Skillstories

“I used to sit at the back of the class, but now I’m in the front. Words fail me for how good these skills make you feel...I’m more confident, my morale is just amazing.!”

Eve Huggins, Mobile Cooks Manager, NCS

Employers

Norfolk County Services

Norfolk County Services (NCS) is a regional facilities management company offering catering, transport, cleaning, printing, environmental and building management services to both the public and private sectors. The company has 4,400 staff who deliver services across Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire at 1100 sites, many of them in remote, rural areas.

Norfolk County Services logo

Contact Details

Norfolk County Services
County Hall
Martineau Lane
Norwich
NR1 2DL
Telephone: 01603 222596
Fax: 01603 223106
Sector:
Other service activities
Employees:
2501-5000
Operations:
UK
Regions:
East of England
Turnover:
51-100m

More information on skills initiatives

Business Drivers

A Skills for Life training programme called “Learning Lift Off” was launched in 2002 following an assessment of employees that revealed more than 70% lacked numeracy and literacy skills. The company realised that in order to develop and improve its service provision, employees needed to be trained to national standards.

Implementation

A Skills for Life training programme called “Learning Lift Off” was launched in 2002 following an assessment of employees that revealed more than 70% lacked numeracy and literacy skills. The company realised that in order to develop and improve its service provision, employees needed to be trained to national standards.

Management leads by example with 47% of area managers taking national skills courses. This has been instrumental in reducing the stigma attached to learning and has cemented support across all management levels.

Over five years, the programme has provided support for all employees by providing high quality, flexible and relevant training with more than 1935 (44% of workforce) accessing some type of learning. The result is an operating environment which enables the company to perform commercially and deliver high quality services.

Partners

“Learning Lift Off” is a unique partnership between the company, five trade unions, a range of learning providers, Norfolk Learning and Skills Council and the Trade Union Learning Link Norfolk (TULL). The programme has now succeeded in truly embedding learning in the workplace culture.

Impact

  1. A new business opportunity with Suffolk Coastal generated £7.5m increased turnover – their Skills for Life training was a major factor in winning this contract
  2. 47% of area managers have taken national skills courses
  3. Staff satisfaction rose by 20%. Feedback from staff surveys indicated support with learning and development played a key part in this improvement
  4. 14% rise in response rate to internal recruitment adverts with £40,000 saved due to increased internal staff development

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