April 23 , 2008

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Career Institute Regents to Focus on Professional Development
The Board of Regents, the team selected to lead APSP’s new Career Institute may represent different parts of the pool, spa and hot tub industry, but all have one thing in common: they are committed to improving the performance of employees. “Improving employee performance is the key to more profitable businesses,” explains Kathleen Carlson of Aqua Quip. “We’ve put together a great group of members who have experience teaching our current education programs, along with others who have experience with corporate and university training programs. Our vision is to take a holistic approach to employee development, and engage our industry and talk about what it means to be a professional,” continues Carlson.

First up is creating the systems and processes to help actualize the new vision. “We are creating the ability for individuals to plan and track their own personalized development plan,” explains APSP staffer Michael Reed, who is helping to implement the Career Institute program. “We need to help employers evaluate employee performance and then develop strategies that take advantage of the many learning opportunities available in the industry.” Along with creating a dialog on performance improvement, the Career Institute will focus on new ways to deliver training, including e-learning and creative partnerships. “No one training solution works for everyone,” comments Reed. “We need to find multiple ways to recognize members who are committed to performance improvement.”

Improving member value is the ultimate objective. “The key is to leverage the success of the programs we currently have, and find new ways to bring value to members,” says Gene Fields, Chairman of the APSP Board of Directors. “I have great confidence that this initiative will strengthen the APSP brand, and will get more members engaged in professional development activities.”

For more information on APSP’s education and certification programs, visit APSP.org. To get involved in the Career Institute initiative, email Michael Reed at mreed@apsp.org.

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