The idea that training is an investment is nothing new. What’s more, not only is it an investment from the point of view of the firm but also from the perspective of the employee that receives the training.
One of our Company’s values is the commitment to people and team development and, in practice, we work hard to make this a reality, so that the professional development of our employees provides our teams with more opportunities, growth, learning, and improved individual and group performance.
TRAINING PROGRAMMES
We began 2014 with the aim of individualising training needs and moving away from a team and job-oriented focus, as each person has their own training needs which will always be different to those of their colleagues. In collaboration with Directors and Department Managers, we could bring down the level of need detection down to this level. We were able to get close to the business, understand its challenges, and offer employees support during the implementation of the Training Programme.
During the implementation of the programme, in the second semester, a series of courses were introduced aimed at a wide range of groups, which we would like to highlight. We wanted to offer support to our internal clients’ needs, looking for contents and methodologies that have a visible impact on the business (with tangible and intangible aspects).
Some of the initiatives:
- Retail channel (representatives, Trade and points of sale managers): an ad-hoc course about “Understanding the supermarket” together with the AECOC (the Spanish Sales Coding Association). We worked on identifying opportunities to improve our supermarket status and increasing pro-activeness when managing a point of sale, with workshops in Galicia and Madrid.
- The present and future commercial challenges faced by the Hotel Restaurant and Catering Sector Channel, led us to prepare a course centred on all the links in the chain. In the “Sales Techniques” course we were able to provide coaching about the relational skills needed in the sales and commercial management process. In addition to the promoters workshops held in Santiago and Madrid, other presales workshops were held and we are also scheduling a workshop for representatives. All of which have the same commercial style which serves as a common theme for the whole commercial chain.
- Because of the importance of the messages and presentations that our representatives give in public, we held a “Public Speaking Workshop” for the whole Marketing, Trade Marketing and Commercial Management team. They were able to learn how to evaluate themselves, to individually reflect on their styles and to identify their strengths and areas for improvement as presenters or speakers.
- Training in “Lean manufacturing”, which is key to implanting continuous improvement and personnel participation methodologies, the driving forces for people development and productivity improvement. This year’s pilot project has been in the factory bottling section, and in the future it will be extended to other sections and/or business units.
- For Operations Team Managers we have initiated a training plan with five learning modules (Technical Professional Development, Quality, Environment and Food Safety, People Management, Continuous Improvement and Occupational Health and Safety), to encourage the development of their important role. Due to its modular nature, it is aimed at the individual, detecting their needs in an individualised manner and giving them the opportunity to improve in the different roles associated with their job.
NEW TRAINING HORIZONS
New strategies and constantly changing environments will force us to face new challenges and objectives. These will be our guides that determine our next training programmes’ lines. It will be our role to accompany individuals (and, consequently, teams) in order to find the best ways to train them, to qualify them and to prepare them to face said challenges. Furthermore, we will work together with the business to select the best content, to choose appropriate methodologies, to plan sessions when they are most needed and to be flexible throughout the whole training process.
TESTIMONIES
The training day which centred on “Understanding the supermarket“, above all, allowed the point of sale managers to consider their work from a different point of view. The brand’s needs, strategies and approach seen from the supplier’s point of view are very different to the retailer’s. This course gave them an overview of the points of sale’s business, which will help them to optimise management resources, maximising the generation of synergies with the retailer’s priorities. With regard to the KAMs, although their perspective is from a higher point in the chain, they will also be able to go over their knowledge about the retailer on a purchaser-supplier level.
The “Public Speaking Workshop” was very practical because it teaches you how to improve your public speaking skills. You learn a method and then they give you loads of “advice” to be practised and incorporated little by little, and after just two days of practice, we saw a vast improvement. They recorded us on video and afterwards we looked at the areas we needed to improve on, how to make the most of our presenting style and even how to enjoy giving presentations.
For me it was like a workout which taught me how to communicate in a more effective way and it was a valuable experience for me both professionally and personally. It was a very practical course where we worked very hard. It was well organised and I also very much enjoyed the two days I spent away with the Trade, Commercial and Marketing team.
For the promoters, the “Sales workshop” was very interesting, as it was primarily practical. It has served to build on knowledge acquired on previous training courses, where the contents have been more theoretical. The limited amount of time available forced the content to be very concentrated, but simulations could be carried out, which is why the general assessment is very positive.
As far as the workshop for the presales team is concerned, the impressions transmitted have been very positive. They carried out various simulations of practical cases and shared in very interesting experiences. Just like the Promoters, they have also requested more time to be given for the next training activities.
