ONLINE LEARNING

In January 2015, we launched our online and blended learning portal PLUS enabling us to provide online, cost effective, high quality training.

PLUS enables us to support those who prefer online learning, it allows us to bring groups of learners together for online meetings, and it allows us to extend the learning process through a combination of workshops and online learning.

Learners tell us PLUS is engaging, easy to use and the support from their trainers has been fantastic.  Our client training managers make use of the client reporting to track progress and they appreciate the cost savings.  Our Polaris Learning trainers find it is a great way to provide bite-sized learning.

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VIRTUAL LEARNING

We also provide virtual workshops using videoconferencing, allowing us to deliver remote learning workshops.  This can be standalone workshops, programmes of workshops or part of a blended learning approach with PLUS.

Emotional Intelligence Virtual Workshop

Emotional Intelligence is such an important subject for all of our teams at the best of times and it is particularly important just now.  Giving your people, particularly your supervisors and managers, the ability to better understand and manage their own emotions, as well as knowing how to support, manage and respond to the emotions of the people in their teams, is critical.

Now more than ever, we need to help our managers be the best that they can be and in turn, help them create high performing teams.

This two hour virtual, online workshop is a great starting point on that journey to help participants think about:

• What emotional intelligence is and why it is important
• What does emotional intelligence mean to me personally – how self aware am I?
• How can I apply emotional intelligence in my role as a manager?
• What actions can I take away today to help me be a better manager and help my team excel?

This can also be a standalone workshop or we can build on this with our other virtual workshops or online learning.

We use videoconferencing as well as pre-course work and workbooks to support the online workshop.

Self-Awareness and Team Relationships for Team Success

The objective of this programme of virtual, online workshops is to help managers better understand themselves their team members, in turn, putting them in a good position to work towards creating a high-performance team.  We can also deliver this programme as face to face workshops or as part of a larger leadership development programme.

We can run this programme in several ways, and it is more cost effective than you might expect.

Option 1 – Leadership Development

This involves focusing on your leaders and their peers and this approach helps to build an understanding of how people are motivated and what managers can do to communicate and lead more effectively.

Option 2 – Team Facilitation 

This involves the managers and their teams completing the questionnaires and then we run the workshops with the teams and managers to help them work better together.

Option 3 – Team Analysis

This involves the managers and their teams completing the questionnaires. We then work with the managers to analyse their team returns (with the team members’ consent) to help them understand better how to work with their teams. The team members are not involved in the workshops but do have 1 to 1 meetings to understand their own profiles.

We can also apply this approach to help you with career and succession planning.

Option 1 in More Detail

This is a series of workshops that can be tailored to your specific requirements but below is an example approach.

Pre-Course Work

We start with the completion of an online questionnaire using the licenced tool Strength Deployment Inventory.  This provides a profile of each individual’s motivations, strengths and overdone strengths (potentially leading us into conflict) allowing us to gain a deep understanding of what drives each individual and what will also take each person into conflict.

The questionnaire is completed by the managers ahead of the workshops and we provide 1 to 1 feedback on the detailed profile report that each manager receives.

Being an Individual in a Team: Workshop 1

The focus of workshop 1 is to bring everyone together, to help them to start to understand what their individual profile reports mean and what this means for them as a team.  This understanding is an important step in building self-awareness and understanding of the other managers that they work with.  It is also a starting point in understanding that each person’s team members will be different.

In Conflict: Workshop 2

In workshop 2, our focus is on what conflict is and how to address it.  With the knowledge of what motivates us individually and as a team, we can also understand what can lead us into conflict, how to avoid it for ourselves and for our team, and what to do if we find ourselves in conflict.

When we start considering conflict from the perspective of our motivations, we can much better understand what is going on for us and for the people around us.  This is important information for managing ourselves and for managing other people.

Thinking About Our Team and Leading the Way: Workshop 3

When we know what motivates someone, we can adapt how we communicate with them, we can think about what tasks we allocate and we can see what will help them perform to the best of their ability.

In this workshop, we bring in the knowledge that we have about ourselves, and the knowledge that the people in our team will be different.  We look at what this means to us as managers, and we begin to understand how to help each team member thrive and perform to the best of his or her ability in the organisation.

