Taking Learning & Development in the debt collection sector to the next level

As long-standing Credit Services Association (CSA) Board member Dr David Hutchinson prepares to stand down from his role as Portfolio Director for Education, Knowledge and Development, we are seeking a new Non-Executive Director who can fill the important gap that he will leave and take this area of work to the next level.

David’s vast experience and knowledge in the field of training and education services was vital to building the CSA’s capability as a Learning & Development (L&D) champion with approved Apprenticeship Training Provider status. We now want to build on the platform that has been created and make the CSA’s Learning & Development expertise, especially when it comes to sector-specialist apprenticeships, a key strategic priority for us as a trade body and for the other wider industries we now serve as a training provider.

The new Independent Non-Executive Director with a specialism in Further Education and Apprenticeships will bring strategic direction and expertise in the current reformed Apprenticeships and Technical Education Environment to our Board. We will look to draw on their experience of developing and implementing apprenticeship and accredited programmes strategies into organisations to help take our L&D proposition to the next level. They will have current knowledge of Ofsted and other relevant regulatory guidance and compliance, be engaged with employers at a senior level, and be able to influence key stakeholders to drive cultural change.

In the current environment where some industries are facing unemployment while others have major skills shortages, there has never been a better opportunity to re-skill and up-skill people in specialist areas of financial services, providing an accessible long term career pathway from entry level upwards. However, there is still work to be done to dispel some of the common misconceptions about apprenticeships, and educate employers on how to use the Apprenticeship Levy as a cost effective method for upskilling existing employees, bringing new talent into the workplace and gaining highly skilled employees for the long term.

As an industry, we haven’t just woken up to the importance of investing in our people. The better skilled our people are, the better the customer outcomes will be, and this is now fundamental to debt collection practices. Things like the CSA’s Collector Accreditation Initiative (CAI) have long since been seen as vital for raising standards and professionalism. But while Learning & Development isn’t new to us, it is evolving rapidly, especially since the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy, and we must stay ahead of the curve to ensure that our members and the wider sector can take full advantage of it.

As a Board, we are mostly experienced practitioners of the collections and debt purchase industry and in conjunction with our excellent Head Office team, we have brought this expertise to the development and delivery of specialist qualifications in collections, credit control, and compliance. However, we are not education specialists and as the CSA’s Learning & Development Portfolio develops and grows, we need to be able to assure the quality and impact of our learning delivery and benchmark it against other industry standards and best practice. Our new Board member will bring a fresh perspective to help shape qualifications from an educational perspective and make them ‘fit for the future’. The right candidate will also need to be commercially-minded and able to apply their skills and knowledge to our unique industry so that they can input into the wider running and development of the Association. Looking at how we can integrate L&D into our wider services to members, tying it closely to areas like compliance and industry standards, will be a key priority.

This is certainly an exciting role and one which offers the opportunity to have significant influence on the future of Learning & Development in the collections industry and beyond.

The closing date for applications is 19 February 2021 and further details can be found here.

Back to news