Skills development within a fast-changing market

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Skills development within a fast-changing market
the IPA approach
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Agenda

• Where we were
• Drivers for change
• Strategy
• Our approach
• The results

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1980s the birth of the IPA 7 Stages Programme
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From graduate to managing director

• Key practitioner skills at each stage of the
  career path
• Delivered face to face by top agency
  practitioners
• Premium quality (with high appreciation rankings)
• Aimed at staff in full-service agencies (but
  primarily account handling)

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The stars of the industry 3 of all staff
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Late 90s a changing environment

• Client Side Agency Side
• More demanding Media separation
• Better trained Diversification
• More complex businesses Integration
• More complex markets Consultants
• Want business understanding Blurring of roles

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Industry Research - 1999

• Interviews amongst CEOs and agency trainers
• Cottage industry attitude Its all about ads,
  isnt it
• Training optional and vulnerable
• Great variety of approach
• No overall industry strategy

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War for Talent

• Forecast decline in 18-25 year olds
• Training development at top of student wish
  list for first job
• Greater competition for creatively-oriented
  students
• Need to appeal to greater diversity of talent

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The Five Year Plan

• To raise the real and perceived value of
  advertising and marketing communications
  agencies in the IPA membership. (Through
  increased professionalism, leading to better work
  and better client agency relationships, and
  resulting in improved remuneration.)
• IPA Council

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Our strategy - a multi-layered people
development support package
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First layer a best practice standard in people
development

• Review of other trade body schemes and other
  professional standards (eg law, accountancy)
• Assessment of other government-led quality
  standards eg Investors in People
• Decision to develop tailor-made scheme based on
  IiP
• On-line management to attract widespread usage

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What it should do for the Industry

• Provide greater credibility as a profession
  amongst both clients and students
• Act as a minimum standard to encourage better
  practices
• Encourage better retention of talent once in the
  industry

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What it should do for the IPA member agency

• Provide a best practice framework that can be
  tailored to the agencys business and cultural
  needs and makes things happen!
• A system that links training investment to bottom
  line performance
• An electronic people management resource
• Recognition of quality standard amongst client
  community

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What it should provide for the individual

• Support for growth and career development, linked
  to agency goals
• A personal, portable archive of learning
  achievements
• Promote greater sharing of knowledge within
  agency
• Encourage greater appreciation of different
  sources of learning
• Stimulate individual ownership of career
  development
• Provide access to professional qualifications

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The IPA CPD Accreditation Standard- 4 key
criteria -

• Professional development plan linked to business
  objectives to encourage forward resource
  planning
• Inductions so staff operate efficiently and to
  a focus
• Appraisals to appreciate own contribution to
  focus
• Maintenance of individual cpd logs (with min. 16
  hours) to capture all learning

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Stephen Woodfords vision

• To prepare and sustain people of all disciplines
  for a lifelong career in the business through
  accessibility and reinforcement of knowledge
  acquisition
• IPA President 2003-2005

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Second layer a professional qualifications
portfolio
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Online approach to delivery

• Low cost option to encourage uptake
• Enables self managed learning
• Opportunity for online interaction with learners
• Easily updatable
• Restricted to and easily accessed by CPD users in
  IPA agencies nationwide

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Working partnership with V-On
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Foundation Certificate Key Innovations

• First online learning programme for the industry
  which provided true regional accessibility
• Automatic study time upload onto CPD log
• Self tests
• Content management system for updating and
  learner status management

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IPA Advanced Certificate inCommunications
Planningand Implementation
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The context

• Full service agency deconstruction has led to the
  rise of specialist agencies and yet clients
  look today for integrated solutions
• Specialisation has led to knowledge gaps between
  agencies and we need to plug those gaps to raise
  the professionalism and confidence of our people
  at key career stages

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Key Objectives

• Purpose
• Bridge gap between junior and experienced
  practitioners
• Provide tangible evidence of attainment
• Enhance their professional status
• Enable more confidence in their knowledge
• Extend knowledge beyond nuts and bolts of their
  daily craft
• Deepen understanding of media beyond their
  specialisation
• Target 
• 2 - 4/5 years in the business

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Modular Programme
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Advanced Certificate Key Innovations

• Online exams
• Date-specified
• Time-limited
• Online re-sits with 24 month programme access
• Online booking and payment
• Electives

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Key Objectives of the IPA Leg Regs Certificate
(Legislation and Regulatory Issues)

• Purpose
• Ensure clear understanding of the basic
  legislation and regulatory issues that affect
  development of creative work
• Reduce cost of write-offs
• Develop area of specialist knowledge within
  account handling
• Target 
• Voted by IPA Council to be a mandatory for all
  account handling staff
• CPD accreditation adapted to monitor this in
  future

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LegRegs Certificate Key Innovations

• On line exam on demand
• Random bank of questions
• Automatic notification of results
• Electronic delivery of certificate (note
  potential universe of over 3,500 account
  management staff)

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IPA Excellence Diploma The Power of i
Nick Kendall Executive Planning Director,
BBH and Programme Director
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Excellence Diploma Key Innovations

• Online learner community space
• Message board interaction
• Electronic uploads of assignment
• Learner archive for notes

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Third layer a varied approach to experiential
learning
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How it all fits together
IPA Seven Stages career development programme
Stage One
Stage Two
Stage Three
Stage Five
Stage Four
Stage Seven
Stage Six
IPA CPD workshops
IPA CPD Qualifications online portfolio
Advanced Certificate
Foundation Certificate
Excellence Diploma
LegRegs Certificate
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So, has it worked?
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Whilst agency spend on IPA Training has not grown
significantly over last five years ..
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significantly greater numbers of delegates are
taking part
ie 10 of all IPA member staff
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driven by growth in agency CPD compliance
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And the breadth of CPD uptake amongst IPA agency
staff
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Ever growing demand for CPD qualifications

• Foundation Certificate holders now total c.2000
• Advanced Certificate borne out of candidate
  request for interim stage between Foundation
  Certificate and more stretching Excellence
  Diploma
• 164 candidates booked on 2007 Advanced
  Certificate and likely to grow exponentially

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Advanced Certificate delegate quotes

• I think this is a brilliant idea!
• I really got a lot out of the material
• The use of facts and contemporary case studies
  brought the issues to life
• Perfect step up for post-Foundation
  qualification

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87 of all new starters take the Foundation
Certificate and rate it highly

Source Foundation Certificate User Survey, base
755
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Other key indicators have improved
Source IPA Census
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More agencies take part
NB 12 agencies outside of London
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From training the stars to training democracy
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Thank you