Training - Staff Development

As the people who join our business typically join with very little or no experience at all in the commercial world, one of the most common questions we are asked at interview is how we train people.

The usual answer is that we don't train - we coach.

This may seem a little ambiguous so we'll try to explain. Training usually involves lots of the chalk and talk stuff we are all familiar with from school and university. Whilst at first a little of this is needed, all it provides us with is knowledge. Knowledge, unfortunately, doesn't get you very far in business and what you need to develop are the skills that will enable you to play a good game rather than just talk one.

Since skill is basically the application of knowledge, we encourage our new staff to start applying themselves very early in the learning process. This is called Experiential Learning and it is at the heart of all our development programmes. After all, unlike many businesses, we don't own expensive equipment and assets. This means that the performance of our company is based entirely on the efforts and results of our staff.

You can therefore see why we place such a huge importance on getting people good - fast.

Following a structured two day induction you'll be flung in at the deep end (we will provide a set of arm-bands). All of our teams meet twice weekly for in depth coaching from managers and experienced team members. You'll also be mentored in regular one to one meetings with your line manager as well as constant across the desk coaching and support.

Performance is monitored through quarterly appraisals, which based on achievement of objectives, include salary reviews. On top of this we also run National events from the Derby Conference Centre (one of our group companies) aimed at basic, intermediate and advanced skill levels.

For those who become competent in the recruitment consultant task, and demonstrate the potential to take on further responsibility in management, we offer Leadership Events. They involve a range of outdoor activities developed to push people to the limit. Run by an Occupational Psychologist they are designed to help us assess the future leaders of the business but also allow the delegates to understand more about themselves and the basic theories involved in creating winning teams. This, again, is an essential part of our ongoing growth as all the leaders employed within the company started as consultants.

For those who do progress beyond the consultant role we offer a range of development initiatives based around our bespoke Competency Framework. This involves further learning in everything from account management and business acumen to leadership and visionary thinking.

As you can see if you are lucky enough to join us you will actually never stop learning....