Thames Gateway Business Awards

 

The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) is pleased to offer Train to Gain as a sponsor of the Training & Development section of the Thames Gateway Business Awards 2007. The awards, and Train to Gain, contribute to meeting the challenge set out by Lord Leitch in his Review of Skills: to bring about a culture change in the nation's attitude to skills.

Supported by funding from the Learning and Skills Council, Train to Gain can help businesses get the training they need to succeed.

David Lammy, Minister for Skills in the new Department for Innovation has said:

"A chieving our world class ambition means dramatically increasing the number of adults who improve their skills and achieve qualifications each year, at all levels from functional literacy and numeracy, to higher education levels. To deliver our ambition, we must forge a new partnership between government, employers and individuals, with each taking responsibility for increasing their action and investment.

"We need to dramatically raise awareness and aspirations on skills. We need employers to see the value of and the need to invest in skills at all levels. And we need individuals to pay more attention to and take action to address their skills needs."

Philippa Langton, LSC London Region's Skills Director said:

"Skills shortages are a key challenge for businesses today. Many know training is needed to overcome these shortages. But they face a difficult dilemma: how to obtain the right training, from the right training providers, at the right price.

"Our answer is Train to Gain. Train to Gain will offer impartial advice, match training needs with training providers and make sure that training is delivered to meet employers' needs.

"I'm a passionate advocate of Train to Gain because it offers a real opportunity for London's employers to work with organisations who are absolutely geared up and ready to respond to their skills needs."

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For more information please call:
0800 634 0262 or go to www.traintogain-london.co.uk
or email traintogain.londonregion@smart-contact.co.uk

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Expanding your business – it's in your hands

Growth in your business can sometimes come down to chance. Train to Gain can help tip the odds so that chance made by fate turns into control that's in your hands.

Does your business have the skills?

Many businesses face skill shortage. Such shortages can threaten productivity, reduce competitiveness and demotivate staff.

In fact, one in five managers of small businesses don't use up all of their holiday time because of it. According to a recent survey by FreshMinds, those managers fear that their staff are not skilled enough to be left in charge when they go on holiday.

The same survey of nearly 500 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) also found that while over four out of five businesses surveyed acknowledged that training is the key to success, only two out of every five acknowledged that they should do something about it.

Can you choose the right course for you?

It is a challenge to make sure staff have the right skills to do the best job. The survey suggests that a quarter of employers don't have time to search for the right training. Another one in five are overwhelmed by the range of training available.

Issues you need to look at when choosing a training provider include:

• experience in your industry,
• an understanding of your business needs,
• flexibility,
• track record,
• training accreditations or recommendations,
• training at the right level for your requirements, and
• value for money.

So, of the many courses and training providers to choose from, how do you know which one to choose and how do you make sure your getting value for your money?

There are pointers to help you with track records. Providers that are funded by public money, such as funding from the Learning and Skills Council, are required to undergo inspections by Ofsted or the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI); inspection results are available on their respective websites. Training Providers that are not LSC funded should provide references or testimonials from satisfied clients.

Other recommendations include quality marks, for example, Centre of Vocational Excellence (CoVE), Beacon or Investors in People. A new quality standard is currently being developed in conjunction with employers and will be used to highlight excellence in two of the areas that employers feel are most important i.e. the provider's responsiveness to employer needs and provider excellence in a particular vocational area. The new standard is due to be launched later this year.

The LSC has a database approved training providers and a guide on evaluating training providers is available on www.employersguidetotrainingproviders.co.uk.

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How Train to Gain helps?

The Train to Gain service has independent and impartial Skills Brokers whose job is to contact businesses and offer them training services. These Skills Brokers will:

• work with individual businesses,
• assess training needs,
• help find the right training, and
• monitor progress and identify further needs.

The Skills Brokers provide an assessment of the skills you need now and in the future. It includes an organisational needs analysis that can highlight training needs across different skills areas. These areas include basic literacy and numeracy, job-specific training to various levels from basic to advanced, and compliance training.

