News
Jacobs tailors training of high flyers to improve staff retention
01/02/08
Training high-flyers with tailored courses is the secret to staff retention, according to a partnership between global engineering giant Jacobs and Aston Business School in Birmingham.
Investing in employees encourages them to better understand the business they work for, including areas outside their own personal expertise, and with keeping hold of quality staff.
That’s the view of Jacobs’ bosses, who hailed the specially tailored Executive Education programme at Aston Business School as a huge success, not only for reducing the turnover of successful staff.
The company has reported a dramatically lower turnover rate among employees attending Executive Education courses compared with those not attending them.
The courses have given delegates a much greater understanding of the business and an array of skills to equip them to drive their careers – and the company - forward.
Around 50 delegates attended a presentation dinner at Aston Business School’s Lakeside Conference Centre in Birmingham, including Jacobs’s senior Vice President Bob Duff.
Around 20 employees gained the Certificate after a year of study. A further 15 achieved the Diploma after a second year of study.
Course Director Matt Davies said tailoring individual courses to the client’s needs was vital for its success.
“The content of the course changes to reflect the ongoing relationship we have with Jacobs.
“If we are not tailoring what we do for the client’s needs then we have no way of meeting their expectations.”
He added: “We do see great enthusiasm because they have to go through quite a rigorous process to get into the course.
“It is a genuine and highly successful partnership and in many ways a great model for how these types of courses should be run.”
Jacobs has 52,000 employees worldwide, with 8,000 based in the UK.
Sally Fern, Divisional Director for Organisational Development and Project Manager for the programme, said: “Our relationship with Aston Business School has developed over the last seven years and they were the only university in our shortlist that recognised our need for a partnership approach.
“The students get the academic content and the company gets many networking opportunities.”
Natalie McIldowie is a 34-year-old technical director for the Contaminated Land division of Jacobs, who has now completed her Certificate and is set to start the Diploma course.
“The people management course has improved my ability to understand management issues and respond, to inspire my team more effectively,” she said.
“The marketing strategy has been highly influential in broadening my perspective on the business and I have learned a lot more about Jacobs.
“The way the course is taught is very easy to comprehend and it invokes a lot of conversation, teamwork and problem solving.”
For more information on Aston Business School Executive Education please contact Clive on 01543 501111