GUIDE
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Supporting Learners
Role and skills of the union rep
Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
The role of the union rep
What is the role?
Information
The role of the union rep and in particular the ULR is central to bringing together the two inter-related elements of work and learning. The skills and qualities that you have play a key part in changing members’ lives and making a real difference.
Providing information is probably the most important part of the information, advice and guidance process for union reps. Information may be about:
Members may need help to think through and decide: what learning or training they would like to do how and where they would like to learn what practical things they need to sort out to start learning how to plan the best pathways what steps to take next.
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local learning opportunities (e.g. union and other work-based learning centres, Trade Union Studies Centres, Colleges of Further and Higher Education, Adult and Community Learning, learndirect, work-based providers) learner incentives and entitlements, including the new Level 2 Entitlements and the Adult Learner Grant particular learning interests and needs or job-related skills development how to access more specialist advice or fuller indepth professional career guidance
What does IAG mean to a union rep?
how to arrange a skills healthcheck, dyslexia assessment, or Skills for Life assessment
As part of your basic training as a ULR you will have received a Workplace Toolkit which includes a detailed definition of IAG. Union reps are involved in supporting learners, and part of this may be to provide information and to signpost specialist IAG services. There are several elements to the information, advice and guidance process. Sometimes adults only need one part of the process; sometimes they require and want all of it. These are the key elements:
disability and employment issues, including support for specific disabilities and the Access to Work scheme.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Signposting/referral Signposting/referral means re-directing people to: other sources of information; professional guidance; specialist advice; or a particular course or learning programme. It may involve: referring members in their workplace or union for specialist information or advice signposting to other external provision or specialist help finding out about the Disability Discrimination Act and other relevant legislation showing members how to access free services for learning and work, including learndirect Careers Advice and, where appropriate, Jobcentre Plus.
Making information accessible
Advice and guidance
Some members will be able to make decisions about the learning path they take simply by accessing information you provide, without any discussion. Therefore you need to consider the quality and accessibility of the information you offer, bearing in mind that some members may have literacy needs, some may be dyslexic and for others their first language may not be English.
Advice means helping people to understand information and decide on the most suitable course of action for them. Advice must be impartial and centred on the needs and interests of the members. It may involve signposting/referral as described above.
Information can be provided through: printed materials computer software on CR-ROM or via the internet
There are different levels of guidance; some types of guidance may not be part of your role as an union rep because specialist knowledge and skills would be needed. However, you may wish to talk to/negotiate with your employer about buying in access to some of these professional services for members who require a more in-depth approach, or specialist advice or assessment.
audio-visual materials such as video.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Specialist advice and assessment This may be part of the professional guidance process or separate from it. Specialist advice may be about an occupational sector, a particular activity or it may be some kind of specialist assessment. Local colleges, for example, are a good source of specialist advice about the minimum entry requirements and content of specific learning programmes (e.g. art and design, languages). Other examples of specialist advice/assessment which you would need to know about are: Skills for Life assessments assessment of existing competences for NVQ accreditation self-employment/business start up advice assessments for people with dyslexia advice on practical aids for people with disabilities to help them in their job role. Drawing up a list of local contacts and phone numbers for specialist advice and assessment agencies will prove invaluable.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Principles for supporting union learners Impartiality This means that you support members in an unbiased way, and in the interests of the member. The way in which you can make sure you do this is: Find out as much as you can about member’s needs, requirements, interests and abilities so that you can help them to make the best decisions for them. Know where your limitations and boundaries are – be clear about what you don’t know! If you are not sure that you have the full range of information needed then check or signpost members to others who know more.