Assessor Introductory Workshop (Virtual and Remote Learning)

This programme of learning is an introduction to assessing which is delivered through 3 sessions of remote or virtual learning lasting 2 hours per session.

The goals of the workshop are:

• To be able to understand the importance of competence and your role as an assessor with this
• To understand the assessment process
• To be able to plan, gather and judge evidence and give feedback to your candidates
• To be able to complete required assessment paperwork
• To be able to work within your company assessment procedure

Practical Assignment (Polaris Learning Certificate of Competence)

We recommend that this learning is followed by a practical work-based assignment so that the assessors can apply what they have learnt in their workplace, using your paperwork and process.  This also gives us the opportunity to check their competence and feedback any queries arising as they go through this process of assessing for the first time.

ONLINE LEARNING

SQA L&D9DI ASSESS WORKPLACE COMPETENCE USING DIRECT AND INDIRECT METHODS 

This qualification is suitable for people who assess the competence of individuals within a competency based assessment system using direct and indirect methods of assessment.

Your assessors will learn what is expected from them as workplace assessors, the key steps of the assessment process and the skills they need in order to be effective assessors. This qualification is internationally recognised and is accepted by industry bodies such as OPITO.

We can build your assessment paperwork and assessment process into the online learning so that the assessors not only achieve an internationally recognised qualification but also leave with a better understanding of their role once they return to the workplace.

Although we need to help the assessor complete the qualification, we do not believe you can throw assessors into the qualification without training on how to assess, what to assess, when to assess and how to handle difficult questions.

We want the assessors to finish their learning and understand what is expected of them in their role and how to use your company’s assessment paperwork and assessment process.

We start with an online meeting (webinar) to introduce the assessors to the qualification and also to PLUS.  For those who can not make it, an on demand copy is available on PLUS so they can watch it at a time that suits them.

Your assessors then work through six online modules:

Following completion of the online modules and assessment planning, the learner completes the necessary work to generate the evidence required by the qualification back in their workplace.  This includes the assessment of two individuals.

SQA L&D11 INTERNALLY MONITOR AND MAINTAIN THE QUALITY OF WORKPLACE ASSESSMENT

Firstly, for your internal verifiers to succeed, we believe that they must be trained on your verification process.

We recommend that we build your quality processes and paperwork into the online learning.  This means that the verifiers not only achieve an internationally recognised qualification but also leave with a better understanding of what to do back in their workplace.

Secondly, internal verifiers usually have two responsibilities: supporting assessors and carrying out the process of internal verification (or auditing the assessments).

We address both of these aspects in the initial online learning before supporting your internal verifiers through the qualification.

We want your verifiers to not only complete their qualification but also understand what is expected of them in their role, how to use your company’s assessment paperwork and assessment process, and how to be effective internal verifiers.

We start with an online meeting (webinar) to introduce the verifiers to the qualification, the learning modules on PLUS and how to make the most of PLUS. For those who cannot make it, an on-demand copy is available on PLUS.

Your verifiers then work through six online modules.  The online modules provide an overview of the key requirements of the role.  They also enable learners to start finding out about their own organisation’s assessment and verification processes, their procedures and their paperwork.

Following completion of the online modules, the learner completes the necessary work to generate the evidence required by the qualification back in their workplace.  This includes the completion of two candidate reports and an SQA L&D11 Knowledge Assignment.

INTRODUCTION TO ASSESSMENT 

This online course is designed to introduce you or your team to the essentials of assessment, giving assessors the understanding and knowledge to help them get started more confidently and with a clearer idea of what is expected, and their roles and responsibilities.

In this course, we cover:

• Introduction to Assessment
• Planning and Assessing Competence
• Providing Feedback

On completion of the learning, the assessors complete an assignment to help them reflect on what they have learnt.

The goals of the learning are:

• To be able to understand the importance of competence and your role as an assessor with this
• To understand the assessment process
• To be able to plan, gather and judge evidence and give feedback to your candidates
• To be able to complete required assessment paperwork

ASSESSOR AND VERIFIER CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCE

The training with practical assessment (certificate of competence) option allows your assessors and verifiers to receive the relevant training to work as assessors or verifiers, but instead of a full qualification, they complete a short practical assessment in the workplace.

