Clearview National January 2015 - Issue 158 | Page 40

doors&wi ndows

Effective
Training
Culture
Is Key To
Success
»»At last year’s G14 Awards,
Quickslide, a leading manufacturer of windows
and doors, took home the trophy for Best
Training and Development Initiative.
Quickslide recently revised their approach
to training and development, which lead
to their success at the awards. Here, the
company discusses what they did and the
skills they employed to make their Training
and Development Initiative a success as their
reassessment of its training and development
strategies resulted in a seismic shift of the
entire operational culture involving every
member of the workforce.
Winning the trophy for Best Training and
Development Initiative was a matter of great
pride for the Yorkshire-based fabricator but
the real prize was the transformation that
was behind it – not to mention the six-figure
savings that came along with the new regime.
The process began with identifying and
categorising where improvement was needed.
In general, there was a lack of clear direction
but this broke down to specific issues such
as lack of problem-solving skills, outdated and
limited skill matrices, short-term decision
making and lack of succession planning. In
practical matters, there was no record of
training hours, no effective annual appraisals
and the workforce was controlled by an
inflated bonus system.
Chairman, Adrian Barraclough explained
they pinpointed an issue, which many
companies face: “We identified a distinct ‘them
and us’ culture along with a general lack of
any sense of ownership and accountability,
both of which were affecting everything we
did. At the same time, we recognised that the
business had grown so quickly there was no
time to build the kind of business architecture
we needed for the larger business we had
become.

40 » JAN 2015 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M

‘a supervisory
management team
who actually listened’
“It then became clear that we had focused
our growth on increasing turnover rather than
long-term profitability so, while we saw sales
increasing, we did not realise that the profits
were being eaten away by inefficient working
practices.
“There was also a lack of understanding
of how to standardise training and reward
systems for the benefit of all. Something had to
be done and we knew training was the key.”
An interim action plan was brought into
effect immediately, beginning with a ‘state of
the nation’ briefing to let every employee
know where the company was, where it was
going and specifically emphasising how every
one of them had a part to play in the shared
vision of its future. The two main targets within
the plan were:
• To reduce the Cost of Quality total by
£203K by, among other things, creating a
company-wide skills matrix, World Class
Standard operating procedures and a
standardised roles and responsibilities
template as well as standardised
recognition of what could be expected
from each individual.
• To reduce labour costs by £269K, mainly
by replacing a bonus payment scheme
which had encouraged numbers at any
cost, with a transparent annual reward
and review system based on pay-bands as
well as company-wide profit sharing.
Then came the long-term plan. Before
anything else was a top-to-bottom
commitment to Continuous Improvement

as a norm in everything the company does.
Next was a regime of six monthly reviews
using a standardised and well-understood
format, followed by monthly budget tracking
and team development reports to the board.
After that came a drive towards excellent
training systems to standardised systems for all
employees.
The biggest step, however, was not in
practice but in basic philosophy, as Adrian
Barraclough explained: “Most important of all,
we had to have a supervisory management
team who actually listened, and of course, we
had to make sure everyone knew that.
“The result now is that every member
of the workforce is fully aware of being
accountable problem-solvers, each one
understanding that this is their business as
much as it is anyone else’s and that they can
work together to shape its future so that they
all benefit from its success. That is why every
one of them signed the G14 Award submission
and why every one of them has an equal right
to be proud of our win”.
Quickslide is best known for revolutionising
the PVCu sliding sash window from a niche
heritage product into the mainstream of
new-build and retrofit markets with a window
combining authentic looks with energy
efficiency and value for money. The company
also manufactures a wide range of other styles
of windows and doors from its purpose-built
HQ and production unit in Brighouse, West
Yorkshire.