BROWNHILLS - TRAINING FOR THE FUTURE

With hundreds of staff spread over five branches and a history to the name which goes back 30 years, Brownhills has plenty of experience in looking after its employees. However, as Europe’s biggest motorhome retailer and aftercare specialist, it decided to go further and put in place a formal training programme to help develop, encourage and refocus staff.

Recognising their own limitations in such an ambitious programme, Brownhills chose Intec to provide the horsepower. Intec is able to ensure that all the NVQ programmes across Brownhills sites are consistent and has helped tailor the content and qualifications to suit the sector and the roles of staff within the business.

A range of staff across Brownhills sites are now working towards NVQs in Customer Service, IT, Storage and Warehousing, Business and Administration and Management. All the staff on the NVQ programmes, whether based in Swindon, Preston, Newcastle or Newark, have their own personalised schedules and timelines which allow for assessments which fit around individual commitments.

“The feedback I have had from staff is that these qualifications are making them feel more valued. Many of them have already said they would be interesting in doing the next qualification after they finish their current one,” said Carol Huggins, Group HR Manager at Brownhills. “From my perspective, I am very happy with the progress of the programme and with the assessors engagement and application.”

Following the success of the training initiative, Carol has implemented an apprenticeship programme on two of the sites so far, with the others to fall in line next Autumn. The idea behind this is that through robust ascension planning, the company will identify and train people to develop and stay with Brownhills to become tomorrow’s managers.

“The qualifications undertaken so far are really helping to re-motivate our staff and make them feel more confident in their job roles, which is all the more positive in light of the current economic climate,” said Carol. “Our people are more inspired, their attitudes are more positive and I think they feel that their employer really does care about them. What’s more, because the qualifications are externally recognised, staff know they can carry them on to future employers.”