OCS SKILLS PLEDGE PUTS PEOPLE FIRST

The group has signed up to the UK’s national Skills Pledge scheme in order to ensure up to 30,000 front-line employees and supporting management teams get the best from skills training and career development.

The skills commitment by OCS, one of Britain’s biggest privately-owned businesses, has already gained momentum with innovative new training programmes to NVQ level 2 which will benefit over 600 employees in the first year alone and cost well in excess of one million pounds. The NVQ programmes are one of three key levels of skills delivery which also include management development and job specific tailored training.

Announcing the skills commitment, group chief executive Chris Cracknell said, “The ability and attitude of our people is critical to our success and this programme of skills training will bring even greater confidence and competence to thousands of our employees who every day have to meet, greet and support people going about their lives. These employees have the opportunity to make a real difference to customer service and deserve the best support from us.”

When it comes to situations such as helping lost travellers or airport passengers with reduced mobility, the need for well-trained, confident personnel is crucial. At Birmingham Airport, for example, the entire OCS permanent customer care team has been enrolled on a Level 2 Customer Service NVQ programme.

A site-based assessor carries out workplace observations and assessments to set targets for performance criteria against national standards. Sarah Nutt, who has worked at the airport for OCS for more than four years, says the programme has already helped focus on what she does and how it affects customers. She believes that on-the-job assessment makes training more accessible to people. “It has been easy so far,” she said, “I would certainly encourage others to do it.”

This ‘up-skill’ philosophy for OCS staff at the airport has also brought some unexpected benefits with a team of twelve electing to take a nine week sign language course and some employees even attending on their day off.

The momentum of enthusiasm and achievement is taking other new directions too. Later this year OCS will trial an internet-based health and safety interactive training module which will enable managers and office-based staff to receive basic health and safety and risk assessment training. In another initiative, cleaning teams working in and around London’s Docklands development are benefiting from the OCS Training Centre at Canary Wharf improving skills such as English language and communication.

Perhaps most of all, signing up to the Skills Pledge has helped OCS pull together previous training schemes into a cohesive, structured delivery framework which will be equally effective in all parts of an extremely diverse business. With the help of funding support under the pledge and the expertise of industry specialists, NVQ material has now been mapped to OCS job descriptions to ensure optimum suitability and effectiveness for the training.

Driving the group’s involvement in the Skills Pledge has been their HR director Peter Caley who said, “The benefits will be wide-ranging for our business and far-reaching for its highly valued people. Major advantages will include the creation of a consistent, structured training framework aligning our current skills base with targeted development and formal qualifications. Recruitment and staff retention will be enhanced by the provision of clear pathways to learning and achievable goals towards a long-term career with us. Last but not least, the Skills Pledge also sends a clear signal to our existing and potential employees that we have made a commitment to them and to their success as individuals.”