McVities was preparing to switch from paper filing to a computer based system and urgently needed to up-skill the staff to help the company to progress.
By investing in English, maths and IT skills the company achieved its target, resulting in higher production and less waste.
Life skills to help the company improve business processes
Alistair has worked in the McVities' trade union workplace learning-centre in Carlisle for five years. He says "we had to upskill everyone to make sure they can keep up with the progress of the company. Everything from production rates and orders to wastage was to be included on the new system."
The reward of engaging employees
However, getting people who were interested in learning into the centre proved to be a challenge says Alistair. "A lot of them were embarrassed about needing to improve their maths or English skills but our Skills for Life tutor worked hard to address this and ensure we offered a welcoming atmosphere."
Staff don't look back
Once staff tentativeness had been overcome, people were eager to keep on learning more. "Now we have a team of nine working in the centre and people are always in and out opting to do everything from basic level literacy and numeracy to NVQs in IT all through learndirect," said Alistair.
Higher production, less waste
"Now all of the information we need is held on computers and staff can access, analyse and report on this whenever they need to. This has improved our rate of production and minimised waste as everyone is much more switched on to the company's needs," he says.
"learndirect was really the easy option for us; it fits with all of our needs and offers so many courses, its brilliant!"
What next?
- Read more about learndirect's English and maths courses
- See the interactive guide to NVQs
- Find out the benefits of training with learndirect
To find out more about how learndirect can help your company, call 0800 101 901 or fill in the contact us form to arrange an appointment for us to visit your business.
Once we understand what your business needs are, we can offer you expert training and funding advice. The helpline is open from 7am to 11pm, everyday.