Based on the assessment and your support, the Skills Broker makes training recommendations. They may:

• contact training providers,
• design and cost training,
• recommend skills and business development support from the most appropriate training provider.

Skills Brokers can identify funds from Government, the EU, local authorities or other sources. As well as helping you find sources, the Train to Gain service can provide funding and includes:

• free training to help employees gain their first full Level 2 qualification, the equivalent of five good GCSEs,
• a wide range of training for low skills staff, e.g. Skills for Life, basic literacy and numeracy training.

There is also a Leadership and Management Programme for SMEs offering formal training and informal support, such as mentoring and coaching for Managing Directors and other senior Directors.

Train to Gain can help set a direction for your future. It's in your hands.

For more information on Train to Gain or an appointment with a Skills Broker phone: 0800 634 0262, or email: traintogain.londonregion@smart-contact.co.uk.

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CASE STUDY: Menzies Aviation's Connect2Work/T5

Business Sector: Transport

Number of employees: 120

Menzies Aviation's Connect2Work/T5 team specialises in providing bus services right around the clock for passengers, airport staff and airline crew at Heathrow Airport.

"The drivers' professionalism has increased. Previously they were uncomfortable talking to passengers, but now they have the skills to be able to greet them and communicate with ease."

Jean Drayton, Training Officer, Menzies Aviation

 

The challenge

The Connect2Work/T5 workforce consists of full-time bus drivers and contract personnel who are supplied by local agencies. The combination of a 24-hour shift system and a high turnover rate meant that there was very little evidence of bonding among the drivers.

In 2006 Menzies Aviation secured a significant contract win from the British Airports Authority to provide bus services at London's Heathrow Airport. One of the conditions of the new contract required bus drivers from the Connect2Work/T5 team to gain an NVQ Level 2 qualification in Customer Service.

Training Officer Jean Drayton said: "The qualification was a requirement of the new contract, but to us it was much more than that. The company management saw this as an ideal opportunity to develop staff.

"Our buses are usually manned by just one person who is responsible for driving the bus and looking after the needs of all customers. Many of our drivers lacked confidence in communicating with passengers, so we saw the Train to Gain programme as a great way to improve their motivation and skills in dealing with customers."

The solution

Connect2Work/T5 General Manager Ben Curtis gave his full backing to the Train to Gain programme and in October 2006 the first cohort of 27 bus drivers and eight team leaders embarked on their training, delivered by Skills Team Ltd.

Full-time and contract personnel were treated equally and all drivers taking part in the programme started off with a one-day training session.

Jean said: "We didn't have any formal in-house training for customer service or team leading, so a Skills Team tutor came in and gave them one-to-one support for the duration of the Train to Gain programme. The learning was very structured, covering all the different aspects of customer service and team leading. They also did online learning from learndirect, to further underpin their knowledge."

Jean then went a step further by creating a learning room complete with three computers for the drivers, if they wanted to, to use during their breaks.

The results

Five of the team leaders and 11 of the customer service candidates took around three months to complete the Train to Gain programme and the rest of the group followed suit a few months later. Good news travels fast: already a further cohort of 14 drivers has embarked on training.

Jean is delighted with the confidence Train to Gain has inspired in her drivers and with the improvement in working practices. She said: "Their professionalism has increased.

"Previously they were uncomfortable talking to passengers, but now they have the skills to be able to greet them and communicate with ease."

Morale is now at an all-time high, customer complaints relating to poor driver attitude have reduced dramatically and the drivers now work more collaboratively to keep customers happy. For example, after finishing his shift one driver learned that his colleague's bus had broken down. He didn't hesitate to lend a hand: he drove out to the stranded passengers, explained the situation openly to them and then enabled them to complete their journey on his bus.

Jean said: "The passengers all thought he was absolutely wonderful! It's great to see such a proactive approach and team spirit emerging."

One of the drivers participating in the programme described Menzies as "the best employer in the industry". Many others said that the benefits of Train to Gain had extended beyond their work into their family lives.

More case studies,
http://www.traintogain.gov.uk/Success+Stories/

 

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