News: Performance Management
Training design guide launched for food and drink industry
23 October 2007
A new online one-stop guide has been launched to help food and drink manufacturers design qualifications and training programmes for their staff.
The 'Pick YOUR Mix' tool matches short descriptions of job roles to the most suitable training programmes available, Skills for Business reports.
It is being launched at the same time as a new framework for National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications (N/SVQs), which has been developed by the food and drink skills sector, Improve.
This Food Manufacture framework will provide a choice of more than 500 learning units, covering all aspects of the industry.
Improve's chief executive, Jack Matthews, said: "Ultimately, this is all about improving the skills of the workforce and increasing profits by raising performance.
"One in five employers in the sector report skills gaps in their workforce and yet fewer than one in ten have put any employees through a scheme leading to a nationally-recognised qualification in the past year.
"There is money available to encourage employers to put their staff through qualification schemes; our aim in reforming the N/SVQ framework has been to make those schemes more accessible and to give employers more freedom and more choice.
"All the tools needed for an employer to tailor the qualifications to their own needs are ready and waiting in a convenient, easy-to-get-to place."
Employers can also use the Pick YOUR Mix tool to download National Occupational Standards, which set out the skills required for various roles.
