A PASSPORT TO LEARNING

As a company specialising in communication and relationship building, it comes as no shock that staff development is very important to Dataforce. It is also no surprise that for a company promising companies individual and personalised communication with each one of their customers, it is vital to get staff training right.

With its head office in Northampton, Dataforce has a diverse range of offerings. While much of its business comes from its contact centre, Dataforce also has a large catalogue mailing operation, distributes inserts through newspapers and captures data for pubs and clubs. Due to the diverse range of roles at Dataforce, skilled management is incredibly important, which is why the company decided to institute a formal training programme.

“We were looking for a way of recognising and developing our staff’s abilities and skills with an accredited qualification attached,” said Francesca Templeton, Learning and Development Specialist at Dataforce. “We hoped that the benefits would be increased staff motivation, retention, staff progression and loyalty to a company that is willing to invest in its staff.”

With the above in mind, Dataforce chose to offer NVQs and Apprenticeships in Team Leading level 2 and Management level 3. Francesca is proud that that the first group of staff to enrol have completed their qualifications with formidable success and says the next set are well on their way.

“The success of the training programme has led to a new initiative with our contact centre Brand Advocates,” says Francesca. “We have just rolled out a new programme for them called Passport To Learning. This will incorporate an NVQ qualification along with internal workshops. We are using this as a platform to increase staff retention and progression.”

Francesca credits Intec for the efficiency and professionalism with which it delivers the NVQ and Apprenticeship programme, saying it has caused the business minimum disruption and the qualifications have noticeably increased staff motivation.