02 November 2011

Second Vision Australia Customer Contact class graduates

academy delighted to deliver training to people with low vision

SYDNEY – The second annual academy customer contact course, designed to retrain people with no or low vision, has drawn to a close with all participants graduating and gaining a nationally accredited qualification.

Sixty-three percent of people with no or low vision who want to work are unable to find employment. This statistic inspired academy to partner with Vision Australia to offer the Certificate III in Customer Contact – alongside work experience placements – to this latest talented group of people.

CEO of academy, Mark Raven, said, "We are delighted to offer this opportunity to a group of people who might not otherwise be able to access nationally recognised training like this.

"Of course it's not one-sided. The beauty of this relationship is that our trainers gain great personal satisfaction from working with such talented people. The feedback from the students has been powerful and rewarding.

"So far, there has been one job placement as a result of the course, with a few more opportunities being explored.

"We are very grateful to the companies who offer work experience and support the program," he said.

Companies that leant their support included 3M, Department of Aging, Disability and Home Care, Toll, Carlson Wagonlit and Corprofit.

You can read more about the program here and here.

The academy team and Customer Contact training graduates.

20 September 2011

Academy sponsors NSW ATA social media breakfast: How do, and can, contact centres use social media?

academy does a great deal of work in the contact centre field and we are delighted to be sponsoring the NSW ATA Social Media Breakfast – Building A Better Relationship With Your Customers, to be held on 13 October 2011 in Sydney.

CEO of academy, Mark Raven, explains the company teamed up with the ATA to run an industry-wide survey.

"Social media is obviously a hot topic for contact centres… how is it being used? How is it managed? We found out via an industry survey and the results will be reported back to contact centre participants at this breakfast.

"The event will also look at what people want from brands using social media and ways to integrate it into a holistic service approach."

Event speakers are:

Linda Collard, Principal, Duck Egg Blue Communications
Collin Penman, Service Cloud Director, Asia Pacific, Salesforce.com
Simon Burke, CEO, IPscape

You can see more about the event on the ATA's website at http://membership.ata.asn.au/events/event/nsw-social-media-breakfast

26 August 2011

academy launches new website address

Corporate training company aligns online and offline branding with new URL

SYDNEY – Registered training provider, academy, today launched its new website address, www.academy.edu.au.

The new address brings the domain name in line with the company brand for the first time in some years.

CEO of academy, Mark Raven, explains that the company's original name was rebranded to become academy some years ago.

"Unfortunately the 'academy' URL was not available though, so for some years we have been 'academyol' online. When the opportunity arose to use academy-dot-edu-dot-au as our URL, we grabbed it. It makes a great deal of sense for any clients or potential clients who are looking for us online.

"We are using this change as the opportunity to revamp some of our site content too, so people can easily find all they need to know about our corporate training offerings, from sales training to management training to waste management training – and more."

For more information about academy, please explore the website, or you are welcome to call us on 1300 780 880.

12 August 2011

academy launches new Diploma of Management course

Corporate training company now offers accredited Diploma-level management training, offset by Federal funding

SYDNEY – Registered training provider, academy, today launched its new accredited Diploma of Management course.

The new management course covers management principles as they relate to the self, the team and the wider business, ensuring participants have the skills they need to manage performance and provide leadership across their organisations.

CEO of academy, Mark Raven, said the courses were ideal for team leaders, supervisors and managers seeking to upgrade and enhance their management skills.

"Our revamped course is at Diploma level, which is not only a weighty qualification but can now be offset by Federal training funding in many circumstances. It is accredited and offers nationally recognised qualifications.

"This is a priority for participants and their businesses alike, but I think the true value comes from the fact that academy works with each client to fully customise the content to their requirements.

"Before designing the management training, we work hard to understand exactly what content to include for each client – and also how to deliver it with the greatest impact."

The academy Diploma of Management is a customised, instructor-led qualification that also incorporates psychometric evaluation and a leadership and management text. Streams include Operations Management, Human Resource Management and Resource and Risk Management.

For more information about the courses, please click through to Diploma of Management, or you are welcome to call us on 1300 780 880.

22 July 2011

Academy sponsors NSW ATA Contact Centre Awards for third year and offers tailored leadership workshop to one lucky team

academy does a great deal of work in the contact centre field and we are delighted to be sponsoring (what else?) the academy Awards on 29 July 2011 at the Big Top in Luna Park for the third year running. The NSW ATA Contact Centre Awards of Excellence will showcase individuals and teams who excel and we are proud to be part of the celebration of those achievements.

This year, academy is offering an awards night prize for one lucky team that attends, of a one-day Leadership and Management training workshop, designed with the teams' needs in mind.

We are asking attending team leaders to register their interest in this prize today. The pool of team leaders will go into a draw, with the winner of the academy workshop to be announced on the night.

academy will work with the winning team leader to determine the optimum time for the workshop, as well as the content (within a framework of leadership and management skills). For up to 12 people, the workshop will be a day for the team, designed especially for that particular team's needs.

