Tesco rings up a first for training
Date: 19-Dec-04
Mail on Sunday December 19, 2004
Tesco rings up a first for training.
The run-up to Christmas is always a busy time for supermarkets, but Tesco found time to celebrate a new award. As well as being Britain's biggest grocer, the group has become the first retailer to have its in-house training accredited by exams watchdog, the Qualifactions and Curriculum Authority. It is now authorised to run its own apprenticeship scheme and award nationally recognised qualifications.
Clare Chapman, Tesco's personnel director, visited apprentices on the shopfloor to celebrate the success of the firm's new approach to staff training. Tesco's trial of the apprenticeship scheme started this year with 20 young people in three supermarkets. It plans to expand the scheme to a further 480 employees in 60 stores.
Chapman believes the business benefits from investing in staff skills. 'Some employees are attracted by curiosity, others by the ability to earn as they learn, and many by the chance to prepare for promotion to management,' she says. 'Whatever the motivation, there is a lot of satisfaction with the apprenticeship programme, and staff retention improves.'
The group also plans a pilot scheme of apprenticeships for those over 24. At present, apprenticeships are available only to those between 16 and 24, though the Government plans to extend training to workers aged 25 and above.
Chapman says: 'Apprenticeships could help to build the confidence of older workers and encourage those returning to work after a career break.'
Tesco is one of 26 companies in an industry taskforce that has been set the challenge of raising the profile of apprenticeship schemes among individuals and employers.
Stephen Gardner, director of work-based learning for the Learning & Skills Council, says: 'Apprenticeships are employer-focused, providing the skills that companies really need. The fact that Tesco, the biggest private employer in the country with 237,000 workers, has had its training accredited in this way gives apprenticeships an even greater level of credibility.'
Teresa Bergin, head of sector skills at the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, says: 'Big employers already make a huge investment in staff training. If those programmes are sufficiently strong to allow the adoption of external awards, it can benefit both employees and the organisation itself.'
