Wake up, it’s a new dawn for learning and development

Patrick Mills, IPA director of professional development, wonders whether we are moving to an era where all businesses take charge of their own learning and development – integrating it into the fabric of their organisations…

After two years of economic gloom, talk of a double dip is enough to send most sane individuals into hibernation (I haven’t done it myself, but the concept is quite attractive).  During this time the training business has changed dramatically, which means for the IPA hibernation has never been an option.

What is always true, though, is that recession tends to speed up pre-existing trends and this is precisely what we have experienced at the IPA in executing training programmes for our members.

A seemingly untouchable programme in terms of best practice and quality has had to be rebuilt to suit an industry that is changing quicker than Australian batsmen at the crease.

We have rethought how we go about learning and development and are now gaining considerable traction in our core offering of helping agencies develop a culture of learning and development to build more solid businesses, improve bottom line performance and aid staff attraction and retention.

Agencies told us they needed short sharp bursts of training, coupled with qualifications, online learning, reading and up-to-the-minute seminars and events to help keep them abreast of new stuff. They can now access lots of short modules covering craft skills, business skills, leadership and management; a suit of qualifications accessible online covering Search, Communications Planning, Effectiveness and Evaluation and Legal and Regulations as well as the host of events that the IPA put on every week.

2010 was therefore a year of change and rebuilding, while maintaining as many training opportunities as economics would allow.  It didn’t end badly, we published the latest Excellence Diploma essays, which tackled some issues on the tips of everyone’s tongues, as Nick Kendall of BBH, describes it “I think of the diploma delegates as the R&D team for our industry”. And we ran a course/conference on how technology is changing behaviour, which created vigorous and ongoing debate about how agencies should adapt for the future.

But coming into work on 4 January was like walking into a blinding light.  How could things be so diametrically different.  Agencies were suddenly beating down our doors for residential courses (which had all but dried up by the end of 2010); records were being broken on candidates for our Foundation Certificate exam (which suggests a growth in new recruits, born out in the latest IPA agency census which reports a 1.3% increase in new starters).

The interesting thing is how imaginative agencies are now being in helping their staff learn and develop, supporting our ideal that it is a cultural thing, rather than a process of ushering staff into courses. One agency reported that they were teaching all their staff about P&L, forecasting and financial management by creating small teams across disciplines and levels to create a new business idea.  Once approved they are given a £500 budget to get it going – every penny has to be accounted for including their time.  Utterly brilliant and apparently incredibly successful.

So are we moving to an era where all businesses take charge of their own Learning and Development and integrating it into the fabric of their organisations? I hope so, and evidence suggests that this is happening very quickly. However, it is vital to remember that in-house training is coupled with experiential activity where staff are encouraged to network with their industry peers.  The IPA has a reputation for this kind of training: agency luminaries giving their time for nothing, educating the next generation. The delegate feedback is amazing, the alumni never stop raving about it. And this is why we’re thrilled that agencies have responded to the light at the end of the tunnel with such enthusiasm for our courses.

With our overhauled programme we are now well placed to be flexible and move with the market, even ahead of it at times, and we’ve built web pages to match, which really do offer our members a learning zone.

We feel fit for the future, whatever it may bring (and let’s hope it’s not a ‘double-dip’), it looks as though our members are up for it too

To learn more about courses, workshops and qualifications on offer from the IPA this year click here.