Awards attendees should register their interest by emailing Michael Wolf on mwolf@academyol.com.au - register by 3om on 29 July 2011 to be in the running. I hope you take the opportunity to win this exciting and very relevant prize – and good luck!

You can see more about the event on the ATA's website at http://www.ata.asn.au/events.asp?chapterID=5&ID=876

27 June 2011

Alarmingly, 63 per cent of people who are blind, deafblind or have low vision want to work but can't find employment. (Source: Vision Australia survey 2007).

In response to this statistic, Vision Australia Employment Services has partnered with accredited training provider, academy, to help facilitate the employment of people who are blind or have low vision.

The two organisations have teamed to offer people who are blind or have low vision the opportunity to gain a nationally-recognised qualification in Customer Contact, which includes a work experience component.

To help participants complete the work experience aspect of the training, employers are needed to host trainees one day a week for five weeks followed by a five day block of workplace training.

This training may be in call centres, administration areas, client intake centres or in other activities that provide trainees with relevant workplace experience.

"Creating great working partnerships between clients, agencies and employers, will lead to better outcomes for individuals with a disability, employers and the community in general," said Margaret Noonan, Vision Australia Senior Manager.

The program was piloted in late 2010, giving participants a new, nationally-recognised qualification enabling them to work in customer service roles.

academy CEO, Mark Raven, said the 2010 success led to an ongoing program.

"Attending the graduation ceremony for the 2010 group was a work highlight for all of us at academy – as well as for the first set of employers that offered work experience. The new qualification opens up a whole new set of opportunities for the low vision and blind participants."

The employers that participated in 2010 included 3M, IAG Group, Australian Power & Gas and ATEL.

Organisations interested in participating in the 2011 program are encouraged to call Vision Australia Employment Services on 1300 84 74 66.

27 May 2011

academy launches new Financial Services courses

Management training company now offers accredited training in Banking, General Insurance and Life Insurance

SYDNEY — Registered training provider, academy, today launched three new accredited Financial Services courses..

The new Financial Services training courses are Certificates in Banking, General Insurance and Life Insurance. They join updated versions of Relationship Management, Debt Management and Credit Management to comprise the academy Financial Services offering.

CEO of academy, Mark Raven, said the courses were ideal for any financial services employees in customer service or operational roles.

"Our new courses are RG146 compliant which is a regulatory requirement. They are all accredited, offering nationally recognised qualifications."

"These are hugely important to both individuals and companies, but I think what we are most proud of is that we adapt each course to each clients’ requirements, making it as contextualised and relevant as possible - and ensuring the learning sticks."

For more information about the courses, please click through to Financial Services, or you are welcome to call us on 1300 780 880.

12 August 2010

The only certainty in business is change. That is certainly true for academy and we bet it is for you and your business too. Luckily the changes at academy are all exciting at the moment. As you are someone who our business deals with, we'd like to share our excitement with you (and the chance to win an iPad – see below!).

 

New brand, new expertise

First, we have a new brand – – offering training in waste management, transport and logistics. Not only does this grow academy's stable of expertise, it also adds full–time staff and an office in Melbourne. But the thing that excites us most about it...?

We seek to engage in sustainable business. The added bonus of our brand is that, in our own way, academy can make a difference as we educate people about sustainability and managing waste.

Do have a look at the section of our website for more information – or, please, get in touch with any questions.

 

There's no place like a home page

As we grow, we are opening up more ways for you to reach us. By providing easier access, we aim to help you with new ideas or ways of achieving your training and learning and development goals. That's why we are spending time and energy opening up as many lines of communication as possible, including a new-look, easy-to-use home page.

	You can find our new home page at www.academyol.com.au – it features links to many of our services, enables you to find basic information with just one click and you can also sign up to stay in touch with us via whichever form of online communication suits you best. (Of course we still love to speak with you in person as well!)
	We have started a blog for people who love learning. It's called 'I learn therefore I am' and you can link to it from the home page or find it here. If you would like to contribute a post, please do let us know. It's a great way to get your thoughts out there and we are all for guest bloggers!
	Similarly, we manage a LinkedIn group for anyone who wants to access articles on organisational development, training, education and so on – all in one easy place. If you haven't already joined, please consider it. You can find it here.
	You can follow us on Twitter or join our Facebook page.

 

And the winner is...

We do a lot of work in the contact centre field and we were delighted to sponsor (what else?) the academy Awards on 6 August 2010 at Star City.

The NSW ATA academy Awards for Contact Centre Excellence showcase individuals and teams who excel and we are proud to be part of the celebration of those achievements. You can see the winners on the ATA's website plus we've blogged about it here and here.

Please do get in touch to share any news or ideas of your own.

All the best,

Mark Raven
Chief Executive
academy

PS – Anyone who signs up to our LinkedIn group (called Academy – I learn therefore I am) or 'likes' us on Facebook before noon (EST) on 13 August 2010 goes into the running to win an iPad. Please sign up quickly to win!