‘The ability to take the training out
of the classroom and into the
workplace made our decision easy,’
suggests Neal. ‘Without this new
workplace element it would have been
hard to encourage people to attend.
They don’t like leaving the plant and
we obviously prefer them to be
learning onsite. The National Skills
Academy for Manufacturing and
Warwickshire College are enablers -
making it work for all parties. They are
the glue which holds the system
together.’
The response to offering workers
this opportunity has been phenomenal.
This year alone more than fifty people
have qualified and others are expected
to take up the NVQ before 2008. The
impact can be seen both in the changes
that are happening on the production
line and in the way people approach
their work.
For example Gary Dutton, team
leader on the Customer Acceptance
Line found that the NVQ allowed him
to spot new ways to adapt routine
activities and improve them,
enhancing overall vehicle quality. ‘You
take your knowledge for granted, but
the NVQ shows that it can be applied
throughout the production line to
areas and activities you never imagined
could be easily improved.’ One
particular example for Dutton was
testing electric windows as vehicles
came off the production line. There
was an issue about wind noise from
electric windows which had not been
resolved during in-house testing.
Following his work on the NVQ,
Dutton was able to take a step back and
november 2007
NVQs are
formulated to
encourage team
members to spot
new ways to adapt
and improve
routine activities
review the entire test process. He
noticed that window tests were done in
a particularly noisy part of the factory
and suggested they be moved to a quiet
space so more subtle noises could easily
be picked up. Since suggesting and
implementing the change, the issue is
rarely encountered anymore. ‘The
NVQ taught me how to review parts of
our process in a way which lends itself
to identifying and solving problems. It
took four weeks to complete the course
but I did all the learning on site. This
means that as you learn the theory of
B-IT you are able to immediately able
start putting it into practice in your
own working environment.’
Land Rover has been impressed with
the way its staff have taken to the
NVQ. ‘We didn’t force anyone to
qualify - that isn’t the way we work’
says training consultant Andrea
Rathbone. ‘We prefer employees to
make their own decisions and want to
production management
Training comes out of the classroom
and into the workplace
improve themselves. Once one or two
people qualified, others saw the benefit
and quickly followed. It’s been so
successful we’ve been overrun by
requests to take the next level of the
NVQ. It’s also driven more people to go
for promotions and jobs in new areas.
The entire production line just seems
more driven.’
Working with Warwickshire
College and the National Skills
Academy for Manufacturing to deliver
the NVQ has also, in part, been
responsible for the emergence of a
more consultative approach to the
production line at Land Rover. This has
emerged through a process the
company refers to as ‘inverting the
triangle’. In a traditional organisation
ideas flow from a small number of
senior people at the top of and filter
through to the workforce which
represents a larger group of employees.
At Land Rover the ideas now flow both
ways. The larger group of production
line workers are as much responsible
for changes which promote greater
efficiency as senior managers as they
now have the confidence to propose
them. This not only empowers the
workforce and drives it to improve
itself but increases the number of
places from which great ideas can
stem, naturally increasing Land Rover’s
continuous opportunities to become a
better company.
www.nationalskillsacademy.gov.uk
MWP
29
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