of the biggest issues in our view is that vocationally qualified social careworkers are a profession without their own professional body. We believe it's about time that was put right.

"Due to the nature of the demanding job, it's unrealistic to expect the care practitioners themselves in Wales to be able to bring about the creation of their own body.

"It is time social care workers were given some assistance to make this a reality.

"It's really about providing a support mechanism, helping people with their personal and professional development, and gaining added value benefits..

"This innovation will create the first body of its type for social care workers in the UK and it is fitting that it should be created in Wales where we have seen a great deal of innovation in recent years.

"We are delighted that Professor Mike Scott, Vice Chancellor of Glyndwr University, has seen fit to support this initiative for the first two years while it establishes itself.

National all-age Careers Service launched to some criticism from Careers Advisers

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:26:00 GMT

A new National Careers Service has been launched by the government this month which will offer work advice and learning information to people of all ages.The service says it will “transform careers advice” in the UK by combining highly-trained advisers with an interactive website, said the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

The government estimates that the programme will handle up to one million telephone advice sessions annually and at least 20 million online sessions.

Face-to-face guidance for up to 700,000 adults per year will be provided in a range of community locations, offering tailored information on the local labour market so people are aware of their area’s growth industries.

Comments on a Linkedin careers adviser group have not been too favourable so far:

Is it really the all-age service it professes to be, though? Face- to- face guidance will only be available to adults. Also,I feel that the website is not very young people friendly but much more suited to the needs of unemployed adults. It's no substitute for the IAG and support which Careers Advisers have been offering to young people in schools and colleges for decades, a service which is now being substantially reduced in most areas. What do other people think.

I can't really see what is different apart from re-branding? How does this service differ from the service that was previously available? 18+'s are no longer re-directed to Connexions but that seems to be it pretty much. I'd say it was a let-down but then my expectations weren't high to begin with, so ...

As others have said expectations were low but I didn't believe for a moment the website would be that poor! Mr Hayes and his Advisors need to ask for their money back from the web designers used as navigation and the user experience is pathetic.

I believe all it's turning out to be is an extension of the original Next Step. I agree about the website, it hardly promotes careers guidance in a positive way and difficult to navigate also. Potentially confusing to possibly clients; Which is the entire point of the site and service in the first place; to attract potential clients who may need advice/guidance.

MemCom Awards 2012 - shortlist

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:12:00 GMT

Although we are stil waiting for a few awards category results to come in from the judges, we are please to congratulate those who have already been shortlisted.

This year we have seen a record number of entries and standards have been high. Those shortlisted so far this year include:

Papworth Trust
British Dental Association
British Orienteering
Institute of Fundraising
RCVS
Recruitment & Employment Confederation
Spurgeons
The Camping & Caravanning Club
The Royal Society of Medicine
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust
Campaign For Real Ale
Society and College of Radiographers
Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP)
Chartered Management Institute
Institute of Physics
Chartered Institute of Marketing
British Parking Association
Society and College of Radiographers

View the MemCom 2012 Strategic Conference agenda here

View the MemCom 2012 Workshop agenda here

BOOK NOW to attend MemCom 2012

Racehorse owners’ new web site overcomes older user hurdle

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:33:00 GMT

When the Racehorse Owners’ Association (ROA) launched its new website, one of its objectives was to better engage with the audience whose average age is in the ‘late 50s’. At the start of the project the ROA had just 1,000 member email addresses – it now has 4,000 on the database. And unique visits to the site average over 3,200 per month, with the average visit lasting three minutes.

The new website, designed by Pixl8, was tailored to meet the needs of a mature audience with minimal computer literacy.
As well as meeting members’ basic needs, the site was integrated with British horse racing admin and registration bodies.

Professional Association Lobbying

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:44:00 GMT

Represnting your sector and members interests is important and MemCom found it interesting to review what professional associations have been consulted on recently. Here is a selection from the last 12 months:

Mark Powell, Executive Director, Product Development, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors gave evidence to Education Committee related to Attracting, training and retaining the best teachers.
Chas Roy Chowdhury, Head of Taxation, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants gave evidence to Treasury Committee related to Administration and Effectiveness of HM Revenue and Customs: Closing the Tax Gap.
James Coates, member of Public Policies Committee, Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in the UK gave evidence to Transport Committee related to Out of the jam: reducing congestion on our roads

More can be found here

FPM launches new journal: Health Policy and Technology

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 19:12:00 GMT

Health Policy and Technology (HPT), a new journal from the Fellowship of Postgraduate Medicine (FPM), has been launched in March 2012 as a cross-disciplinary journal.

Ashridge Communications supported the ‘Fellowship’ with the tendering process of this magazine, which will focus on past, present and future health policy and the role of technology in clinical and non-clinical national and international health environments. HPT is published on the FPM's behalf by Elsevier, a major international scientific, technical and medical publisher

>See more

MEMBERSHIP BODIES LOBBY ON HOSEPIPE BAN

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:33:00 GMT

Memcom learns of bodies uniting in a common cause. They have asked Thames Water to provide concessions to allow landscape businesses to continue to use hosepipes in the delivery of their business, and to allow for newly laid turf and plants to be watered in for 28 days

Have you some good examples of this type of membership body collaboration?

We look forward to your responses flooding in!

Membership body disciplinary decisions being challenged more often

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 09:21:00 GMT

With law firms specialising in providing support in this area MemCom wonders how much of a concern this should be for membership bodies?

As an example defending doctors, nurses, teachers, coach and lorry operators and even sports stars embroiled in disciplinary action brought by their professional bodies is boosting revenues at Greater Manchester law firm Stephensons. Its professional discipline and regulatory team, which is part of Stephensons’ 47-strong crime, fraud and regulatory department, is enjoying rapid growth and expects to generate fee income of £600,000 for the 12 months to April 14, up from just over £400,000 in the previous year, partner Sean Joyce said today.