There have been some major changes at TrainerBase, the trade association for learning practitioners, resulting in five directors leaving the board.
But according to founder and chief executive Peter Mayes the departures are neither a result of boardroom battles, nor extreme carelessness, but a simple restructure of the association.
He said: “TrainerBase, in its current format, and the associated Certified Learning Practitioner (CLP) standard, were developed by a team of learning and development experts, all of whom have solid track records of delivery within the independent trainer industry.
“The contribution of the whole of this team was, to say the least, superb and the close relationships that were fostered during the development stage were a driving force in the shaping of the structure that we thought would be best to manage the fledgling association.
“However, it transpired that this structure was not right for TrainerBase in its current formative period.”
Mayes revealed that the idea of having a large board of highly-skilled experts, while good in theory had proved difficult in practice.
“The need to manage the legalities of setting up and running a ‘not for profit company’ and yet simultaneously put in place the organisation to administer the membership and the standard, we felt, did not lend itself to the large main board structure that we had put in place,” he explained.
“The considerable skill-sets of the team were not always being applied to the right areas.
“Accordingly we have decided to restructure to enable us to make the best and fullest use of the resources and skills that are available to us.”
TrainerBase is moving to a smaller board, comprising of an MD/CEO, company secretary and operations director, who will manage the company governance.
A council of members/executive committee is being formed which will have responsibility for the day-to-day running of the association and application of the CLP standard.
Mayes added: “Former directors have already indicated their willingness to join the council/committee and help shape TrainerBase’s future. However, we are fully aware that we will need to draft in additional skills to fill all the roles that we believe are necessary.
“Restructuring can be a difficult time but it is to the credit of the founding team and their passion for the standard and what TrainerBase can offer that the changes are moving ahead quickly.
“We believe that identifying the need for change so quickly and our ability to move to the right structure are just some of the strengths of our management team.”
