Skillstories

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Business Drivers

FMC's training & development strategy is based on developing a highly skilled workforce motivated to continuously improve the business through the integration of off the job training with on the job learning; lifelong learning & continuous professional development for all; use of internal & external capability to improve skills; direct access to government funding for skill development & accountability for achievement; & value individual differences & diversity.

In reflection of this FMC has an NES contract with the LSC & was one of the first employers to sign the Skills Pledge.

FMC have created a revolutionary "Skills for Life" (SfL) strategy to help achieve the business' main objective of surpassing competition through reduced costs. The inclusive & barrier free approach develops a skilled workforce motivated to continuously improve the business as well as safeguarding employment opportunities now & for the future.

Implementation

In 2005 FMC was awarded a government training grant of £10.1 million to upskill its employees at Dagenham Engine Plant (DEP) to increase productivity by 20% & improve its competitive position. The foundation of the programme is the SfL strategy which is being used as a pilot for roll-out across Ford of Britain locations during 2008.

Initially the programme built on the long st&ing work of the "Learning Resource Centres" (LRCs) & "Employee Development & Assistance Programme" (EDAP) by offering traditional discrete "Basic Skills" classes to employees in work time. However, the approach failed to address the high level of residual SfL deficit amongst hard to reach employees. A new methodology was required that would meet the needs of a dynamic manufacturing environment & those of a predominately male, ethnically diverse, long serving & middle aged workforce.

Through close collaboration with all stakeholders, KPMG & Business in the Community (BITC), a clearly defined innovative strategy based on contextualised & embedded learning was developed. Together with a nationally advertised tendering process, this enabled the identification of a creative & capable provider, Tribal, who started in July 2007.

The programme's success is based on its inclusivity & absence of barriers to learning such as lack of management buy-in, stigma, fear of learning & disruption to production. The "Skills Coaches" are an integral part of shop floor life. Employees are released from work for short periods of contextualised 1:1 coaching near the production line. Following an initial discussion, the coach assesses the employee's SfL needs & weekly coaching sessions follow until the employee is confident of sitting a national test. Tests are sat in quiet areas on the shop floor invigilated by trained employees & c&idates are informed of results the same day.

To address wider SfL issues, the Coaches work with management to improve the effectiveness of communications & help implementation of business improvement techniques. Additionally they work with the NVQ provider to increase their underst&ing of SfL & to embed literacy, numeracy & language into vocational training.

Partners

The programme is dual funded by the London Development Agency (LDA), who invest £500,000 in up-front coaching & the LSC via FMC's NES contract. FMC match fund by releasing employees to attend training. The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham (LBBD) are the accountable body for the LDA funding. The long-term aim of the programme is to be sustainable on LSC & FMC match funding past December 2008.

The SfL strategy continues to evolve through extensive involvement of all stakeholder groups:

• FMC Management & Supervision – holds discussions on business need & skill requirements.
• FMC employees – provided feedback on their experiences of the 2005/2006 "basic skills" programme.
• Trade Union – holds discussions on business need & skill requirements.
• LDA – provide funding, support & experience from other projects.
• LSC NES & London East – provide funding, support, subject matter expertise & KPMG consultancy services.
• LBBD – project manages the programme, advised on a contextualised approach, hosting a partnership LBBD SfL project visit.
• Tribal – provide resources & subject matter expertise gained from other projects & Move On.
• The Outsourced Training Company – manages the LRCs & provides insight into previous initiatives.

Impact

The Upskilling & SfL Programme was a significant contributory factor to DEP achieving the following improvements to key balance scorecard metrics during 2007 (despite the number of engines produced increasing by a third):

Safety

• 65% reduction in lost time case rate
• 92% reduction in accident severity rate

Delivery

• 33% increase in production volume
• 6% improvement in build to schedule

Cost

• $1.9 million saving on labour & overhead budget

Morale

• 22% increase in Employee Satisfaction (internal survey)
• 0.6% reduction in unplanned absence

Environment

• 22% reduction in energy consumption (kwh/unit)

An independent mid-term evaluation of the Upskilling & SfL Programme found the following:

• Consistently high levels of training satisfaction
• Providers, supervisors, group leaders & production operators report improvements in confidence & skills

• Employees have improved their knowledge & skills & think more positively about work.An employee survey conducted as part of the evaluation found the following:

• 69% agreed the training has improved their performance at work

• 77% agreed the training has prepared them for their work in the future
• 70% agreed that the training has encouraged them to learn more in the future.

More than one fifth (21.4%) of the LBBD workforce are employed in manufacturing (compared with only 6% in London as a whole & 13% nationally) . The Upskilling & SfL Programme helped safeguard 680 jobs in LBBD. During 2007 FMC recruited 450 new employees to support the £170 million in a new state of the art production facility at the plant.

The proportion of residents with no qualifications in LBBD is far higher than in London & UK. A third of residents have low literacy & numeracy skills . Opportunities to gain SfL qualifications improve residents' skills & confidence, & impact's positively on family life. Removing these barriers allows individuals to participate as active citizenship within their community.

The mid-term evaluation found that the public private sector partnership was working well. Moreover, part of the Upskilling & SfL Programme legacy will be application of learning to other partnerships of this nature.

Wallace Yearwood, Manufacturing Manager

"The SfL program supports the mindset change from a management led to workgroup focused organization. For this we are developing confident & assertive employees, who have the skills to continually grow & drive our business forward, implementing & sustaining changes to keep us number 1 in the marketplace.

The changes brought about by the SfL programme are evident & sustainable. The quality & delivery of products have seen a significant improving trend as much of the coaching is closely aligned with the processes we are implementing as a business. As a result of the programme we have also developed new processes that will further support the company's objectives & serve as a template for FoB when roll out the SfL programme.

