MAKING ROOM FOR SUCCESS

As the UK’s leading online accommodation site offering late availability deals, LateRooms knows how hard its staff work and how important it is to reward them with opportunities for development. With this in mind, LateRooms decided an NVQ programme was the best way to allow staff to develop their skills, increase their knowledge and increase morale.

With the arrival of Kaye Robertson as Call Centre Operations Director in 2007, LateRooms put a renewed focus on staff support and development, but still felt more training was needed to address some remaining concerns. LateRooms wanted to ensure staff felt valued and knew the business was willing to invest in their future; that LateRooms was keen to increase individuals’ chances of career progression within the business, thus reducing attrition; and that there was guidance and support for newly appointed team managers.

LateRooms chose Intec Business Colleges to deliver the NVQ programme because it could offer far more of LateRooms’ team members the opportunity to study for an NVQ than other providers. Staff working at LateRooms’ call centre chose to take various levels of NVQs in Customer Service, Team Leading, Management and Learning and Development.

“The NVQ programme is going extremely well, with some staff members completing the work far earlier than expected and many now working on the next level,” said Craig Mckinnon, Resource Analyst and NVQ Co-ordinator at LateRooms. “Learner feedback has been very positive and a recent staff survey showed an increase in motivation levels. The partnership between LateRooms and Intec is going well, with staff having built close working relationships with the assessors who always co-ordinate their visits so there is no disruption to service levels.

“What is also great is that staff are seeming so much more confident in their own skills and abilities and since the programme began, many staff have applied and been successful in gaining more senior roles in the call centre or roles within other departments.”

As part of its efforts to recognise and reward achievement, LateRooms holds graduation days to present certificates and to congratulate each learner individually on the completion of their NVQ. With many candidates already achieving their qualifications, Craig has seen the positive effect these graduation days have, showing learners how much LateRooms appreciates their hard work and celebrates their success. Craig himself is an example of LateRooms’ policy of staff development – within two years he has progressed from reservation agent through to Resource Analyst via roles which include Team Co-ordinator, Team Manager, Duty Manager.

LateRooms plans to continue with staff training and is committed to developing its team and offering as many opportunities to learn and progress as possible. In fact, Intec has recently been back in to talk about future training as more staff have been recruited, thanks to LateRooms ongoing growth and success.