Unionlearn and union values As a union rep you carry out your role in a way that fits with the shared values of unionlearn and trade unions. These are outlined in the basic training course and are:
Help members to find out more and check for themselves before deciding on a course of action, and don’t advise them to do something because it is the thing you know most about. You can work towards this by working with other organisations in the network (See Guide 2 Supporting Learners: Sources of help for union reps) and by taking up training opportunities for yourself.
justice and fairness
Confidentiality
equality and equity democracy unity working together. Added to these, there are two other important principles which apply to your role in supporting learners, and which should also be observed by organisations that you signpost members to. They are:
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You should as far as possible respect the confidentiality and privacy of members. It is important to agree with members what this means. Before you work with others to help members, you must get members’ consent to share information that they have given you about themselves. If you keep written records or computer records it is important that members know who else will be able to see these, and that they are happy about that. If it is not possible to be completely confidential, this must be made clear when you first talk to members. It is an important part of what is known as ‘making a contract’.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Skills for
Unionlearn is trying to ensure that all union members have the help and information they need about learning and opportunities to progress. The role of the ULR in supporting, coaching, mentoring and signposting is a central feature of the unionlearn network model for supporting learners. This is not a complete list of the roles and skills of the ULR – you carry out many other responsibilities in the workplace and use a range of other skills. This list simply identifies the skills needed for supporting individual learners. If as a ULR you have a specialist role in delivering IAG, you will have developed and be using many of these skills. Which ones do you think are the most important?
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not important
important
supporting union learners
Acting as a role model or mentor Encouraging and motivating learners Helping learners to gain confidence Building trust and rapport with learners Being a sounding board Giving feedback to learners Challenging unrealistic ideas Speaking up or advocating for learners Promoting equality and diversity ‘Making a contract’ Listening actively Asking questions Identifying learning needs Preparing individual or group sessions Addressing barriers to learning Helping learners to set goals and targets Helping learners to plan what to do next Helping learners to review their progress and plans Celebrating and building on achievement Making contacts and networking Using resources, databases and the internet to find information Interpreting and understanding information Providing information to learners Helping learners to find and select information themselves Signposting learners to other sources of information or support Storing information Updating information Helping learners to record information Helping learners to keep a record of their plans and progress Following up Providing continuing support Identifying limitations of own role Managing own time Delegating tasks to others Reflecting on own practice Planning own learning and development Working to principles (confidentiality, impartiality) Complying with legislation
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Developing key interview skills As a ULR who attended the basic learning reps training you will have participated in some activities in working with members to help you support them as learners. In your basic training pack you have skills notes on active listening, questioning techniques, interviewing people and taking notes. In addition you may find the following useful in developing your skills further when working with individual members or with groups (See also Guide 1 Supporting Learners: Why and how union reps should support learners).
Active listening Active listening is much more than just hearing. It involves: understanding checking memorising selecting key points verbal and non-verbal responses summarising.
Active listening is important in: creating a good atmosphere and helping members to feel at ease receiving and checking out information working out appropriate solutions to enquiries. Five steps to active listening are: 1. Concentrate on what members are actually saying; avoid making assumptions. 2. Recognise any positive or negative feelings you may have about the member and try to set these aside. 3. Find ways of checking your own understanding directly with members by summarising what has been said. 4. Try to keep your own speaking to the minimum – do not monopolise the conversation. 5. Learn to close down discussions satisfactorily.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Active listening skills Active listening involves a range of skills, including:
Non-verbal communication Appropriate non-verbal communication (sometimes called body language) indicates that you are listening to members and that you are not distracted by other things. You might encourage them by: nodding
Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is used to clarify and confirm understanding. It is a form of summarising that involves reflecting back in your own words what members are saying, to check that what is being said is correct. Paraphrasing can be used to: check understanding show that you are listening and understanding what is being said
leaning slightly forwards keeping still and not fiddling with things
summarise in a concise form what the member is saying
appropriate eye contact.
provide direction to the interview. Paraphrasing involves:
Using short phrases or words These are sometimes called ‘minimal encouragers’ and help to keep people talking and indicate that you are listening, for example:
reflecting feelings summarising focusing
'go on' or 'tell me more' encouraging members to be specific. 'because’ or 'and then' 'umm’ and 'uh huh'
Using silence
repeating key words or phrases restating a few of the member’s words.
