Pro Installer September 2015 - Issue 30 | Page 3

3 PRO INSTALLER SEPTEMBER 2015 PRO NEWS @proinstaller1 BECOMING INVINCIBLE It is no big secret that the construction industry is currently undergoing a major skills shortage and both the Government and related associations and organisations are encouraging companies within the industry to engage in training and apprenticeship schemes. One company which has embraced these recommendations is one of the UK’s largest PVCu sliding sash window manufacturers, Quickslide. With over 90% of Quickslide’s 120 employees either currently in or scheduled for some form of training, Michael Connor, Managing Director, tells Pro Installer about the importance the company places on training and developing its staff and how this has helped the business grow and move forward. Quickslide has forty-two staff currently participating in the widely recognised, NVQ level 2 training scheme for ‘Performing Manufacturing Operations (PMO)’ and eleven staff studying towards a ‘Lean Manufacturing’ apprenticeship in ‘Business Improvement Techniques (BIT)’. An outstanding record by any stretch, but couple this with a further sixty of its workforce due to conduct health and safety refresher courses, the overall enthusiasm and passion of this business to instil an ethos of development and motivation to encourage staff to learn, is exceptional. All courses are delivered by external accredited companies and look at enhancing staff skills in: • Overall business performance – ensuring employees understand the business • Reducing costs and reduction in process variation and waste within the business – securing its long-term future • Boost employee morale and motivation – people then look forward to coming to work and being listened to • Improve the overall quality of the workforce – raise skill sets and produce more problem solvers • Reduce workplace accidents and incidents – raise awareness and levels of responsibility Michael comments: “Having a strong focus on training is good for business; an engaged workforce will deliver up to 20% more. We don’t just talk about our people being our biggest asset; we actually back it up with decent training and employee engagement.” Michael believes in putting profits back in to the business and, in particular, through its staff, noting that training is a more than worthy investment: “If we have a turnover of staff that is almost zero, and we do, we have a team that can deliver consistent quality and profit. Constantly having to bring new people into a business is very costly and usually means quality standards drop for a time and the resulting costs have a major impact on profits. We therefore want to invest in the good people we have working for us and put the money back in to the business through our staff training and development. “There will never be a good time to train staff, we do it because we have a vision to be the Toyota of the window industry and we get on with it. If we can solve the problems that occur when we have a dozen people off the shop floor for a training session this makes us stronger. When we have a hundred trained problem solvers, this makes us invincible.” Michael adds: “Quickslide is becoming more and more independent, we do our own foiling, we do our own painting, we make our own glass units and we are more in control of our costs and our lead-times than ever before. Our mission is to deliver value for our customers, value that they dictate, not us. If they want a decent price and a quick lead time along with a quality product, every time, then we must make sure our business can deliver that. We are now at the point of sharing our profits with our staff, that is a big commitment but we trust our staff to deliver what the customer needs and that ensures our customers share in our success.” To find out more visit www.quickslide.co.uk