MWB Business Exchange
Stonebow helps MWB Business Exchange grow its in-house training capabilities
MWB Business Exchange promotes excellence in its service and gives businesses the freedom to excel by providing a contemporary, professional environment for serviced offices and meeting spaces. Such a dynamic environment requires staff that have lots of energy, are quick thinkers and are keen to progress their career. Talent is recognised at MWB and there is a dedicated Talent Development team which works closely with every individual in the business to help them realise their true potential. Gary Acheson is the person driving forward the training agenda at MWB. What were the needs of MWB when they approached Stonebow?
"People are our foundation and give our company strength and continuity of service. We wanted to grow our training capabilities, offer training opportunities to staff in all of our regions, and develop staff for internal progression and maximising their talent.
"Our team is spread from Edinburgh to Brighton and London to Cardiff – with most training taking place on site. We are not able to have everyone attend all of their training in London or the time and resources to visit all individual centres. Computer based training was not a viable solution for most of our business development needs.
"The challenge was that some of these centres were becoming isolated and yet the need for managers and a skilled team to keep up with the fast growth of our business was crucial to our success. This is when we started working with Stonebow seeking quality training solutions to expand our training capabilities and build capacity in our teams across regions in order to keep up with the growth of our business." Part of the solution – the Practical Training Certificate
"Although MWB is not obviously part of the hospitality industry, we have a lot in common. Therefore we found the uniform structure of PTC programme to be very relevant and effective in reaching our on-job training objectives.
When we train PTC, we stick to the structure – but we change examples to suit the profile of our business. The advantage for us is having an externally recognised qualification, with Stonebow's PTC programme being highly regarded. Due to the structure it leads to better quality training and so assists staff to become more competent and inspired to run their own training internally." How PTC has helped MWB Business Exchange
"We wanted a better synchronised and more consistent training which would also serve as a great personal development milestone for our managers. Despite some challenges in getting into the discipline of sticking to a structured programme, staff are able to relate it back to their business and see the benefits of following a good structure. Therefore, the PTC offers a good foundation for staff in charge of developing others.
"Stonebow's PTC solution has assisted our delivery of a more focused approach to staff personal development, as they relish the challenge of more responsibility, managing projects, supporting our clients and developing others within the team.
"Delegates who have taken the PTC course say that they are more confident in training others. Due to the course structure and my personal guidance during and after the programme, there have been other noticeable benefits with the delegates and their teams. Attendees are more confident in communicating team objectives, using coaching and mentoring skills to guide people in the right direction without giving them the answers.
Overall it has definitely acted as a motivational and feel good factor for our staff. How does Stonebow help you do your job?
"PTC training is a stepping stone, a good programme for anyone who wants to commence a career in training, but also designed to be part of any manager’s development.
"Having qualified to host Stonebow's PTC training I was able to refresh my own skills in hosting other training in a more structured way. It has assisted me in achieving improved response and participation in all my training sessions and so linked to achieving a better staff morale and staff motivation." Summary
"In a recent on line staff appraisal, feedback illustrated that training and development has been rated highly at MWB – which owes in part to the training structures we now have in place. The PTC course has been a good return on investment for us as employers, as we have seen the direct benefit of the training.
"Attendees have developed confidence, awareness of other people, including themselves, and have progressed to new roles in management with increased areas of responsibility. In the past we have experienced high staff turnover. With the PTC programme being part of our wide development programme, our numbers have been reduced significantly as a result of the training opportunities and career progression routes we offer.
I always advocate this course. I enjoyed it and I totally absorbed the method, now passing it on to those wishing to improve their training skills."