Third Sector National Occupational Standards have been developed
29/06/2007
Job standards set for third sector and pocket guides a big hit, but more promotion needed
Three sets of national occupational standards (NOS) have been developed for the third sector, providing useful good practice guides and checklists for improving job performance. But knowledge of the NOS is still limited and more work needs to be done to promote awareness of how these standards can best be applied.
History
Around four years ago the Voluntary Sector National Training Organisation, the predecessor of the UK Workforce Hub, developed two sets of sector-specific NOS for the Fundraising and Managing Volunteers areas.
Workforce Hub recognised need for update
About a year ago the Workforce Hub recognised the need to update these standards and also to develop a new set for the area of Trustees and Governance. It used ChangeUp funding through Capacitybuilders to achieve this.
New focus
"As a general rule the standards are appreciated by those in the sector. The next area of focus is to promote the standards and show how they are used. Capacitybuilders funding has been invaluable in the development of the NOS," says Mark Freeman, Workforce Hub Learning & Skills Manager.
Checklist for self assessment
The NOS describe the knowledge and skills needed to perform to the required standard and provide a guide for developing materials for induction, training or development. They also serve as a useful 'knowledge and skills checklist' for self-assessment.
Pocket guides
The Workforce Hub has also produced a series of "pocket guides" on the Trustees and Management Committees NOS. The Hub has so far distributed over 20,000 of these guides and Learning & Skills Manager Mark Freeman is considering producing more pocket guides for other NOS.
Lack of understanding about NOS
David Jones, Learning and Skills Manager at the London Voluntary Service Council, says that a large number of sector staff and volunteers are either unaware of the NOS or have limited understanding.
Raising awareness
"Anecdotally, most learners and many trainers are not up to speed about NOS. Even staff within LVSC have limited understanding of NOS and their application. We have a lot to do to raise the level of understanding of NOS from ground zero in a good many instances," he says.
