TrustFord powers to L&D Team of the Year Award

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The inaugural L&D Team of the Year award attracted a high quality field and was won by TrustFord, which impressed judges with the effectiveness of its initiatives to improve retention and the induction process.

Winner

TrustFord

With 60 dealership sites across the UK, car retailer TrustFord has an annual training budget of £1.8 million. However, in 2013 it identified it had a retention issue, with an increasing number of newcomers leaving within the first six months of employment. Exit interviews showed that the way colleagues were inducted to the business was inconsistent, sales executives were taking a long time to settle in, and there was a lack of consistent training around TrustFord’s brand values. This led to the launch of the Induction Academy in 2014 through an investment of £300,000. The academy is held fortnightly and is a full residential onboarding course lasting between two and eight days. Staff on the Sales Academy course go onto a further 90-day ‘Early Days’ training scheme to make sure they are embedded onto their role and the business. Staff turnover has dropped every year since the academy was introduced, down to 20% in April 2017 from 26% in April 2014. Six-month retention rates have increased over the same period, and in January 2017 this stood at 91%. An app helps to keep new employees connected to the business and managers feel less pressure to induct new team members. Recruitment spend has dropped thanks to a 45% reduction in new starters leaving the business within six months. Commenting on this submission, judges said: “What was most impressive about the submission was scope of the initiative with a significant and notable impact on retention and recruitment costs which clearly are related to the learning developed.”

Runners-up

Maersk Transport & Logistics

Maersk Transport & Logistics operates in a difficult environment - the container shipping industry has been under intense pressure from commoditisation for several years. To respond to this, it needed to grow its revenue, transform its business model through digital transformation, and develop a culture of high performance. The L&D team at M