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Training puts Hampshire cabbies on the right road
Almost 3,000 employers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight are using Train to Gain, which is run by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), the organisation that exists to make England better skilled and more competitive, to help businesses get the training they need to succeed. Train to Gain’s recent second anniversary highlighted the variety of businesses that have benefited from training their staff in a range of practical and business skills.
Steve Amey from Petersfield based Paddycars Limited enrolled all of his taxi drivers on the Road Passenger Transport Vehicle Driving NVQ with Quality Transport Training which is a specialist transportation training provider funded through Eastleigh College’s Business Skills and Services Train to Gain contract. An important part of the training covers how to manage confrontational passengers. The taxi firm has since developed its own book of good practice.
Steve comments: “The safety of our staff and passengers is paramount. I wanted my drivers to be better equipped and confident in managing challenging situations in a safe way. Although they have years of experience, the course enabled them to identify a difficult passenger and taught them new ways of resolving tricky situations.”
Sam Peplow, from Eastleigh College’s Workforce Development Team attended a presentation where the drivers were awarded with gold badges in recognition of their outstanding achievements in learning new skills, and has since used the gold badges to encourage other taxi drivers to enrol on the Train to Gain programme. Sam says: “Society is changing and people are losing their trust in people around them. By providing drivers with the opportunity to learn how to deal with difficult situations staff morale will increase through job security and safety. It will also make the drivers stand out as pillars in society.”
Martin Lamb, LSC Area Director for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight says: “Train to Gain has had tremendous success already and the evidence is there from companies like Paddycars that the programme delivers high quality skills training which boosts business performance. I believe that in the current economic climate, with local firms under intense pressure in a competitive marketplace, Train to Gain is potentially even more valuable to the business community than before.”
Around 70,000 employees across the South East have benefited from Train to Gain so far, which offers training solutions from basic literacy and numeracy skills right up to higher level management and leadership skills. Train to Gain’s independent skills brokers assess an organisation’s skills needs, give free and impartial advice and then signpost businesses to a training solution.
To find out more about Train to Gain please visit www.traintogainse.co.uk or call 08457 512288.