Silence, used appropriately, can be very helpful because it: gives time for members to think of the answers to questions indicates that you have time to listen allows time for you to think about what is being said.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Concentrating
Letting yourself get in the way
Do not let your mind wander.
putting your own views and opinions forward
Resist distractions.
disagreeing with members
Listen to the content of what is being said.
speaking too much
Watch for non-verbal clues.
not allowing silence
You need to have an open mind so that you can hear what is being said and respond appropriately.
hurrying or rushing the members responding to words which always trigger a reaction in you.
Not listening What shows you are not listening?
Showing negative body language
not concentrating
fiddling
getting distracted by outside things
looking out of the window
daydreaming or your mind wandering off on to other things
looking bored
hearing words not meanings
looking at the clock or your watch poor eye contact.
accepting things the members says at face value interpreting things wrongly.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Improve the way you listen Find somewhere quiet. Be realistic about the time available and agree timing with members. Concentrate on the members. Be open minded and don’t judge. Try to understand why a member has a different opinion to yours.
Questioning and clarifying skills The first question a person asks (sometimes called “the presented question”) may be just what it seems or it may conceal a number of other issues that the person really wants to ask about. They may also not be very clear about what they want to talk about. There are a number of questioning techniques which can enable you to give effective help. These are positive types of questions.
Open questions
Make mental summaries of what members say.
An open question encourages a person to talk freely and is not likely to get a yes or no answer. Questions like these can help you to obtain more information, and assist members to explore their ideas.
Make notes if possible.
“Tell me about…”
Reflect back the main ideas to members to check your understanding.
“Could you give me a little more detail please?”
Be aware of words and ideas which trigger off a reaction in you.
Summarise the key ideas and action points.
“What other alternatives have you thought of?” “How do you feel about…?”
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Paraphrasing and summarising
Closed questions
Paraphrasing involves putting briefly into your own words the question or statement. This helps to clarify what has been said and to encourage people to give more information. It shows you have been listening carefully and have understood what members are saying. Summarising is helpful in the same way.
A question that is closed will most likely be answered by the person with just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, or with simple facts. A closed question both summarises and helps to bring the conversation back on to course if it has wandered. It can help you to close down one topic and move on to the next. It also helps to check mutual understanding quickly. But make sure you don’t use closed questions instead of open questions when you are still trying to obtain more information.
“So you’d like to change your course, but you are bit worried that your tutor may not agree?” “You seem to have decided that… is that right?” “So far you have told me that…”
“Do you know how to get to the college?” “When did you last go on a course in this subject?”
Specific questions
Reflecting back Reflecting is the act of rephrasing a statement or question and sending it – or reflecting it – back to the person. It is especially helpful in clarifying points, obtaining more information and checking mutual understanding.
The use of specific questions can be a particularly useful approach when you have a talkative person or a ‘waffler’. In this situation the only way of being sure you get the facts you need is to be direct. There is only one correct answer to a specific question, for example:
“You have enrolled on a course but now think the level is too high for you.”
“What qualification would you like to get in maths?”
Reflective questions – these help to identify how a person feels
“You are pleased about…?” “You are worried about…?”
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Challenging questions These can help to encourage people to think about all aspects of the question. It is better to avoid the word “why” because it can be threatening.
“What would you do if you weren’t offered a place?” “To what extent have you thought about…?”
It is best to avoid the following negative types of questions:
Leading questions These are asked in a way that suggests the answer.
“You don’t like it at college, do you?”
Multiple questions More than one question can be asked together, which is confusing and means that the person has to remember them all.
“Do you want to go on to higher education, and what subject do you want to study, full or part time?”
Critical questions Arguing with the person or stating that what they have said is not true is not helpful.
“You seem to have made a mess of that, don’t you?”
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Mentoring and the role of the union rep The role of a mentor
helping learners to prepare for any assessment they may have to undertake
The role of a mentor is to: help the learner to take advantage of opportunities; overcome obstacles in the learning process; and apply that learning in the workplace. This is part of the role of the ULR in supporting learners.
signposting to others when necessary.
