Welcome to Avado Tutor Spotlight, where we introduce you to the people behind your CIPD qualification.

This edition: Emily Allen, our Head of Learning and Delivery.

I started my career in HR, which I loved. I really enjoyed being able to work in exciting and different industries (local radio, prison education, healthcare), getting the company gossip, learning from all sorts of different managers, supporting them and, most importantly, feeling like I was genuinely making a difference to people’s working lives.

Achieving my own CIPD Level 7 qualification relatively early in my career was life changing. Learning to think strategically has stuck with me ever since and, to this day, I always look at a business problem by doing a PESTLE, SWOT and considering vertical and horizontal alignment. That qualification genuinely changes how you see the whole business, not just your own corner of it. That shift has shaped everything I’ve done since, including my career in HR, qualifications, alongside my ten years of sitting as an HR trustee on boards for various charities.

But that lived experience of studying alongside a demanding HR role is also why, at my core, I understand our learners so well. I know the frustration, the exhaustion and the elation they are going through. I’ve been there myself and so has my team. Every single one of Avado’s tutors has walked that path too, which is exactly why they’re so good at supporting people through it.

Ten years ago, my career moved into the world of CIPD qualifications completely by chance. I wasn’t looking for it, didn’t think I could do it, and had every intention of going straight back into HR. But life has a funny way of having other plans for you.

I joined the world of CIPD qualifications just as online learning was really taking off. I became fascinated by what was possible and started pioneering online learning through pilots and feedback loops, working out how we could make it work well rather than simply putting a classroom course online and hoping for the best.

Now I’m lucky enough to head up all delivery for our Level 3, 5 and 7 CIPD qualifications across both HR and L&D here at Avado. I set our learning strategy, continually improve our Qualifications, and create new qualifications too.

The people behind the learning at Avado

It sounds cheesy but it’s true – my favourite thing about my job is the people, especially my delivery team.

We’re a team of internal tutors who are all genuinely dedicated and who don’t just talk about lifelong learning and development, they live it. We’re constantly looking for ways to improve, and the learner always comes first.

We get some genuinely lovely feedback about our tutors and, honestly, nothing makes me happier than seeing that. There’s something special about seeing a learner who has struggled with something suddenly get it, or hearing that a tutor has made the difference between someone feeling like they can do it and giving up.

I’m project management trained, and I bring that discipline into how I lead the team. Learner feedback and data drives almost everything we do. End-of-unit surveys, first-time pass rates, webinar feedback, learner engagement – we’re across all of it, all the time.

There’s something genuinely satisfying about working for a company that uses data to make real decisions rather than just talking about being “data-driven”.

I’m a firm advocate in lifelong learning myself and think it’s so important for our personal growth, self-esteem and currency in an ever-changing world. One reason I love working with CIPD qualifications is that it means I stay up to date with all the latest theories, trends and concepts in HR, so we can ensure we are teaching these to our learners.

One thing that properly surprised me about Avado is how friendly the culture is. This is a place where the person genuinely matters, not just the numbers. And this comes across in how we talk about our learners too. That’s important to me, because my own ethos is pretty simple: Make it as simple as possible for the learners to learn.

That’s why our Hub materials are updated regularly, why our webinars and tutor communications never stop improving, and why our tutors themselves are always developing too. We also have a fantastic tech, quality and student support team who are passionate and helpful too.

Avado sits within a wider tech organisation, and that drive for innovation runs through everything we do. I love being part of that, particularly as technology and AI give us more opportunities to improve the learner experience.

But at the end of the day, it’s the learner who matters most. As long as everything we’re doing serves the best outcome for them and their HR careers, that’s good enough for me.

Curious about the CIPD journey that shaped Emily’s career? Explore Avado’s CIPD courses and find the right level for where you are now.