Learning & Development Consultant / Business Partner L5 Apprenticeship

Apprenticeships
Level 5 Learning & Development Consultant Apprenticeship
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What is a Learning & Development Consultant?

A Learning & Development Consultant Apprenticeship equips Apprentices with the necessary skills and knowledge to ensure that learning and development efforts are strategically aligned with business objectives, driving growth and success.

Learning & Development Consultants play a pivotal role in identifying training needs, designing impactful learning solutions, and influencing key stakeholders to implement positive change.

By the end of the Apprenticeship, you will be well-prepared to excel as skilled Learning & Development Consultant, empowering organisations to thrive through continuous learning and growth.

The primary duties we cover on this apprenticeship...
  • Learning and development consultant business partner is accountable for improving workplace performance at individual, team, and organization levels.
  • They align learning needs with business strategic ambitions and objectives, acting as agents for change and influencing key stakeholders.
  • Involved in developing strategies for sustainability and embedding approaches to achieve net carbon zero emissions by 2050.
  • Likely to lead learning and development-related elements of business projects.
  • Possess expertise and competence in technical, vocational, or behavioural fields, linking work to business context and priorities.
  • Measure outcomes and impact of learning interventions to demonstrate return on investment.
  • The role can be generalist or specialist in areas like organization development, digital and blended learning, resourcing, or talent management.
  • The learning and development consultant business partner works in private, public, and third-sector organizations.
  • They collaborate with HR specialists, such as employee relations, reward, and recruitment experts.
  • Reporting to senior learning and development managers, Heads of departments, or Directors.
  • In larger organizations, they may be part of a team supporting the business and have people management responsibilities and a budget.
Apprentices will benefit from:

Earn a wage, whilst studying a fantastic course

Gaining experience in a fast-paced & competitive industry

No learning costs for the Apprentice

Careers

Potential career paths of Apprentices…

  • Learning and development consultant business partner

more Information
knowledge, Skills & Behaviours

Requirements: Core knowledge, skills and behaviours

Knowledge

The Learning and development consultant business partner will have an understanding of:

Technical expertise

  • Paradigms, theories and models that underpin effective adult learning, group behaviour and learning culture, for example behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism, neuroscience.
  • Legislation and policies that influence learning design and delivery
  • The merits of different learning delivery channels to select an appropriate face-to-face, blended or digital solution.
  • Current research and appropriate application of best practice and best fit solutions.
  • The latest learning practice, trends and emerging thinking.
  • Positively incorporating diversity and inclusion into learning and development interventions and processes. Researching and applying current best practice in this area.
  • Change management methodologies and the principles of project management.
  • Consultancy tools and techniques, for example the use of SWOT, 5 Whys, weighted matrix etc providing costed recommendations and projected impact, return on investment, return of expectation..

Business understanding

  • Their organisation’s vision, mission, values, strategy, plans and stakeholders; its external market and sector and the opportunities, challenges and issues it faces.This may include an organisation’s sustainability strategy or exposure to the UK Government’s policy for net carbon zero emissions by 2050.
  • How business, learning and human resources key performance indicators and metrics build a clear picture of how the business is performing.
  • The process of stakeholder mapping to define interactions with staff that are part of the learning needs analysis, design, delivery, and evaluation.This may include the needs of staff impacted by the move to a net carbon zero economy by 2050 and the requirements for a just transmission.
  • How to measure the impact, return on investment and expectation of learning on the business.

Learning and development function

  • The learning and development structure required to meet business needs and whether this should be in-house, outsourced and how to source specialist expertise when required.
  • The various learning and development roles, responsibilities and skills required to design and deliver face-to-face, blended or digital solutions.
  • The policies and processes required for effective organisation learning.
  • How to prepare, monitor and manage a budget.

Management information and technology

  • The collection of data and information, both qualitative and quantitative, to analyse learning needs, implement effective delivery and measure outcomes and impact.
  • How to identify sources, trends and anomalies in data and information.
  • How to shape internal information systems and how they play a role to support learning.
  • How technology can support learning, including understanding of digital platforms  and delivery channels as relevant to the role.
  • Emerging technologies that can support effective learning.

Skills

The learning and development consultant business partner will be able to:

Learning and development consultancy

  • Work as an learning and development business partner or consultant across the whole organisation or key functions and relevant stakeholders as appropriate, to build insight into existing levels of capability against future requirements, identifying organisational skills gaps and risks.This may include an organisation’s sustainability strategy or exposure to the UK Government’s policy for net carbon zero emissions by 2050, for example, ensuring a just transition for those with legacy skills into the new green economy.
  • Use a range of techniques to obtain an initial brief from internal stakeholders, and investigate and analyse data to validate the need for a learning intervention.
  • Present a range of relevant and innovative solutions, logically and with credibility, to gain buy-in from senior stakeholders.
  • Develop an organisational development, learning and development and succession plan that addresses gaps and fulfils skills, resourcing, talent, and future leadership needs in the partner and business area, accounting for changing internal and external environment, business and learner needs.This may include an organisation’s sustainability strategy or exposure to the UK Government’s policy for net carbon zero emissions by 2050, for example, ensuring a just transition for those with legacy skills into the new green economy.
  • Initiate the design of interventions and monitor implementation.

