The West African Management Development Institutes Network (WAMDEVIN) has called for the entrenchment of quality assurance programme design and implementation in Management Development Institutes (MDls) in West Africa by their chief executive officers (CEOs).
Speaking during a webinar series with the theme: ‘Enhancing quality assurance in programme design and implementation for chief executives and top management staff of MDIs’, WAMDEVIN President, Prof. Alexander Yonly, said doing this, would help the CEOs to put in place strategies for continuous quality in programmes and also establish guidelines for quality related information system in all programmes.
Represented by the Executive Secretary, Dr. Kolawole Olowe, Yonly said without any iota of doubt, the 21st Century demands that the MDls needed to constantly engage best practices in total quality management to adequately position themselves to become useful and relevant think-tanks to their various governments expecting the MDIs to deliver maximally.
On his part, Prof. Peter Okebukola, said in his presentation that the practical steps for ensuring quality in MDls delivery system are to secure a virtual space for their MDl training; set up the site for online delivery; and apply a blended approach to training programmes (online and onsite).
A United Kingdom based consultant, Patricia Ivbijaro-Erinfolami, noted that when establishing a viable quality system, the CEOs and senior management staff should define roles to be played by groups.
She said a strategic quality system required open communication and genuine commitment to the attainment of the goals of the organisation.
She stated further that in addition to establishing priorities and providing resources to accomplish required activities, management must lead by example in all aspects of Learning, Training and Development (LTD).
The Director, NLP Limited, Rajiv Sharma, in his own presentation, said for there to be a cultural shift,
“There must be a total change of mindset, either through the way we think and take actions or the way we communicate and influence others as well as the way we behave and conduct ourselves.”
In her concluding remarks, Dr. Bamidele Akinyemi, said the MDIs needed to carefully consider how to migrate their knowledge-based courses to virtual.
She also advised that there should be review of what the MDIs have been doing before as a way of ensuring customer satisfaction towards attainment of organisational goals.
