Citation
(2012), "Training revamp delivers for logistics company", Industrial and Commercial Training, Vol. 44 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/ict.2012.03744gaa.009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Training revamp delivers for logistics company
Article Type: Notes and news From: Industrial and Commercial Training, Volume 44, Issue 7
A complete overhaul of the training regime led to a significant improvement in productivity and staff motivation at Livingston-based DHL Supply Chain.
The company is part of DHL’s Dedicated Food Retail (DFR) Group. Employing 420 staff, the Livingston business provides third-party logistics for supermarket Iceland and food-wholesaler Booker, covering Scotland, Northern England and Northern Ireland.
Donna Cadman, HR Advisor at DHL Supply Chain, said: “Taking over the Livingston site in 2005, we inherited significant issues on many fronts. The business was failing in its key performance indicators, it was losing money, employee turnover was standing at a shocking 120 per cent and absenteeism at 19 per cent.
“We knew we had to do something and introduced DHL’s effective management program straight away. This led to rapid progress between 2005 and 2007.
“Growth continued in 2008, although our key performance indicators started to stagnate. The senior-management team therefore decided to introduce a series of performance objectives for 2009”.
The company measured progress on these performance objectives formally through evaluations and review sessions, and informally through observation, discussion and feedback from colleagues at the front line of the business.
These findings were compiled into a 30-page report, which detailed how the working environment at the company had turned around, with working relationships, job satisfaction, overall positive attitudes, and communication skills all showing marked improvements.
The business also smashed every site and network record for key performance indicators and increased its gain-sharing fee from clients to £1.1m – retaining its position as the most profitable DHL Dedicated Food Retail site.
DHL Supply Chain, in conjunction with training partner Future Positive Consulting Ltd, was short-listed in the finals of the partnership and collaboration category for the Scottish region of the 2010 National Training Awards.