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A job worth doing.
Page 18
Page 19
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When the Stiller Group decided to raise its game on staff development, little did it realise that it would end up buying an entire training company... and now the goal is take make it self-financing.
Words: Louise Cote tmages: Tom Cunningham
THE STILLER GROUP used to have a problem with staff retention not because the company was poor, but because its staff were too well trained.
"We'd hear of drivers being told to 'go and do a year at Stillers', says Stiller Academy manager John Craig. "We see that as a brand value, and we're going to exploit it."
The determination to see training and personal development at the core of the company culture comes from the board that implemented its own Corporate Leadership Programme to kick things off.
Stiller had always invested in training, but, since in-house trainers, however effective, responded to incidents or under-performance, training was seen as "a punishment, not a gift7says Craig.
The Stiller board wanted to see personal development as a key part of every job. It advertised for a training manager and happened upon John Craig, who had been running his own logistics training operation, servicing both corporate clients and local authorities Stiller bought the whole outfit and installed Craig to run it in a spare building in Newton Aycliffe. Craig says his appointment changed the goalposts, because rather than being an in-house provider and a drain on company resources, the academy was working its way to commercial independence from day one. "I have the ambition of becoming the director of this academy," says Craig, "and for the academy to be self-financing in three years. Currently, Stiller invests £200,000 per year."
A good investment
For that money, the academy, which was an MT Awards training finalist in its first year, served 400 learners in 2008-9 and is currently putting 200 Stiller staff through NVQs.
"Of the 750 employees, too few were at NVQ Level 2, which is a sad state of affairs," reveals Craig.
As a result, Stiller decided to bring the whole company to this level by 2010. He is adamant that companies need to understand the purpose of such qualifications many companies offer NVQs as if they are training-based when, in fact, they are assessments Equally, some less scrupulous firms are offering to cover all your Driver CPC needs with NVQ funding: "This doesn't work," says Craig, "because the funding for NVQs covers 15 hours not 35. For some operators, this may seem attractive, but beware, because there are lots who end up being let down by a programme that isn't what it seemed."
There are few who would stand in front of transport managers and complain of the regulatory burdens of another industry. But the Stiller Academy received Train2Gain status before Christmas, and while becoming approved for the Driver CPC may be relatively easy, Craig describes the obligations that come with governmentfunded work as onerous. He says: "It's much more demanding than logistics even."
There are also obligations to help those you cannot teach; such as 'guidance' where you point a student to training you can't offer, as opposed to independent and impartial advice or steer an individual towards a specific learning objective. "Not everyone is qualified to give guidance. For instance, you have to know your boundaries and be specific because if you give advice and someone acts on it, you can be vulnerable if you weren't qualified."
Stiller has seen many benefits to its training programmes already. Some customers want proof that the academy can deliver their induction and H&S training before a driver ever sets foot on their ground; its fuel efficiency programme saved £150,000 by targeting drivers in 2007 and will have saved nearer £200,000 in 2008.
Confidence boosting Craig says that the difference in staff confidence since the academy began is palpable. Incident reporting and investigation now automatically tak account of the competencies an training records of the individual.
Improving skills Craig says: "Even managers ha anxieties; many had come from drivin jobs and didn't have team-building skill and so on. And some drivers wet worried that if they failed, they woul lose their jobs. It's tricky helpin colleagues with low skill levels, but it crucial they see that they are heir helped and not judged."
Stiller used to lose its staff to rivals now it may be training them. Cral reveals that it also offers guidanc about training to PSV operators.
"We help them to gauge exactly whl they need and more often than nc they are coming back to us, becaut they trust that Stiller understam the business." •