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In 1998, the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) set up the Equis accreditation system for quality business schools and specified that personal development must be part of the learning design. The American AACSB accreditation and the British-based AMBA for MBAs also specify individual learning and development criteria.
Equis first defined personal development as nothing more than a list of courses, workshops, internships, and team projects but the important innovation was that business schools seeking Equis accreditation had to prove they provided quality development to students. In 2005 Metizo was judged “above standard” by the reviewers of the Euromed program after only three years of operation and we have worked with business schools on personal development quality in education ever since.
Metizo advice to business schools preparing Equis accreditation:
- Design Personal Development processes to span the entire education experience. Rather than being a patchwork of modules placed here and there during a student’s studies, the school must define what personal development means in its education strategy.
- Make Personal Development compulsory. Personal development is not only for those who are interested and ready: it is part of management and business schools must demonstrate that students can manage themselves and are competent in developing others. Personal development is an integral part of the school’s message to the market.
- Teach Personal Development for academic credit: the key concepts and activities are part of the curriculum at Euromed. While practical workshops are given to students not carrying academic credit, for example in presentation skills or how to write a curriculum vitae, the core is vital.
- Integrate internal and external support and advice: the student should be able to address any one resource person and the support will be recorded and communicate to the other resources. This includes tutoring from teachers, mentoring from managers, coaching from experts, feedback on internships and projects, career and employability advice and all student support services.
