First count to five: some principles for the reform of vocational qualifications in England

an article by David Raffe (University of Edinburgh, UK) published in Journal of Education and Work Volume 28 Number 2 (March 2015)

Abstract

Vocational qualifications in England are undergoing another round of reform.

This paper starts by reviewing the alleged weaknesses of English vocational qualifications, but argues that these do not necessarily establish a case for radical reform. The issue is not so much whether the system needs to be changed as the nature of the change that is needed.

The paper argues for a more deliberative and incremental approach and proposes five principles upon which this should be based.

These are the following:

• that the process of change is as important as the content of change;
• that institutions matter;
• that the purposes of reform need to be clear, consistent and realistic;
• that reforms should help to create a more unified qualifications system; and
• that the interests of the UK’s other home countries should be considered.

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Government reforms, performance management and the labour process: the case of officers in the UK probation service

an article by Jenny Gale (Staffordshire University, UK) published in Work Employment & Society Volume 26 Number 5 (October 2012)

Abstract

Taking a labour process perspective, this article investigates the impact of government reforms and performance management on officers in the National Probation Service (England and Wales).

Based on a case study involving two Probation Service Areas and interviews with national and local trade union officers, insights are gained into changes for probation work and the workforce that perform it.

The findings illustrate how reforms of probation practice, implemented locally through performance management, have led to probation work becoming increasingly ‘Taylorized’ with implications for the division of labour based on labour substitution, deskilling and degradation.

As the Probation Service was entering a new political era under the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition, these findings provide insights into its trajectory under previous governments. They also invoke questions regarding the implications of reforms for the Probation Service and public services generally.

Hazel’s comment:
Taylorism is the theory of scientific management [Wikipedia article here] which seems to me to be a singularly inappropriate methodology for performance measurement in a social, people-oriented environment.
As an employment adviser in the Jobcentre our performance was measured using the Management by Objectives system. My best statistic was achieved by placing the same person into nine different short-term jobs in a year. My greatest achievement from an emotional point of view was working my butt off to get someone into work who hadn’t had a job for a very long time – and discovering that he was still there two years later.
People are all different and cannot be counted in the same way that you can count the number of accurately manufactured widgets coming off the production line.

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