Having rested from the Museums Association Conference, I feel ready to share my thoughts with you on it. I am going to take it day by day………..
Monday
I spent all of Monday feeling disappointed. It being my first time at conference I felt like the next three days were going to invigorate and motivate me. Well not on Monday anyway. I was really looking forward to the Dr Frankenstein’s guide to building the museum professional of the future but for me it just did not hit the spot. We spent time working in groups coming up with character traits and skills that the museum professional of the future would need to work in a sector that is changing. Then we heard from Tony Butler and Keith Merrin, directors of independent Museums that are doing great things around social entrepreneurship. Then came the questions, and this is where the session should have started.
We all know that the sector is changing. We know that museums now need to have successful corporate and community partnerships that meet the need of the expanding museum audience. We also know that we need people with expertise in these areas to work with us. At least I think everyone in that room knew this judging by the long list of skills and characteristics that was churned out.
What we really needed to know was how we recruit people with these skills? How we train our current staff to take on these new challenges? How do we get them through the benchmark entry requirements on local authority job specifications? Why should they want to come and work with us? What with the low pay, oversubscribed job opportunities and current cuts. I think the people in that room could have come up with some great answers, instead of covering old ground.
There needs to be some standards set that will support a museum in wanting to develop its workforce. The two most important things that make a museum successful is its collections and its staff. If we can provide standards for maintaining, developing and acquiring collections then we should certainly do the same for our staff.
Realistically we are only going to achieve a new dynamic in the museum workforce by getting the right people in the right room and get them making some actual decisions. That means the Museums Association, Universities, MLA and Local Authority decision makers. Take note of museums that have took on this challenge and are blooming because of it.
Thanks for the feedback. We wondered whether we should do the activity at the beginning or end. Perhaps we should have done it after questions.
ReplyDeleteYou raise some good points. When we set the session up we hoped that we'd elicit some of the issues you've raised here. Like you, Keith and I felt that the group work covered a lot of old ground and we hoped we might get some new insights from people who had grown their own organisations or developed innovative ways of working.
I disagree about the needs for standards for staff. I have a natural aversion to standardisation and am more predisposed to distinctiveness! If organisations are to thrive people involved in recuitment and development must be willing to be more mindful of the breadth of abilities which come together to support a successful businesses.
A lack of openmindedness is testament to 15 years of a bouyant employemnt market underpinned by unimaginative postgraduate training.
What would you do?
I agree that people in recruitment and development need to be more willing, and the majority of people in the sector that I speak to feels the same way. So why does it feel like we are not moving?
ReplyDeleteI too have a natural adversion to standardisation, but if its not happening now I can't see progress being made in the near future.I think that people/organisations who have experience of successful workforce development should be commisioned to contribute to a set of standards that the sector can work towards.
As for postgraduate study - you hit the nail on the head. Unimaginative at the moment, it should be far more vocational. Training should cover fundraising, how to communicate better and how to map your offer to public sector policies.
Like I said, I really feel you are doing great things in your organisation, don't you think that a structure would push development on? Don't you think that organisations like yours and Keiths should be at the forefront of the initiative?
I think that as so many organisations are involved in this problem then a set of standards is the only way forward.
Hi Sam
ReplyDeleteIf you're thinking about standards it might be worth looking at the NVQ Cultural Heritage Management programme which goes up to level 5, broadly equivalent to a degree. An NVQ is a work-based qualification that rests on an agreed set of competencies (or standards) and underpinning knowledge, which candidates have to demonstrate they can fulfil in a workplace situation. At higher levels this includes a broad range of skills. They have been universally unpopular in our sector except for unit G3 of the level 4 qualification, which until recently was required of AMA candidates who did not have a recognised museums qualification. The MA has now dispensed with the qualifications barrier, and who knows what the new government will make of NVQs. I have assessed NVQs for a number of years and I do think they're under-rated - candidates are required to prove they can do the job in practice and they are more accessible than a degree - but they don't address the recruitment problem as candidates need to actually be in a job to take one on.
I think part of the problem is that a profession stuffed with postgraduates tends to recruit in its own image. Museums that don't recognise the need to operate as a business prioritise museum-specific skills. I'd agree with Tony's feeling on standardisation - the sector is so diverse it could be counterproductive. But I do feel we need to engage more with skills and viewpoints from outside the sector and move away from the focus on university qualifications as the starting point for anyone wanting a career in museums. It's good that people like you are putting on the pressure!
Thanks for the comment Emma. I agree about NVQ qualifications and would like to do one myself but can't find any information about where to apply to study for one? Could you help here?
ReplyDeleteI still think that some sort of standards could work. Im moving away from the term accreditation. Funding,training and a best practice guide structured in a similar way as effective collections would give the cause a little more oomph.
Really interested to hear about the NVQ's