AT THE HEART OF THE ROAD TRANSPORT INDUSTRY.

Call our Sales Team on 0208 912 2120

i Training and a mediocre company, and

10th January 2002
Page 45
Page 45, 10th January 2002 — i Training and a mediocre company, and
Close
Noticed an error?
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.

Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

raining makes the difference between a investment in skills training pays huge dividends for those companies who appreciate and value their personnel. Whether in the manufacturing or service industries, and regardless of how much investment is made in equipment and systems, it is the human factor which ultimately determines a company's or, indeed, a country's economic success.

We have a dynamic economy in the UK which has only served to highlight the abysmal failure of successive governments to invest in and promote skills training, since many companies have great difficulty in recruiting people with the required abilities to meet the demands of their expanding businesses.

Ensuring that the nation's workforce has the right level and mix of skills will be a key factor in securing our economic future, and deserves the highest priority in governmental and managerial planning.

The acquisition of skills does not happen overnight but requires long-term planning with regular reviews to ensure that the training matches the changing national and global demands. The business community must lobby government to provide the strategic national planning, as well as funds and mechanisms to encourage universities and companies to provide people with the opportunity to use their individual abilities and skills.

Universities must be much more aware of the essential need to ensure that students are equipped to succeed in a tough and competitive commercial world and must remember that companies are in business to make a profit. They should also promote a balance of career interest in a wide spectrum of activities to include manufacturing and service industries rather than just information technology which, important as it is, only plays a supporting role to those who produce or provide a service.

There are just four million people employed in manufacturing in the UK today which, in relation to our population size and global economic position, is a very low figure and could eventually have an adverse impact on inward investment to the UK.

So why should we care so much about training? After all, it costs time and money! it should be self-evident that employees who receive skills training and are part of a personal development programme will do their job more efficiently. They will also feel more valued and therefore motivated to consistently do their best for the company. Good quality matters, as we all know from our own decision-making process when purchasing a domestic consumer item, This applies to both the quality of service and knowledge we experience at the retail outlet and the product itself.

Being perceived as a 'good quality' company has to be earned, and training plays a big part in achieving that status. This training philosophy is being put into practice in the Lansing Linde group of companies where some 4% of the workforce are apprentices, against a UK average of a very low 0.9%.

We have developed close working relationships with local colleges and support education sponsorship programmes to encourage students to take up engineering apprenticeships. Other Lansing initiatives include sponsorship of the 2001 Fork Truck Association Apprentice of the Year Award, as well as supporting the recently opened Partnership for Learning Centre (PFL) in Liverpool, which is a new joint enterprise between the public and private sectors and the community.

I will continue to take every opportunity to spread the training message.

Tags

Organisations: Learning Centre
Locations: Liverpool

comments powered by Disqus