The Gold Standard is essentially a
modular continuous professional development programme.It is organised around job roles and defines
the skills, competencies and qualifications required for truly world-class performance.Individuals are able to gain these
qualifications in small steps over time and gradually obtain full Gold Standard
status in their given role.They will
also be able to gain recognition for training they have already undertaken
within the workplace where it contributes to the Gold Standard for that
particular role.
For employers, Gold Standard enables companies to benchmark their training and
development against an industry recognised and endorsed standard. They will
then be able to better define their skill needs and make clear what kind of
training provision they require.
The Gold Standard concept emerged from the Chemical Leadership Council and was
taken up by Cogent to develop for the process industry. The objectives behind the project were to:
raise the
skills of the Process Industries’ workforce to world-class levels
to introduce consistency
in the way in which training was delivered for key operational roles
make sense of
the number of different qualifications available to industry and provide a
clear training and progression route for individuals; and
in the longer
term, to facilitate a move towards smaller qualifications which are more
targeted at specific training
To take this
project forward, Cogent has been working closely with industry to define the
skills, knowledge and competence requirements they feel are required across a
number of key job roles.We have used
this as the basis for developing smaller qualifications, as an alternative to
S/NVQs, to fit more closely with the skills industry have identified.In the longer term Cogent is also working
with the LSC to ensure that Gold Standard training provision and qualifications
are a priority for public funding.
NSAPI are
working to ensure that local, quality assured provision is in place.They are also piloting a scheme (called ASET)
to provide recognition for robust in-house company training against relevant
areas of the Gold Standard.
The Gold Standard Structure
The Gold
Standard is organised around four skills areas:
>> Technical Competence
>> Business Improvement
>> Compliance
>> Functional and Behavioural (FAB)
Early consultation has confirmed that
each of these skills areas is relevant across a variety of roles and levels
within the Process Industries.
Gold Standard Job Roles
A Gold Standard Role Profile sets out
what skills, knowledge and qualifications are required of an individual under
each of the four areas set out above (Technical
Competence, Business Improvement, Compliance, and Functional & Behavioural).
Phase
1 - A total of 9 Role Profiles are currently in development and will
be available by January 2009. These
include:
Process Operator, Chemicals (Level 2)
Process Technician, Chemicals (Level 3)
Process Operator, Composites (Level 2)
Process Technician, Composites (Level
3)
Process Operator, Polymer (Level 2)
Process Technician, Polymer (Level 3)
Process Operator, Primary
Pharmaceuticals (Level 2)
Process Technician, Primary
Pharmaceuticals (Level 3)
Packaging Operator, Pharmaceuticals
(Level 2)
Phase
2 - In the longer term Gold Standard Role Profiles will be developed
for a variety of other job roles including:
First Line Supervisor (level 4)
Signmaking (Levels 2 and 3)
Secondary Pharmaceuticals (Levels 2 and 3)
How to get involved:
The Gold Standard project is still very
much in development and there is an opportunity to get involved by providing
feedback on the content.In the coming
months there will also be an opportunity to begin implementing Gold Standard
within your company.We would be
delighted to come and meet with your company to provide an introduction to Gold
Standard.We have also worked successfully
to support companies to conduct a comparison of their own training against the
Gold Standard.
If you are interested in providing
feedback or supporting the implementation of the Gold Standard, or for any
further information, please contact John Holton
© Cogent SSC Ltd 2009 | Developed by 