The skills that have been taught are having a wider impact not only on the individuals who are undertaking qualifications but also on their workgroups, the plant as a whole & in turn the reputation of FMC. In short, our commitment as a business to the growth of our employees holds the key to the overall business success. 2500 people with the knowledge & power to develop our business - all they need are the confidence & basic skills to help them facilitate change & growth."

Alex Kinchin Smith, Head of Service Delivery, LDA

"This programme allows the LDA to work in partnership with a leading employer who underst&s the impact on the business & on business productivity. It helps us to achieve our objectives of economic development, increased business efficiency, investment & competitiveness. It has improved employment in London & developed the skills of local people."

Richard Beene, National Account Manager, LSC NES

"The LSCs NES is pleased to be working with Ford to develop innovative work-place programmes to support employees to gain, usually for the first time, nationally recognised qualifications in literacy & numeracy. The immediate result is greater productivity & efficiency, & a new feeling of participation & contribution (& job satisfaction) for the employee. Just as importantly, success builds confidence & an appetite to progress to further skills qualifications giving learners a real opportunity to develop a career.

The delivery method, using coaches & job-related materials, is critical to overcoming barriers to participation & achievement, & NES & Ford hope to showcase the provision to encourage other employers to think progressively about meeting their own business needs, & the needs of their employees to develop literacy & numeracy skills."

Alan Lazell, Head of Skills, Learning & Enterprise, LBBD

"Helping local people to develop their skills & safeguard local employment is a high priority for the borough. The approach adopted at DEP is key to achieving this. The benefits to local residents are clear to see, with increased skills & confidence levels."

Barry Brooks, Director for Education & Skills Strategy, Tribal Group

"At its heart the SfL Strategy is about securing social justice & economic success for each & every family in Engl&. Through its work in Dagenham, FMC is demonstrating that these twin ambitions can be realised & secured through partnership in the workplace.

The approach is innovative, creative & sophisticated. It secures an exciting win for FMC & their employees. The balance between Ford productivity, staff competence, self esteem & personal achievement has been combined with remarkable results. The approach melds ideally with the rhythm & structure of the assembly process & the shift work routine. Employees compete to get on the ‘learner books’ of Tribal staff who ‘walk the line’ in hard shoes & orange vests emblazoned with Skills Coach.

Suddenly, ‘improving my english & maths skills & achieving a qualification is cool’ & that works for everyone!’"

Terry Burns, Trade Union Convenor

“The Trade Union & its members are delighted to support the novel approach to the upskilling of English & Maths. The feedback from members has been 100% positive. Having a fully skilled workforce will help to ensure that FMC provides quality products which are competitive in the marketplace. Local families will benefit from employment & their children can feel assured of a secure future.”

Paul Stone, Senior Supervisor

"The upskilling of English & Maths has been supported by management & supervision to help ensure that DEP continues to produce world class diesel engines & to secure jobs for the future.

A few years ago it was noticeable that it was difficult to recruit Group Leaders. Now just after 6 months of the upskilling project there has been a noticeable difference in those aiming for these positions. Employees have boosted their confidence, skills & underst&ing & are now actively seeking to improve their positions.

The coaching has provided assistance & opportunity for all to develop. The team board coaching has enabled group leaders to utilise their skills & to see the importance of documenting work area processes & procedures. The skills learnt have started to improve people's abilities to communicate with their work groups; to promote better team working; & with supervision.

There has been a noticeable downturn in absenteeism & I believe morale has improved.

Employees are definitely engaging more with the business, which is of vital importance to the future security of the workforce with increased schedules to meet & costs to reduce.

When SfL was first introduced some years ago, the skills learnt did not correlate with anything that we were trying to achieve in the workplace. Supervision & management did not engage with the process & didn’t check employee underst&ing. Even though both schemes have been voluntary, the format now employed has created an unprecedented dem&. There is no stigma, no barriers, the coaching relates to the work & we are seeing positive results in our quality, first time through & productivity.

We are a major employer in LBBD & we need to remain the employer of choice. Families in our local communities need to know that we value our employees & are prepared to invest our time into enhancing their skills to secure jobs for generations to come."

Harjinder Basra, Group Leader

"It has become easier to underst& the Group Leader matrices that affect my work area performance & I’m now confident to be able to help others. By having continuous on the job training using FMC documentation & our Team Boards, I am able to underst& what the company is hoping to achieve & that makes me feel confident for the future.

The Upskilling Programme has been extremely successful because it is shop floor based, the coaches are highly approachable & everyone can join in. It doesn’t take much time out of my day but I am learning a lot.

Personally the training has come in very h&y with helping my children with their homework. I have been able to share in helping them with their homework rather than passing the task onto my wife."

Roy Harrison, Work Group Member

"I can list the benefits of why anyone & everyone who didn't like school & who's been missing out on learning & its opportunities should talk to the Skills Coaches.

On a personal level, I feel like a new man, I have a wife who is far happier with me as my newly found confidence & skills mean I can now support her more. I can read bedtime stories & help with our four children’s homework - two have severe learning difficulties - as well as take responsibility for paying the bills, as I no longer ignore the post!

My plan is to apply for a group leader position on Puma. I failed the assessment shortly before enrolling with the Skills Coaches but feel like I would be a good team leader now & could help others who were in my situation. I would also like to do a FMC Apprenticeship in the future.

The reason this works is: the 1-to-1 sessions (no feeling thick at the back of a classroom); works well with shifts & family life etc.; not having to be tested in an intimidating environment; flexible, personalised & friendly.

Who would have thought it could be this simple!”