Supermarket chain Asda is to offer NVQ and Modern Apprenticeship training to
more than 1,000 of its staff in a bid to boost productivity, morale and
internal promotion prospects.
From March, staff will be able to train towards a recognised qualification
through the company's in-house scheme.
The trial will take place across eight North London stores where employees
over the age of 25 will be given the chance to work towards the qualifications.
Asda is also giving a further 1,000 staff the chance to train towards
voluntary, paid basic-skills qualifications after a successful pilot of the
scheme last year.
David Smith, people director at Asda, said the training would benefit the
business while giving staff the chance to shine.
"More than a thousand [employees] will benefit from training programmes
that offer a transferrable qualification and life-changing basic skills,"
he said. "We're in no doubt that training makes a real difference to our
staff and makes our business stronger."
The supermarket giant wanted to use the pilot to offer accredited
development across the company.
The Learning and Skills Council, the body responsible for developing UK
skills, contributed more than £500,000 to the pilot and the first stage of the
roll-out.
Meanwhile, almost 104,000 employees are set to share £15m worth of annual
bonuses after exceeding the targets set on the All-Colleague bonus scheme,
headed by Asda's parent company, Wal-Mart.