Develop-meant Training Consultants has worked with The Rickter Company for a number of years. Manager Adrian Pitt talks about his relationship with the organisation and The Rickter Scale® assessment and appraisal tool.
My association with “the brilliant blue board” goes back well over a decade. I’m never far from The Rickter Scale®! There’s a demonstration board in my car, a couple under my bed and one in my office, where inquiring minds often ask: “What on Earth is that?!”
I was fortunate to be put forward by Black Country Connexions as a fully-fledged Rickter Scale® trainer almost 12 years ago. I’ve never looked back. I’ve lost count of the number of training sessions I’ve facilitated, however, one thing’s for certain, those all-important feedback forms suggest that practitioners instantly fall in love with the super Scale.
Before I tell delegates about the power behind the plastic, they say: “It’s very colourful and easy on the eye…It looks like an abacus...It’s extremely tactile…” and, the strangest comment yet: “It smells like celery!” Cue 16 participants with the Rickter board glued to their noses.
I became hooked on The Rickter Scale® (not the smell of celery!) during my time as Careers Adviser. The clients on my caseload had never seen anything like the board. In the past, most of them had been assessed, assessed and assessed again. Endless forms, meaningless questions, very few solutions to moving them forward.
The beauty of the board is how adaptable it is. The topics running down the left-hand side of the Scale can be changed, along with the assessment questions, to suit projects and pieces of work. There's also an Appraisal Board. Ideal for use in the workplace! Appraisals are more engaging, more staff-focussed and the impact of learning and development can be measured.
People ask me: “What do you like most about the Rickter Scale®?” I always say, what appears to be quite a simple tool at face value is underpinned by a range of fascinating theories and concepts around motivation, learning styles, solution-focused work, to name but a few.
The Rickter Company has a lot to celebrate! Everywhere I go people talk about the Rickter Scale® with the utmost respect. I’m sure the team will have loads to tell you on The Rickter Company website how the board continues to change lives in this country and beyond.
On a scale of 0 to 10, how happy am I being a Rickter Associate? I’d say “9”. How can I get from a 9 to 10 – well; that would be telling!
Ade is an Associate Trainer for The Rickter Company. To find out about forthcoming events, get in touch via the website below.
Adrian Pitt is the Manager of Develop-meant Training Consultants – learning and development how it’s MEANT to be! Accredited training for staff in the Advice and Guidance, Careers Guidance, Education and Training, Children and Young People workforce sectors. Find him and the team at www.develop-meant.com
