National Vocational Qualification in Business Improvement Techniques
Introduction
National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are based on national occupational standards. These standards refer to outcomes that can be assessed and that define the competencies, knowledge and understanding needed in a given occupation. National occupational standards cover almost every occupation, are presented as units and form the basis of all NVQs.
National occupational standards are set and designed by the relevant sector body. This is either a sector skills council, the government-licensed body representative of their sector's skills needs or, where they do not exist, by the body recognised by the sector as representing their skills needs.
NVQs are qualifications delivered in the workplace or other settings that replicate the working environment. These qualifications are outcome-based with no prescribed learning programme, allowing for flexible delivery and tailored to meet the individual learner's needs.
The relevant sector body determines the qualification content, structure and assessment strategy. Achievement is certifiable at unit level, with mutual recognition between awarding bodies. Quality assurance processes guarantee consistency, validity, reliability, sufficiency, currency and authenticity of evidence at a national level.
The NVQ in Business Improvement Techniques
The objective of the NVQ in Business Improvement Techniques (BIT) is to improve business performance as a whole. To achieve the award of the NVQ in BIT a candidate must be able to demonstrate that they have delivered sustainable improvement activities which have delivered direct Quality, Cost and Delivery benefit.
As well as the direct business benefit generated by Quality, Cost and Delivery improvement the NVQ in BIT also demonstrates an organisations commitment to employee training, drives a reduction in health and safety issues and validates the quality of the workforce capability to current and potential customers
The award of an NVQ remains with a candidate if they move within an organisation or to a new organisation and provides qualified evidence of their capability. It is therefore a valuable qualification for the individual as well as for the organisation.
The NVQ in BIT can be undertaken at one of three levels
The level 2 BIT is targeted at:
- Workers involved in business improvement within a team who wish to have their business improvement competencies assessed for certification purposes.
- New employees who have undertaken some business improvement training and are now acquiring experience within a team and wish to demonstrate their competencies for assessment purposes.
- Other people involved in the business at all levels who require a fundamental understanding of business improvement practices.
The level 3 BIT is targeted at:
- Staff employed as supervisors, team leaders, change agents or facilitators and who are responsible for carrying out business improvement activities.
- People who through continuous professional development are being prepared to take on staff responsibilities in a business improvement environment.
- Other people involved in the business at all levels who require a fundamental understanding of business improvement practices.
The level 4 BIT is targeted at:
- People who have overall responsibilities for business improvements and will probably be middle management with specific responsibilities for achieving business objectives.
- People who through continuous development are being prepared to take on management responsibilities in a business improvement environment.
Modules of the NVQ in Business Improvement Techniques
Candidates are required to complete a number of mandatory modules, dependent on the NVQ level they are undertaking, followed by a number of optional modules.
Candidates can follow one of two pathways, the Process Pathway or the Quality Pathway. The process pathway focuses primarily on the implementation of process improvement techniques, the quality pathway focuses on the statistical / six sigma improvement techniques.
The module options for the Process Pathway are:
The module options for the quality pathway are:
Industry Forum and the NVQ in Business Improvement Techniques
Industry Forum believes that the NVQ in Business Improvement Techniques is a very beneficial way for an organisation driving process improvement activities to:
- Support sustainability
- Drive continuous improvement
- Recognise the abilities of the workforce
- Demonstrate workforce capability to current and potential customers.
Industry Forum is an approved assessment centre with EAL (EMTA Awards Ltd.) one of the UK's leading awarding bodies. EAL are part of the SEMTA the Sector Skills council for the science, engineering and manufacturing technologies sector. Industry Forum has a strong team of Engineers who are also qualified NVQ assessors as well as a full time Internal Verifier who oversees the assessment centre activity. Our goal is to deliver a benchmark performance combining a high completion rate together with maximum demonstrated performance improvement.
The traditionally applied NVQ model is to provide off line training to candidates who then go back to their workplace to implement improvements and collect evidence. An assessor visits periodically to assess candidates against the NVQ modules.
Industry Forum do not follow this 'teach and assess' model. From our experience of driving process improvement we believe that the best way to achieve maximum capability transfer and benefit for the organisation is through a 'learning by doing' approach.
All Industry Forum training materials include content consistent with the NVQ module requirements. The NVQ in BIT can be delivered alongside all types of process improvement activities with continuous assessments of candidates during and after the activity phases. For example the NVQ has been undertaken in conjunction with MasterClass activities, Enhanced Team Leader Training, Supply Chain Groups and Value Stream Mapping activities. The diagram below demonstrates the alignment between the main modules within the level 2 process pathway and how they impact on performance measures.
Industry Forum have developed a standardised candidate evidence system to assist candidates to capture their activities in a clear, simple and down-to-earth manner, that demonstrates the work they have undertaken and provides a methodology to follow for their future continuous improvement activities.
For organisations looking to undertake the NVQ in BIT it is important to consider which candidates should undertaken the NVQ and at which level, Industry Forum can undertake a pre-assessment prior to enrolment to ensure that the qualification will be appropriate to their needs.
In most cases, for organisations who have not already undertaken the NVQ, it is recommended that a team comprises a combination of level 3 and level 2 candidates. Level 2 candidates are normally taking part in team activities whereas level 3 candidates will be leading activities. When a level 3 candidate leads activity supported by level 2 candidates, they can all build their evidence portfolios. Level 2 candidates working alone will need management support to help them drive activities.
