CHESTERFIELD EMPLOYEES TRAIN TO GAIN
Employees at two major manufacturing companies in Chesterfield are celebrating their success after recently completing their Train to Gain programme through local training provider NLT Training Services.
Twenty one staff at Sonneborn & Rieck and thirteen members of staff at KM Furniture, enrolled on the programme last year, which aims to upgrade skills and increase productivity and efficiency of business, particularly in the manufacturing and engineering sectors. All these staff have now successfully qualified to NVQ Level 2 in either PerformingManufacturing Operations, Distribution, Warehousing and Storage Operations or Team Leading.
Steve Meadows, Chief Executive at NLT Training Services, said: Congratulations go to all the staff
at Sonneborn & Rieck and KM Furniture who have successfully achieved their Train to Gain qualification.
Train to Gain is making a huge difference to hundreds of businesses and their staff across our region by upgrading their skills, as well as improving morale, motivation and business performance.
Train to Gain courses are fully funded by the Learning and Skills Council, which means that there
are no financial costs to employers, all that is required of them is that they give their staff the time
to train.
Eamonn Higgins, Site and Production Manager at Sonneborn & Rieck thinks the training initiative
is a great idea. He said: Train to Gain is helping staff build their confidence, especially for those
who have not had training before or who have been out of education for a long time.The training is definitely having an impact on the company as a whole as it is building a more confident workforce and staff are more aware of their personal responsibilities. It also gives employees who want to better themselves the chance to do just that. Staff are becoming more responsible as their awareness levels are being raised and they are staring to ask more questions and think carefully before they do things, which is having a better result on the company as a whole.
Graham Millington has been working at Sonneborn & Reick for 21 years and is a Senior Supervisor.
He is currently studying for his NVQ Level 2 in Team Leading.
He said: The team leading NVQ has increased my confidence, as well as giving me better guidelines
to use. I've been out of education for a while so it was great to really get thinking again. It
was refreshing to learn new skills and it really made me think about the tasks I was doing every
day and seeing how I could do them better. It can be tough finding a balance between supervising
people and also knowing how to deal with any issues that arise, but through Train to Gain I have
learnt the skills to do this. I enjoyed the training and felt a great sense of achievement by doing the
course.
Mike Newton, HR Manager at KM Furniture in Chesterfield said: Train to Gain is making an incredible
difference to our workforce. In particular, there is a noticeable improvement in employees interest
in their jobs and the part they play in the business. I think this is down to the fact that we are
showing a commitment to them by putting them through the training, as well as improving their self
esteem.
The more you train people, the better they become at their job, continued Mike. Health & Safety
awareness has definitely increased thanks to Train to Gain, with staff now being more aware of
hazards. This is really important to us as in any company you want your workforce to be safe at all
times, avoiding accidents and injury.
Train to Gain is aimed at employees who may not have had any formal training before to bring
them up to NVQ Level 2, which is equivalent to five GCSEs at grades A*-C. Large and small organisations can enroll in the initiative and each programme is tailor made to suit each individual
company's needs.
NLT Training Services provide a number of Train to Gain courses for employees to choose from,
which range from the more general NVQs in Team Leading and Numeracy & Literacy, to the more
specialised NVQs in Distribution, Warehousing & Storage Operations, Metals Processing & Finishing
and Engineering, Specialised plant & Machinery Operations.
For more information on Train to Gain and how your employees could benefit from the programme
call NLT Training Services on 0845 40 80 378