Mentoring skills and knowledge Mentoring skills are the same as those used by a ULR:
Mentoring activities The main activities involved in mentoring are: building trust and rapport with learners providing objective, confidential and trustworthy support acting as a role model, using your own experience as a learner brokering access to a range of opportunities sharing ideas about learning
active listening questioning ‘contract setting’ clarifying and summarising communication building rapport constructive feedback
providing information and feedback helping learners to gain confidence and take charge of their learning, stimulating and encouraging them to grow in their own way and within their own potential helping learners to think through issues and arrive at their own solutions helping learners to identify their learning goals and further opportunities for learning and development
challenging target setting. Mentors also need to be aware, and have some knowledge of: empowerment diversity of, and responding to learners’ needs lifelong learning.
helping learners to plan and to review their achievements
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
What mentoring involves Mentoring involves: giving time and quality attention to learners you may be supporting providing a long-term focus to their personal and professional development helping the learner to diagnose and analyse problems for themselves holding back on solutions where possible, but if you need to provide one, making time afterwards to help the learner draw out lessons for the future providing the learner with constructive feedback
The stages of a mentoring relationship Setting up: making a connection and establishing a rapport setting the boundaries of the relationship. The early days: establishing a working pattern learning more about each other testing out what seems to work or not work. Performing:
being action-oriented: not a ‘talking shop’ or ‘cosy chat’
achieving a number of your early goals; reaching milestones
being prepared to share past mistakes and lessons learned
sharing experiences and lessons learned easily and naturally
raising the profile of the learner you are supporting where possible and looking for potential learning and development opportunities for them.
becoming more of a mutual relationship Ending: completing the period of the relationship spotting when the relationship has run its course and is feeling stale evaluating the benefits for all involved drawing out lessons learned. The role of a ULR is very similar to that of a workplace mentor. You may wish to do further training or qualifications in mentoring if this aspect of the role interests you.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Coaching and the role of the union rep Coaching activities The main activities involved in coaching are: building trust and rapport with learners listening and asking questions providing objective, confidential and trustworthy support acting as a role model, using your own experience as a learner brokering access to a range of opportunities and support sharing ideas about learning and experiences providing information and feedback
The role of a coach The role of a coach is to bring out the best in people, giving support and encouragement, building confidence and self-esteem, passing on skills, knowledge and expertise and helping with personal and professional development. A coach is a sounding board, a facilitator, an awareness-raiser and a listener; but not an instructor, an expert adviser, or a problem solver. Many of the skills involved in coaching are similar to those used by a ULR. Coaching can be formal or informal.
helping learners to gain confidence and take charge of their learning, stimulating and encouraging them to grow in their own way and within their own potential helping learners to think through issues, arrive at their own solutions and gain control of their own development helping learners to identify and clarify their learning goals and further opportunities for learning and development helping learners to plan and to review their achievements helping learners to prepare for any assessment they may have to undertake.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Coaching skills and knowledge
What coaching involves
Coaching skills are the same as those used by a ULR:
Coaching involves:
active listening
giving time and quality attention to learners you may be supporting; providing a long-term focus to their personal and professional development
questioning observing
helping the learner be more self-aware and able to diagnose and analyse problems for themselves
‘contract setting’ clarifying and summarising communication
holding back on solutions where possible, but if you need to provide one, making time afterwards to help the learner draw out lessons for the future
building rapport
providing the learner with constructive feedback
constructive feedback
being action-oriented: not a ‘talking shop’ or ‘cosy chat’
challenging being prepared to share past mistakes and lessons learned
target setting. Coaches also need to be aware of, and have some knowledge of:
giving encouragement to the learner you are supporting, and looking for potential learning and development opportunities for them.
empowerment the diversity of, and an appropriate response to, learners’ needs lifelong learning.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
The stages of a coaching relationship Setting up:
Application of learning: applying learning at work, in a union role or in personal life
making a connection and establishing a rapport
providing ongoing support, gradually allowing the learner independence and control
setting the boundaries of the relationship and ‘making a contract’.
reviewing progress against plans and giving feedback
Analysing learning needs:
evaluating the benefits for all involved and drawing out lessons learned.
establishing a working pattern learning more about each other identifying learning needs and preferred ways of learning agreeing a learning plan with learning objectives.
