This
award looks for training interventions, which have significantly benefited the
business or organisation, particularly if the trainers involved have developed
new approaches. The judge sought evidence of improved performance and gains in
employee skills and capabilities. He also looked for well-designed and
delivered training programmes.
Category
judge
For
the past three years Colin Steed has been the chief executive of the Institute
of IT Training, which he helped set up in 1995. He spent 10 years in the IT
department at British Airways before founding the Training Information Network
in 1981. Following this, he launched IT Training, the first magazine in the
field. Steed has also co-launched ITSkills magazine for the Hemming Group and
is author of Web-based Training.
Alliance
& Leicester PLC
The
team
No.
in HR team 80
Staff responsible for 8,700
Russell Simm, Director of group information services
Hilary Buckley, Technology training services manager
Carole Ratcliffe, Head of organisational & commercial management
Rosemary Redhead, Training & development adviser
Della Smith & Angela Wilcox, Senior training & development advisers
Jeni Gosling, Training & development adviser
Katrina Raymakers, Senior training & development adviser
Clare Catherall, Training & development administrator
Carolyn Rostron, Senior training & development adviser
Jenny Wells & Chris Brereton, Training & development advisers
Lorraine Dixon, Training & development adviser
The
Technology Training Services Team
About
the company
Alliance
& Leicester is one of the UK’s major financial services groups, employing
more than 9,000 people in over 300 locations
The
team
The
Technology Training Services team is accountable for optimising the use of the
group’s technology through the development of desktop skills for all Alliance
& Leicester people. The team forms part of the Group Information Services
Department with a reporting line into the Training & Development
Department, Human Resources
The
challenge
To
improve desktop competency skills throughout Alliance & Leicester by at
least 30 per cent
What
the company did
–
Designed an integrated learning process to ensure staff had all the skills they
need
–
Assessed individual desktop skill levels and the departmental business skills
required, identified skills gaps and set up individual learning plans
–
Individual progress was assessed on an ongoing basis
–
A blended learning solution was used to deliver the necessary training
incorporating workshops, coaching, e-learning, departmental mentoring and reference
material
Benefits
and achievements
–
Individuals developed their skills in shorter time periods and became more
effective
–
Productivity improved with less time away from the office
–
Employee opinion surveys shows training and development results have improved
Colin
Steed says: "An outstanding and innovative example by the Alliance and
Leicester of how to balance personal development of staff and the improvement
of productivity to deliver real business benefits to the organisation. The
project utilised a specially-developed, integrated business process to deliver
job-focused training using a mixture of training delivery methods to provide a
quality-driven approach."
Lyreco
The
team
No.
in HR team 6 in HR, 6 in T&D
Staff responsible for 1,500
Ian
Lawson, Training & development director
Paul Price, Field sales training manager
Sally Cullum, Modern apprentice training administration
Dawn Foulkes, Customer services trainer
Marie Mason, Senior trainer
Laverne Ford, Corporate accounts training manager
Paul Mandeville, Logistics trainer
Training
Team
About
the company
Lyreco
is one of the fastest growing office supplies company in the UK. In the past
four years 800 new jobs have been created and sales have increased from £77m to
£222m
The
challenge
To
induct, train and integrate new people into the organisation while managing
significant organisational change, including moving to a new building and
moving from paper to IT solutions for managing the business
What
the company did
–
Set up a training team from scratch in 1997
–
Creation of leadership, personal and senior management development programmes,
sales training and 360 feedback
–
Obtained training grant from European Social Fund
–
Organised free distance learning
–
Members of training and development department operate as internal consultants
tackling real customer needs
Benefits
and achievements
–
More than 600 of the workforce gained qualifications last year
–
Training and development director is member of the board
–
People development has helped the firm grow sales year-on-year more than 20 per
cent
–
Staff turnover reduced by 9 per cent
–
Warehouse cost savings achieved by specific training on business awareness
Colin
Steed says: "Lyreco’s innovative and quality-driven training team has
radically transformed the way of doing business at this office supplies
company. The training team has introduced many initiatives to provide
demonstrable business improvements as well as running several parallel training
projects, which have seen the success of the company take a dramatic upturn."
Barclays
University Business School
The
team
No.
in Barclays Group globally 70,000+
No. in HR more than 1,000
Paul
Rudd, Director Barclays University business school
Donald Clark, Chief executive (Epic)
Andrea Miles, Account director (Epic)
Ken Robertson, Lead designer (Epic)
Rachel Brastock, Project executive (Barclays)
Helen Worthy, Business implementation manager (Barclays)
Take
the Lead Project Team
About
the company
The
Barclays University Business School was formed to provide innovative leadership
learning solutions to meet development needs and support the transformation of
Barclays.
The
challenge
To
create a blended learning solution focused on an internet site to boost
leadership skills within the group
What
the company did
–
Created a unique programme to provide flexible, cost-effective leadership
training
–
Developed a learning portal for all staff
–
Users can choose the content they view and how and when they view it
–
Its language and content enables learners to bring their experiences to the
material, not just from the workplace, but also from outside
Benefits
and achievements
–
22.5 hours of e-learning topics
–
Online and offline diagnostic tools
–
Face-to-face workshops
–
The provision of papers on underlying theory as well as links to other useful
sites dealing with leadership
–
Creation of a virtual leadership community
–
Virtual meeting point where visitors can search for knowledgeable individuals
–
A system that lets registered visitors send and receive e-mails to and from
other registered users
Colin
Steed says: "An excellent example of how to use technology and
integrate it with live methods for performance-improving corporate learning and
education. The strategic focus of the ‘Take the lead’ programme provides an
integrated and consistent leadership proposition for Barclays. It integrates
live and online methods and provides a single source of information, advice and
learning for leader development within Barclays."
