Project: Induction programme redesign
Brief: With ambitious growth plans and following a period of high staff turnover, Cabot Financial, a market leader in consumer debt purchase, wanted a complete revamp of its 12-week induction training programme for account officers.
Approach: Steve Walker, director at Calibre HR & Training, worked alongside the training team and key management stakeholders to revisit the company’s approach to induction training from the bottom up. The HR director and training manager had identified a top level training framework, but they did not have the necessary in-house experience to design the programme.
Steve began by breaking the identified training into short modules of 45 and 90 minutes incorporating a range of training methods to match a variety of learning styles. Scheduled into the new employee’s first five weeks, these sessions are designed to take account of officers from entry-level to an intermediate stage.
Trainees then complete seven weeks’ one-to-one coaching to develop their customer skills. They are assessed using online testing, call listening and scoring.
In addition, Steve helped the training team write new training sessions using a template. They were also coached in delivering new and unfamiliar modules. Steve also developed a train the trainer pack to help the training team continue to grow its skills.
Outcome: The interactive induction training programme has drastically reduced staff turnover among new employees and is the foundation of the company’s Investors in People application.
Cabot Financial has also been awarded a City and Guilds accreditation in recognition for its outstanding in-house induction training programme. The City and Guilds assessment verifies that the training is necessary and relevant to the business and meets the highest standards. The assessment included training materials, live training observation, testing processes, evaluation forms and training records.
Mary Smith, Training & Development Manager at Cabot Financial, said about Steve’s work: “Steve is an innovative training consultant who has added enormous value to our L&D function in a short space of time. Steve works extremely well with colleagues and builds solid relationships very quickly.”
Tara undertook a series of equality and diversity awareness workshops. The groups were very testing and Tara demonstrated an extremely professional approach. She showed extensive knowledge and experience and handled difficult questions with sensitivity, providing clear and appropriate responses.