The role of a ULR is very similar to that of a workplace coach, although coaching is often seen as a management tool to monitor and improve performance. You may wish to do further training or qualifications in coaching if this aspect of the role interests you.
Planning coaching sessions: practising and observing skills achieving a number of early goals; reaching milestones sharing experiences and lessons learned checking progress and giving constructive feedback.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Training and progression for union reps Basic training for union learning reps As a ULR, you will have been trained by your own union or by unionlearn to carry out your duties. This normally takes place over five days and comprises three OCN accredited units (Level 2 or 3), “Getting Organised”, “Working with Members”, and “Working with Employers”. The section about working with members covers useful topics for supporting learners, including: overcoming barriers and inequalities; skills for life; interviewing members; identifying learning needs; and recording information.
Unionlearn Supporting Learners modules Being a ULR is not simply about signposting members to learning or referring them to an IAG provider. Training and learning is a continuous process and ULRs need to be there to support their members every step of the way. TUC Education is developing a Supporting Learners module to enable ULRs to provide ongoing support in a workplace context. A module about mentoring is also under development. These will also be accredited by the OCN and will be a useful addition to the basic training. These modules may be of interest to union reps other than ULRs. Details of when and where modules are running are advertised on the courses section of the unionlearn website: www.unionlearn/org.uk/courses
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Progression opportunities If you want to gain qualifications in IAG or in career guidance, there is a range of options. It is important to think about why you want a particular qualification; whether your aim is to learn more or simply to be assessed for what you can do; how much time you will be able to spend on it; and what it will cost. Reasons for gaining a qualification might be: You are interested in increasing your knowledge and skills in this area. You are already carrying out most of the activities and want to gain credit for what you can already do. Your union can access funding to deliver services through nextstep but must have qualified staff and union reps and matrix accreditation. You would like a career in information, advice and guidance.
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The main qualifications of interest to union reps are:
The NOCN Information, Advice and Guidance Suite Level One Award in Information, Advice and Guidance Awareness Level Two Award and Certificate in Information, Advice and Guidance Level Three Advanced Certificate in Information, Advice and Guidance These qualifications are being revised in 2007 to make them suitable for advice workers in a range of settings, not just for careers advice. Courses leading to these awards provide learning opportunities to develop skills and knowledge.
NVQs in Advice and Guidance Level 2 for those who have customer service or administrative support roles Level 3 for those who are working directly with people, working to clear guidelines, and with information that will be interpreted by others Level 4 for fully developed and experienced practitioners.
Mentoring awards There are also NVQs in Mentoring in the Workplace, validated by OCR and City and Guilds, including “mini awards” which are combinations of units and can count towards an NVQ. More information is available from the unionlearn learning and careers advice line 08000 92 91 90.
Becoming a professional careers adviser Fully qualified careers advisers usually have a degree or equivalent and can now do a full-time postgraduate course called the Qualification in Careers Guidance (QCG).
If you are interested in careers in advice and guidance for yourself or for your members, telephone the unionlearn learning and careers advice service on 08000 92 91 90 (free from a landline) and talk to an adviser, or access the job profile section of the service via the portal to the service on the home page of the unionlearn website. You will find a job profile “Careers Adviser”. Another useful source of information is on the Prospect website www.prospects.ac.uk/links/occupations which takes you to a detailed job profile for “Adult Guidance Worker”.
