Association of Colleges

Bed-time stories are not usually high on the list of priorities for employers. But for one major company in Filton, those bed-time stories and their impact on a three-year-old have taken on a significance they could never have imagined.

The child belonged to one of the 150 cleaning staff who work for Serco Integrated Services at the Airbus site in Filton near Bristol.

Although the child was happy and well looked after, bed-times were devoid of the comforting stories that children look forward to so eagerly.

The child might not have understood why, but it was for the same reason that many of Serco’s employees found it difficult to follow health and safety instructions and deal with the paperwork: they either couldn’t read, or couldn’t read confidently enough for the skill to be useful.

While the child was missing out, its daily disappointment concealed from the world, Serco realised that it, too, was missing out as a company.

Committed and loyal staff with poor reading or maths skills felt excluded from training opportunities, couldn’t read vital company notices, and convinced themselves they had no chance of promotion.

“We’d wanted to promote from within to supplement the supervisory team, especially as our existing staff were the most knowledgeable about the role, their work areas and customer contacts,” says Serco human resources assistant Ann McManus.

“But people weren’t applying for promotion. They were just lacking in self-confidence and self-belief.”

She suspected that staff turnover and reportable accidents would be reduced, and morale raised, if all staff were given the chance to become confident about reading and maths, so she turned to Filton College for help.

“We decided that classes should be held in our own offices instead of at Filton College as that would make it easier for staff to attend and make them feel more at ease,” she says. “That flexibility by the college made such a difference.”

Filton came up with a series of courses in English, maths and computing and ran them on a flexible system of two sessions a week that allowed everyone to take part if they wanted to.

The English and Maths courses were fully funded through the Skills for Life initiative, by the Learning Skills Council.

“As well as benefiting their work lives we hoped all these courses would enhance their home lives, too,” says Ann. “The training has always been open to all staff irrespective of the benefit this would have to the organisation because Serco felt they had a responsibility to give something back to their loyal staff and families.

“Some learners were so committed and enthusiastic they travelled a considerable distance to attend their course while on holiday or off shift,” says Ann. “And the college even used some of Serco’s new paperwork as learning resources including the newsletter, timesheets, and health and safety policies.

“The impact of the learning has been significant and far more wide-ranging than anticipated. The confidence amongst those who have taken part has risen dramatically.

“Learners have become more relaxed in their interaction with supervisors and management and happily chat to staff in the support office where the training is held.

“It has also encouraged teamwork and friendships amongst the learners, with one quieter learner now organising a trip out for all learners in their group.

“This has had a huge effect on performance, particularly within the cleaning department which had previously been forgotten for training. The effect of morale and motivation has been massive. Results of monthly audits with the customer in the cleaning team have been consistently high in all areas where the learners work.”

Four staff who took part have since become team leaders or taken on a more senior role, one of Serco’s main aims at the start of the programme.

But the most poignant piece of feedback Serco received came from one of the staff who completed the first year of the English course: “I can now read my three-year old a story.”

Apart from making one child and one parent very happy, the training provided by Filton College has made a dramatic difference to Serco’s performance as a business, according to Ann.

In the 20 years it had been servicing the Airbus contract, Serco was used to losing an average of 18% of its staff each year – but in the two years it has been running the Filton courses, it has only lost 3.6% of those who took part.

“This massively exceeded our expectations for improving retention,” says Ann. “And the new understanding of policies and procedures has meant a huge drop in accidents and reportable accidents.

“H&S performance has shown a 55% drop in accidents 2004/2005 and a continued downward trend in 2006. Reportable accidents dropped from 13 in 2004 to 3 in 2006, leading to a 72% reduction in employee lost time and increased employee wellbeing.

“The training has enabled us to promote from existing staff, allowing them to grow with the organisation.

“Traditionally, supervisors avoided computers where possible, but with the growing pressure to use computers in their everyday roles, they are finding the training a real benefit.

“Staff have a greater pride in themselves and feel they have more to offer. They have been given opportunities which previously did not exist.

“The new-found confidence has broken down barriers between staff and management and instilled belief in themselves. This has had the effect of increasing motivation and promoting a can-do attitude which has positively impacted performance.”

For more information see: http://www.fecolleges.co.uk

 

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