Ernie's Story
Realising Our Goal: Increasing Participation of Employers and Improving Workforce Development
Smart Business Coaching, part of the Greater Expectations project to improve workforce development by increasing employer participation in training, has helped turn a wish list into reality at a Gloucestershire engineering company.
The Greater Expectations project recruits and trains Smart Business Coaches from small and medium-sized enterprises across the South West. Each coach supports learners within their company who are undertaking work-based training at Level 2 or 3. By honing their listening skills and understanding employees’ various motivations, the coaches help learners to achieve their qualifications.
The Learning and Skills Council and European Social Fund financed project has trained over 75 coaches, including Ernie Young at SAM Tooling, a Gloucestershire based company which develops specialist electrical and mechanical engineering solutions to manufacturers.
The company recruited Ernie as Operations Manager to help change the way it organised its working practices. His commitment to the company’s staff and belief in shared knowledge drew him train to become a Smart Business Coach.
Ernie said: “We were launching three staff on NVQs in Business Practice Improvement and recognised that if we provided some form of in-house support it might help ensure more successful levels of learning.
“Our previous training was ad hoc and wasn’t focused on our business needs – so all we had was a wish list of what we wanted to achieve in the future - now our goals are reflected in the training to ensure commercial and organisational objectives are met.”
David Baynham and Ernie Young (right), Operations Manager and ‘Smart Business Coach’
Learning South West developed a bespoke training course for the coaches, which was delivered by Sunrise Training, and funded coaches to complete the course.
“It helped break down barriers and brought me close to the staff. You can share knowledge but no-one can take it away,” Ernie added.
Ernie is keen to develop his coaching role and hopes to gain membership of the Institute of Personal Development. The company also hopes to achieve Investors in People.
Tim Boyes-Watson, Chief Executive of Learning South West said: “All the coaches in the Greater Expectations project have done an amazing job supporting learners so that their learning really benefits their company. We hope that these coaches, like Ernie, will carry-on supporting learning in their companies for years to come.”