Tesco
Tesco is just one of the corporate partners City & Guilds has worked with to create the best tailored solutions to their training needs.

Tesco has always recognised the value that qualifications can bring to its employees and chose to work with City & Guilds to develop a model for delivering nationally recognised qualifications using their existing suite of in-house training.
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Aktiv Kapital Group
Aktiv Kapital (UK) Ltd., (formerly Thames Credit Limited), a leading company in the UK consumer credit industry, and a subsidiary of a Aktiv Kapital ASA, set out to increase staff retention by offering a City & Guilds diploma.
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Royal Mail
Royal Mail approached City & Guilds to advise the best training pathway for their business and personnel needs.
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London Underground
In 2000, just 24 train drivers in the country held National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). Today, at London Underground (LU), nearly 8,700 of their staff have NVQs. The rise in numbers is the result of a tailor-made City & Guilds NVQ programme which translates everyday competencies into recognised qualifications for LU staff.
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Tesco

Mapping existing performance assessment to accredited standards

Tesco is just one of the corporate partners City & Guilds has worked with to create the best tailored solutions to their training needs.
Tesco has always recognised the value that qualifications can bring to its employees and chose to work with City & Guilds to develop a model for delivering nationally recognised qualifications using their existing suite of in-house training.

City & Guilds supported Tesco to map this training against the national occupational standards to develop a bespoke Apprenticeship Programme which would provide staff with a clear progression route, and equip them with a suite of skills fit for purpose to deliver the overall business goals.  Moreover, Tesco wanted to maintain a ‘business as usual’ approach, but avoid the resulting bureaucracy.  As a result, using the City & Guilds ‘employer direct’ model, Tesco Line Managers were able to train and assess their own staff, make use of their existing training, assessment and review processes.

To date, over 400 Tesco employees across 160 stores have achieved an Apprenticeship and the results speak for themselves: 80% of staff said they had increased job satisfaction as a result, and retention amongst participants was 15% higher than the company average. 65% also cited career progression as a reason for joining the programme.

Hayley Tatum, UK Operations Personnel Director said, ‘The most important thing to remember about any training programme is that it needs to be right for your business, and most importantly for your people.’

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Aktiv Kapital Group

Accrediting a bespoke training programme

Aktiv Kapital (UK) Ltd., (formerly Thames Credit Limited), a leading company in the UK consumer credit industry, and a subsidiary of a Aktiv Kapital ASA, set out to increase staff retention by offering a City & Guilds diploma.

The majority of Aktiv Kapital’s employees are known as Negotiators, responsible for negotiating payment arrangements with customers for outstanding debts. Aktiv Kapital wanted to turn its bespoke training for negotiators into an accredited qualification which would help to attract and retain a higher level of candidates to the business.

Aktiv Kapital approached City & Guilds about its accreditation process based on its global reputation in education and training. Following a rigorous review of the existing two-week training programme for new-starters, City & Guilds was able to accredit the Induction programme and offer a diploma for its successful completion. Since the City & Guilds diploma has been part of Aktiv Kapital’s offering to employees, the company has noticed a 10% increase in staff retention.

Philip Lunn, UK Chief Executive Officer, believes that his staff are proud to work for a company which invests so heavily in their training. “I frequently have employees asking, ‘When are we going to get our Diplomas?’ There is genuine excitement for new employees to achieve or exceed the requirements of the course. For those with no formal qualification, earning a City & Guilds Diploma is extremely motivational and we as an employer seize the opportunity to maintain that level of motivation.”

Philip Lunn, UK Chief Executive Officer:

“Our approach to debt collection sets us apart from others in the industry. It comes from building a dialogue with our clients to understand their needs and with individual customers to help them understand the options toward fulfilling their obligations.  This collaboration allows everyone involved in the process to make informed decisions. In addition, our City & Guilds accredited Diploma instills values of professionalism and excellence in our staff from the outset, qualities that are making a real difference to our commercial performance.”

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Royal Mail

Ensuring credibility in the labour market

Royal Mail approached City & Guilds to advise the best training pathway for their business and personnel needs.

Facing competition for the first time in the letters market, Royal Mail wanted to ensure they continued to develop their people in order to retain skills and experience in the sector. Responding to this challenge, they enlisted City & Guilds to look at the quality of training Royal Mail provided and worked closely with them in the development of a level 2 NVQ in Mail Services as part of the wider Mail Services Apprenticeship programme.

Royal Mail was determined to create a training programme which would attract young and capable people to the business as well as retain employees who showed real promise. In close partnership with the National Employer Service and Skills for Logistics and City & Guilds, Royal Mail managed the accredited training programme along with their partners, which has now seen over 400 employees recruited to date.

The benefits to Royal Mail of developing motivated, business-focused young people have already been evident: improved staff retention rates, reduced absence and sick leave. In a tough labour market, the programme now puts them ahead of competitors as the first employer to offer an NVQ in Mail Services alongside an already successful graduate programme.

Their 2008 City & Guilds Apprentice of the Year, Gemma Jones, now acting line manager at Dartford Mail Centre, said upon receiving her award ‘Royal Mail gives everyone a chance’

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London Underground

Working in partnership to find the right training solutions

In 2000, just 24 train drivers in the country held National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). Today, at London Underground (LU), nearly 8,700 of their staff have NVQs. The rise in numbers is the result of a tailor-made City & Guilds NVQ programme which translates everyday competencies into recognised qualifications for LU staff.

Following Guidance introduced by the sector’s Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on measuring competence in the rail industry, LU decided to take this one step further and introduce a formal qualification for their frontline staff. They approached City & Guilds knowing it was a brand that held currency with their employees and together with Four Counties and Barnet College, City& Guilds devised an NVQ which tested the day-to-day competencies needed by employees to do their job. LU specifically wanted to find a solution which met national occupational standards but avoided paper-based tests.

Today, 100% of new employees choose to sign up to the NVQ programme, offered to all staff in frontline customer service posts. The result has been motivated staff and happier customers. Iain Smith, Head of Skills believes that providing formal recognition for doing a good job has brought self-respect among staff, “You can’t pay for that change in attitude in salaries.” Furthermore, in the same year that LU carried a record number of passengers (over one billion) customer satisfaction scores were at their highest ever.

City & Guilds is 4 years into a 10-year partnership to continue the NVQ programme and explore new training initiatives within LU.  This has led to a range of further programmes being rolled out across LU and its supply chain.

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