Level 3 is the baseline qualification required by nextstep and other publicly funded services. Some ULRs are currently working towards these NVQs.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
CPD opportunities CPD means Continuous Professional Development. This means finding opportunities to keep yourself updated on new ideas or information, or taking short courses about different aspects of your work, for example, working with vulnerable groups such as migrant workers or people who are recovering from mental illness. The Open University offers a range of online 30-hour CPD courses that can be useful for developing specific skills such as mentoring or advanced interview skills. There is a cost associated with these courses although the special relationship between unionlearn and the OU means you can get a 10 per cent discount off the published course fee. The OU will provide a certificate of achievement at the end of a period of study and on completion of a work-based activity. For more information visit www.open.ac.uk/cpd Events and conferences can provide useful opportunities for CPD, as can regional workshops run by your union, unionlearn, and organisations such as the National Association for Educational Guidance for Adults (NAEGA) www.naega.org.uk and the Institute for Careers Guidance (ICG) www.icg.org.uk which you can attend free or at low cost. Many of these will provide a certificate of attendance.
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Reflecting and reviewing your practice Taking time to reflect on your skills and qualities and then developing them, is time well spent. You may find it helpful to answer the questions below to identify areas where you may benefit from further skills development. 1. What are your main strengths when carrying out interviews or carrying out meetings with union learners? 2. What tells you that either a one-to-one interview or group session with union learners has gone well? 3. Who are the main organisations in the network that you signpost members to? 4. What do you still need to learn or find out about to help you in your role of supporting learners? 5. What skills, if any, do you need to improve to help you support learners? 6. What plans do you have to develop yourself further?
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Quality-assuring your work: the matrix standard Quality standards can be a useful tool to help you to think about and review your work, and to decide how to improve it. Many standards also have an award or badge system so that organisations can show that they have met the standard, but you can always just use them as a reference point. The services you may refer members to for specialist help are likely to have achieved matrix accreditation, the national quality mark for organisations delivering information, advice and guidance services. Some unions and unionlearn offices have also achieved the standard, particularly those who are working with nextstep. Unionlearn has produced a useful pack about the matrix standard, and how to achieve accreditation, which can be downloaded from the website www.unionlearn.org.uk It looks at each element of the standard in detail, explaining what it means to you in your role. The pack also includes sample policies and statements of service. If you are not working in a context where it is practical to achieve the accreditation, you can still use the matrix standard as a way of thinking about the quality of your work and the service you offer to members. You are an important part of a network of services which combine to provide all the help that members need to make choices about learning and work. Carrying out very simple activities well can make all the difference. The standard is very relevant to your work as a union representative in supporting learners. The matrix standard is made up of eight elements: four cover how organisations deliver services, and four cover how they manage their service. These are the elements:
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Delivery of service: 1. People are made aware of and engage with the service This is about how you promote your service, making the service accessible to all members. 2. People’s use of the service is defined and understood This is about how you describe your service to members, clarifying key policies and practices, and signposting to other services where necessary. 3. People are provided with access to information This is about providing information in accessible forms and assisting members to use it. 4. People are supported in exploring options and making choices This is about providing impartial information and advice to help members to make decisions.
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Supporting Learners: Role and skills of the union rep
Management of service:
Further information can be obtained from the following websites:
5. Service delivery is planned and maintained This is about defining measurable aims and objectives and setting up systems to deliver the service to members. 6 Staff competence and the support they are given are sufficient to deliver the service This is about maintaining and developing the skills and knowledge of those delivering the service through induction, training, support and reviewing what they do. 7. Feedback on the quality of the service is obtained This is about gaining feedback from members, those involved in the delivery of the service and other agencies.
unionlearn www.unionlearn.org.uk
matrix www.matrixstandard.com
ENTO (sets the standard) www.ento.co.uk
EMQC (assessment and accreditation) www.emqc.co.uk
8. Continuous quality improvement is ensured through monitoring, evaluation and action This is about finding out if the service is effective and planning improvements.
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Unionlearn’s Supporting Learners series of guides is part of a community programme called Equal – a European Social Fund initiative which tests and promotes new means of combating all forms of discrimination and inequality in the labour market. The GB Equal Support Unit is managed by ECOTEC.
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