The Money Advice Trust’s Learning and Development Manager Chloe Ramone blogs about the re-development of Wiseradviser’s new flagship ‘Introduction to debt advice’ course to help new debt advisers entering the sector.
When I first became a debt adviser fourteen years ago I still remember the brilliant Wiseradviser ‘Introduction to debt advice’ course I attended. It was exciting to be embarking on a career with so much to learn and the opportunity to empower people to find solutions. The trainer’s enthusiasm for debt advice was clear and for the first time I understood the huge difference that help with budgeting and income maximisation could make for individuals.
We first developed this course into a piece of e-learning around eight years ago and offered the content in bite-sized modules that advisers could dip into. As we started to look at redeveloping the course it absolutely made sense for our new introductory course to also be online and instantly available to staff and volunteers entering the sector. We knew that e-learning would convey the key learning points with clarity and interest. But how could we infuse the new course with the passion and ideas that come from experienced practitioners?
We gathered ideas from our Wiseradviser tutors and subject matter experts, asked existing advisers and met with experienced e-learning developers. Ultimately, the answer was clear – create video footage so that brand new advisers could hear first-hand about the history of the sector they were coming into, what they will learn, the difference they can make and get advice from people who have been in their shoes.
We are extremely excited and proud to be launching this new piece of learning, which welcomes advisers into their role using an innovative and original approach. New advisers follow three households through their advice journey, seeing how an experienced adviser approaches real cases to get a feel for the soft skills involved as well as learning the debt advice model. Video footage from a panel of experts introduces a range of voices into the learning and offers advisers’ insight from both the creditor and advice sectors.
Our hope is that by seeing the enthusiasm, commitment and knowledge of those in the sector, new advisers will feel inspired and look forward to continuing their learning journey with us through Wiseradviser.
There are six modules, so advisers can complete the learning flexibly, over a day or two or over the course of their induction. The modules are:
- Welcome (20mins)
- Why is debt advice important? (30mins)
- First impressions count (40mins)
- Gathering information (60mins)
- Identifying options (45mins) &
- The adviser’s journey (15mins)
Some of the topics include:
- Why debt advice is important for the individual and national policy
- How to build an adviser / client relationship and
- Developing their own practice, looking after themselves and their learning journey with Wiseradviser
We are excited to launch our new ‘Introduction to debt advice’ course in the coming months so look out for this revamped course soon.