10 October 2016 | FM World team
BIFM Awards 2016 - Learning and Career Development
Nationwide Window Cleaning (NWC) has won this year's Learning and Career Development accolade at the BIFM Awards 2016 ceremony.
The company's expansion - the business has doubled in size - meant that there was a requirement to recruit and retain a skilled labour force in a "challenging" market - NWC says it is tackling a skills shortage in the industry.
Judges said that NWC 'demonstrated how they recruited non-skilled workers, nurtured and trained them into skilled window cleaners, and then developed individuals to become leaders of the business'.
NWC's continuous training programme includes an initial induction programme, and training in three areas: personal standards, customer service, and health and safety. The business continues to hold 'toolbox talks' and refresher sessions during monthly regional meetings.
In order to prepare its operatives for roles in management, NWC produced a bespoke six-module management development programme, demonstrating its investment in career development for operational middle management and supervisory staff.
The highly commended entry in this category was BT Facilities Services (BTFS), which the judges awarded to BTFS for its 'well-structured leadership development training programme', which is aimed at ensuring its security, technical and housekeeping staff were able to gain more skills.