I was first introduced to the role of a Union
Learner Rep in March 2007, after returning from a 6 month career
break with my current employer Co-operative Financial Services by
my work colleague Jane Bailey.
The role particularly appealed to me as I had
always had an ambition to be work in adult learning and
development. I left school with fairly good GCSE results but, I did
not have the correct qualifications to presume my ambition further
nor the funds to enable me to gain these qualifications. I also
lacked confidence and motivation and I knew very little of how to
go about sourcing information that would help me get to where I
wanted to be. I did speak to a number of colleges who offered some
help but, as I didn’t understand a lot of what I was being told, I
gave up my search and decided to just take my Maths GCSE again
through a home learning company. Due to my lack of confidence and
motivation, I unfortunately did not complete my course.
When I heard about the role as a ULR I was
excited and wanted to be become part of a team that could help
other adults like me, to pursue their dreams and ambitions. I fully
understood the barriers other adults had in the field of learning
and I knew this would be an advantage to me and other learners as I
could identify with them and help them to overcome these barriers.
I also wanted a new challenge in my working life.
I was fortunate enough to first become
involved with the ULR role in early stages of introduction within
CFS. After completing the ULR stage 1 and 2 course, I had all the
background information to perform the role adequately.
During the initial stages I still worked in my
normal role in CFS and as part of the facilities agreement between
Unite and CFS, I had 3.5 hours to perform my ULR duties. On
reflection the role was extremely difficult to perform within these
time restraints but, as I had an excellent team to support and
guide me, I performed to the best of my ability. As well as sign
posting colleagues to learning providers, our team brought Skills
for Life Literacy and Numeracy in to our workplace though our local
college. This enabled our colleagues to gain an adult qualification
up to a level 2 in either subject. We also held events to
raise awareness to our colleagues about who we are and what we do.
The team devised a learning needs analysis to capture the
requirements of our colleagues with our workplace.
After the first year and a half or so our
original ULR coordinator resigned from her role and our senior ULR
Jane Bailey stepped up and coordinated the rest of the team and our
activities. Our very first fully funded NVQ was brought in to the
workplace, as well as Skills for Life our colleagues could now
benefit from a qualification in IT. Within a matter of months,
after further relationship building with our local learning
provider, we were able to bring another funded NVQ in to the
workplace which focused directly on our company’s main business
ethic of customer service.
In May 2009 our project changed from a
regional project to a national project, Jane Bailey gained a role
as Learning Organiser for the finance sector within CFS and I
became full time seconded to the project for 1 year. Within
the following months we organised an award ceremony for our
colleagues who passed qualifications taken through the previous and
during this project’s activity. We have secured further funded NVQs
for our learners which incorporate their working roles within the
business. Our team now has a trained assessor in PEARL which guides
learners through their own behaviours inside and outside of the
workplace. We have expanded and opened up learning to our
other sites and have a number of learners waiting to start courses,
new ULRs have been recruited and trained and we are currently
working towards meeting our project targets and assisting as many
learners as possible.
For the future our main focuses are;
· Secure further
funded learning opportunities for our learners.
· Increase our
learner numbers.
· Increasing
Unite’s membership base.
· Open 2 further
learning centres in Miller Street and Delf house.
· Recruiting more
ULRs across CFS.
· Embed learning in
the workplace in to CFS further.
· Offer learning to
our other colleagues in catering, security and sanitation.
· Increase our
learning provider pool.
· Explore ideas
with the business on assistance with learning costs.
· Publication of
our workplace learning 2010 brochure.
· Set up a learning
fund to assist with subsidy of course costs to learners.
Going forward after March 2010 we are hoping
to pilot workplace learning in our branch network.
We shall also be increasing our ULRs training
further by;
· 2 or more working
towards IAG level 3 qualification and PTTLS.
· 2 or more working
towards assessor for PEARL.
· 2 or more working
towards lay rep role stage 1. (Also 1 lay rep to work towards ULR
stage 1 & 2)
· 2 after
completion of IAG level 3 to work towards IAG level 4 and
DTLLS.
Over the last year and a half my role as a ULR
has evolved me in many different ways. I am now far more confident,
this has allowed me to completed my Skills for Life in both
Literacy and numeracy; I have completed my PTTLS and am working
towards completion of IAG level 3, with the plan to move forward
onto IAG level 4 and DTLLS. I am also attending the lay reps
stage 1 course in Jan 2010.
My seconded role and support from the my
Learning Organiser has also contributed to my confidence increase.
I have been supported out of my comfort zone on many occasions
which has helped me overcome my fear of public speaking. I have had
the opportunity to assess and evaluate my own behaviours and apply
changes where necessary through the support and guidance of my
Learning Organiser I am currently assigned to coach 2 new
ULRs at the Pyramid which is giving me experience in coaching and
development of staff. I have the responsibility of scheduling all
of the appointments for all learners and tutors which has allowed
me to use my organisational skills. I have been given the
opportunity to work alongside my Learning Organiser and increase my
knowledge and skills in more formal settings on a regular basis. I
have also had the opportunity to assist with action plans for some
of the other ULRs.
Going forward I am very excited to continue
working in Unite/CFS team of ULRs who have collectively brought
accredited adult learning and development to our colleagues in CFS.
We have a brand new, organised team who will have many
achievements in 2010 for both Unite and CFS.
Emma Daniel
