The people working for a quality assurance (QA) agency are a precious resource and yet there are relatively few structured training opportunities for QA professionals in Europe. Alongside this, the knowledge and skills that are required from agency staff are changing, as are expectations from employers and employees about working environments and career development.
To explore these issues in more detail, ENQA held a workshop on staff development on 12 December 2024. The workshop provided an opportunity to explore case examples and discuss participants’ own agencies’ practices. They heard about initiatives for professional development at NOKUT (Norway), refreshed approaches to recruitment strategies at AQ Austria, and learnt about an innovative approach to creating an attractive working environment from through a flexible working policy at QAA (UK).
The outcomes of a project under ENQA’s Leadership Development Programme (which recently completed its 2024 edition) were also presented, which reflected on the changing skills and competences required by staff at agencies and how these are addressed through recruitment, initial training and ongoing development.
The concept for the workshop had its roots in the ‘Quality assurance professional competencies framework’ which was developed by an ENQA working group 2016. The background to that work was presented by ENQA President Douglas Blackstock who chaired the working group and championed the follow-up activities to launch QA training opportunities for ENQA members, including the Leadership Development Programme, and the Seminar on the European Dimension of Quality Assurance (which has been relaunched and took place the day before).
He mentioned that “the original work on staff development back in 2012-14 produced many ideas for support that ENQA could offer to members to fill a clear gap in training opportunities for QA agency staff. Some of those ideas have become an important part of ENQA’s services to members, with the Leadership Development Programme being particularly highly valued. Strategies at agencies vary significantly according to their size, status and remit. I was delighted to see the enthusiasm of colleagues attending the workshop to share their current practices and work further on this topic.”
During the second part of the workshop, participants reflected on which elements of the framework were still applicable, and which might need adapting to bring it up to date for the current context. Much of the content was considered to be still highly relevant, while new points discussed included digital competences for staff, stronger focus on diversity and inclusion, and increasingly diverse career paths.
ENQA, together with some members who participated in the workshop, will continue to work on this topic in early 2025 in order to update and re-publish the competences framework and explore how to further develop training and development opportunities for staff at QA agencies.