‘It’s about making a difference’ says Saffron Interactive designer shortlisted for Learning Awards 2013
Moira Nicolson of Saffron Interactive has been shortlisted for ‘Instructional designer of the year’ at next year’s Learning Awards for designing a course on mental resilience with Transport for London (TfL). The award recognises the instructional designer behind the most ‘innovative learning intervention’ which delivers a ‘demonstrable performance improvement.’
'There are so many people in Britain today suffering from a mental illness who are too intimidated to seek help, says Moira. 'TfL's Occupational Health team is already doing so much to make sure that its staff are supported and I'm really pleased to have been able to create a course which has helped them to reduce their absenteeism rates by an average of one day per worker.'
The overall cost of mental illness to UK business is £26bn a year, and Labour leader Ed Miliband recently called mental illness 'the biggest unaddressed health challenge of our age.'
The Learning Awards are organised each year by the Learning and Performance Institute (formerly the Institute of IT Training), a not-for-profit organisation which accredits leading suppliers of learning technologies. Judges include prominent figures in learning such as Nigel Paine, Brian Sutton and Alan Bellinger.
In 2010 the same award was won by Saffron Interactive instructional designer Stephanie Dedhar. Stephanie is now a regular speaker at industry conferences and a learning and performance consultant for BP. In total, Saffron Interactive has received six industry awards in the past five years.
'We're all very proud of Moira and the dedication she put into the Transport for London project,' says Noorie Sazen, CEO at Saffron Interactive. 'Doubtless she has a meteoric rise in the world of learning ahead of her, and being shortlisted for this award is a wonderful recognition of the immense value she adds to Saffron and to our customers.'
The Learning Awards ceremony takes place on 7 February 2013 at The Dorchester in London.