If you currently cannot go to your workplace, then you can complete the online learning and you may be able to complete the assessments remotely or you can complete the assessments once you are able to be back in the workplace.

We can build in your assessment paperwork and assessment process into the online learning so that assessors leave with a better understanding of their role.

ASSESSOR

This involves the provision of an online training process which includes the completion of a formal knowledge-based assignment and practical assessment back in the workplace which is reviewed by a Polaris Learning Consultant.  

The online modules are:

• Module 1: Introduction to Assessment
• Module 2: Planning and Assessing Competence
• Module 3: Providing Feedback
• Module 4: Assessor Assignment

On completion of this, a Polaris Learning Certificate of Competence is awarded.

VERIFIER

This involves the provision of an online training process which includes the completion of formal knowledge assignments.  This would typically take one day to complete.

The online modules are:

• Module 1: Assessment Refresher
• Module 2: Introduction to Internal Verification
• Module 3: Planning Sampling Activities
• Module 4: Monitoring Assessment Practice
• Module 5: External QA Requirements
• Module 6: Case Study

Following completion of the online modules, the learner completes the necessary work to generate the evidence required by the qualification back in their workplace.  This includes the completion of two candidate reports and an SQA L&D11 Knowledge Assignment.

SVQ LEVEL 3 IN MANAGEMENT

The Level 3 SVQ in Management is designed for managers who want to develop their people management skills as well as demonstrate their competence in management.

You will have the opportunity to complete online learning, you will be sign-posted to other online resources to research and you will be asked to complete work-based activities which will help you apply what you are learning to your role and your organisation.  Many of us currently are working from home.  You will be able to do some of the activities remotely and others you may have to wait to do once you are back in your workplace but you can complete the online learning.

These activities will also contribute to the evidence that you need to gather for your qualification.

The combination of learning and activities will help you build your knowledge, skills, tool set and methodologies, giving you resources that you can call on as you progress in your management career.

The online learning modules you will work through are:

• Self Development and Coaching Others
• The Effective Manager
• Performance Management
• Operational Management

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ESSENTIALS ENDORSED BY THE ILM

Our own programmes were created by ourselves and draw on over twenty-two years of experience delivering leadership development programmes.

They can be tailored for future supervisors, team leaders and managers as well as those people already in these roles.

We work closely with your managers to help them:

• Excel as managers, living your organisation’s vision, values and culture, and supporting their teams to do the same
• Giving them the skills, knowledge and behaviours to be competent in their role, understanding how to lead and the impact that their leadership has on their team
• Being clear on their responsibilities and having the confidence and tools to have difficult conversations, manage performance on a daily basis and drive their teams forward

We allocate each learner a Polaris Learning consultant who works closely with the learner.

We build in a series of live webinars or on demand webinars to support the learning process. Client reporting is built in as standard so you can keep track of progress.

The duration of the programme can be organised to suit your requirements and we can facilitate the completion of this over a short or longer period of time.

Learners will be required to work through five online modules and will receive feedback as they work through the individual modules.  The online modules are:

INVESTIGATION ESSENTIALS

We are happy to offer this Investigation Essentials Online Learning course in conjunction with Helix Safety.

Available within the Polaris Learning portal PLUS and designed with Helix Safety, incident investigation and safety specialists, this course will take you through the essentials of incident investigation and includes lots of free resources to help you implement or enhance your organisation’s own processes.

Whether new to this area or looking for a refresher, you can complete the learning at times that suit you and we are available to support you if you need any help.

For more information on this course, click here.

STANDALONE MODULES

We also have a list of standalone modules within PLUS for people to choose from including:

• Communication for Managers
• Motivation for Performance
• Leadership Skills
• Leading Change
• Coaching Skills for Managers
• Effective Manager
• Performance Management
• Operational Management
• Self Development and Coaching Others
• Assessor Refresher Training
• Internal Audit
• Lean Mindset and Culture
• Root Cause Analysis

TAILORED ONLINE COURSES

We provide tailored online courses hosted within PLUS or within your own learning management system.