3PL, a Greater Manchester-based fulfilment and logistics company, are facilitating a big push for internal staff development, encouraging their colleagues to undergo training courses to increase role mobility within the business. As part of this new initiative, they have taken advantage of the GMCA Skills for Growth programme, with up to 40% of their workforce being enrolled on a SFG course, in preparation for peak season operations later this year.
This newly defined skills drive is being fronted by Rosie Currie, Human Resources Manager, and she explained the motives behind this development initiative: “I came into post last July to help lead a cultural step change within the company, putting colleague training at the forefront of our interna; strategy, underpinned by a newly created online Training and Development platform. We have been working closely with Seetec Outsource, to put a process in place where with each step of the learning journey there is incremental training modules to help develop further. It’s a win-win as the company gets a more competent workforce and our colleagues get to access constant opportunities to progress their working knowledge and skills. In doing so, they challenge the boundaries of their capability.”
Rosie continued: “Warehousing has got an underwhelming reputation, with people outside of the sector broadly perceiving the sector as a dull working environment with low variety of work and little opportunity to fulfil potential. When it comes to a career with 3PL, the sceptics couldn’t be more wrong. We aspire to create a rewarding career opportunity for our colleagues, and training and development across a wide variety of roles is crucial to our business aims. In creating a differentiator with our “pathway for progression” we get to attract and retain the best talent in the area and we take them on a learning journey throughout their career with us.”
As stated, the Skills for Growth programme will play a fundamental part in achieving these goals: “The Skills for Growth courses are the perfect launch pad for us and its fully funded so that’s a big advantage. It also allows us to start the development pathways that we want to implement across the entire business. With colleagues now subscribing for the Level 3 courses, it clearly demonstrates high levels of personal aspiration and onward access to Level 5 options further down the line”.
The training is being delivered on-site at the Company’s two North West fulfilment centres. The program roll-out will commence in April 2023 and every department will have some degree of participation across both staff and management levels. The program caters for individuals at various stages of their career and life, with Paula, 59, having worked at 3PL for four years in her Warehouse Team Member role, is enrolling onto the Allocate and check work in your team in logistics operations course.
Paula explained her motivation for doing so: “I just like learning; if I’ve got a certificate behind me, it only enhances my confidence and increases my options going forwards. The more I can prove my skillset, the better, and this is a great chance to do that.”
Meanwhile, Christian, 25, works in the Customer Services team at 3PL and he has enrolled on the Schedule logistics operations to meet customer requirements course. He has only been with 3PL for a year and is hoping to learn skills that will improve his capabilities in his current role: “I’m hoping to learn more about logistics in general, expand on my skillset and increase my employability in the future. The Customer Services team is changing their approach and this course is a huge part of supporting that change.
Christian previously completed a degree in History at University, so is used to different models of learning but explained that the Skills for Growth courses are more directly applicable to his role: “I’m hoping this qualification will give me better knowledge that I can apply to the job I currently have.”
If you are a company looking to facilitate greater staff development, like 3PL, then you can find out more about the Skills for Growth courses and make an enquiry to our team by clicking the link here.
*Skills for Growth is funded through the European Social Fund and aims to plug the skills gaps in priority sectors across Greater Manchester as outlined in the Combined Authority’s Local Industrial Strategy.