Developing a learning Culture

  • Foster and develop an embedded culture of learning and continuous improvement (e.g. through using communication campaigns).
  • Manage learning and knowledge transfer.
  • Facilitate collective and social learning using innovative technological solutions.
  • Influence management at all levels to collaborate and take responsibility for learning initiatives.
  • Set up and manage action learning sets, coaching and mentoring programmes.
  • Ensure quality of learning and training delivery through providing feedback to colleagues to ensure continuous improvement of self and others.

Budget and resource management

  • Construct and manage an learning and development budget, project, intervention, including managing resources to effectively deliver.
  • Identify and analyse potential cost savings to ensure maximum value.
  • Effectively engage, negotiate and manage third party suppliers.

Relationship management

  • Build effective working relationships with business managers (using the language of the business), peers and other learning and development functions, together with relevant external organisations to deliver business results from learning and development plans and solutions.
  • Communicate confidently with people at all levels, including senior management.
  • Work with senior leaders to carry out succession planning, organisational development and talent pipeline plans.This may include an organisation’s sustainability strategy or exposure to the UK Government’s policy for net carbon zero emissions by 2050, for example, ensuring a just transition for those with legacy skills into the new green economy.

Facilitation Skills

  • Build rapport and demonstrate the use of language patterns to facilitate and encourage discussions, debate, learning and decisions.
  • Employ a range of questioning and listening skills to generate brainstorming, discussion and debate, learning and decisions.
  • Effectively manage challenging learner and group behaviours.

 

Learning and development consultant business partner will be able to demonstrate:

Constant and curious learner

  • Pro-actively seeking opportunities and feedback to develop their business acumen, improve their performance and overall capability.
  • Probing and inquiring to delve deeper into opportunities, options and solutions.
  • A desire to understand and experiment with new ideas and techniques, identifying areas for self and wider development and improvements.
  • That they act as a role model for learning within their organisation and across their networks.

Collaborative partner

  • They are a trusted partner, acting with integrity, ensuring that clients, partners and learners alike feel heard and are confident in their ability to deliver.
  • They can enable different departments or stakeholders to effectively work together above their own agendas and priorities.

Commercial thinker

  • They understand and apply the commercial context, realities and drivers behind learning needs and solutions.
  • They are focused on outcomes and impacts.
  • They develop ideas, insights and solutions for defined business benefits.This may include an organisation’s sustainability strategy or exposure to the UK Government’s policy for net carbon zero emissions by 2050, for example, ensuring a just transition for those with legacy skills into the new green economy.

Constructive challenger

  • Personal resilience to manage competing priorities, ensuring that they deliver the outcomes of their work through co-design and a full understanding of the impact they have on others.
  • The courage to hold a mirror up to the organisation when diagnosing solutions.
  • Skilfully navigating through organisational and personal politics.

Passionate and agile deliverer

  • Responsiveness and flexibility to changing internal and external environments and business needs.
  • Being a role model for the learning and development profession, inspiring and galvanising others around learning solutions, ensuring that learning is embedded and delivers ambitious goals, outcomes and timelines.

Your employer will choose an end-point assessment organisation (EPAO) to deliver the EPA. Your employer and training provider should tell you what to expect and how to prepare for your EPA. The length of the training for this apprenticeship is typically 15 months. The EPA period is typically 3 months.

The overall grades available for this apprenticeship are:

  • fail
  • pass
  • merit
  • distinction

When you pass the EPA, you will be awarded your apprenticeship certificate.

The project will be centred on developing BIM, Solid Works, Auto Cad, Tekla and other digitalised systems to support growth in the construction, nuclear and allied industries and the need for digitally-skilled structural engineers and surveyors based with large employers.

Duration

The length of this apprenticeship should typically be 18-24 months.

Qualifications

Apprentices without level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking the end-point assessment. For those with an education, health and care plan or a legacy statement, the apprenticeship’s English and maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3. British Sign Language qualification is an alternative to English qualifications for those whom this is their primary language.    

Link to professional registration and progression:

The successful apprentice may be eligible to apply for Associate Membership of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) or any other professional body that recognises this apprenticeship within its membership criteria (membership is subject to the professional bodies own membership requirements).

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