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Business Skills and Staff Development - Sponsored by University of Derby Corporate

This award will be given to the company that demonstrates excellence in its approach to workforce development. Entrants will be asked to demonstrate why workforce development and training is important to the organisation, how training needs and skills requirements are assessed, and the direct benefit gained by both individuals and the organisation.

Business Skills and Staff Development - Criteria

The University of Derby Corporate is committed to providing quality business solutions that meet the needs of employers. This is only achievable through working in close partnership with companies gaining a clear understanding of their business need, objectives and challenges, then providing an innovative, quality driven, flexible, demand led provision that is both timely and relevant. Progress through people is a key theme - something we are passionate about and we firmly believe that developing a sustainable competitive advantage demands investment into people at all levels. Work based learning, master classes, short courses, continued professional development and accredited learning are just some of the ways to achieve this. Working hand in hand with businesses, we wish to support, encourage and recognise companies who achieve sustainable business success by developing their people.

This award will be given to the company that demonstrates excellence in its approach to staff development. Entrants will be asked to demonstrate why staff development and training is important to the organisation, how training needs and skills requirements are assessed, and the direct benefit gained by both individuals and the organisation.

The judges will be looking for:

• A description of your business, the products or services it supplies, its customers, its competitors and the markets it operates in
• Overall trend in your sales turnover and profit development together with a brief description of key events that have led to these changes where appropriate
• The short, medium and long term objectives of your business over the next 3 years
• Specific business objectives/initiatives that impact on your local community e.g. environment, community projects, social causes
• A description of your company's approach to staff development. How does this link with your business objectives/mission statement? Why is staff development important to your organisation? Who in your organisation is involved in staff development? E.g. designated learning champions
• An outline of specific staff development activities or strategies that have proved particularly effective. What are the direct benefits of these to your business e.g. reduced staff turnover, improved retention, reduced recruitment costs and improvement to business growth and profits
• An outline of the methods for assessing the skills requirement within your staff e.g. training needs analysis and skills development plans. What are the training needs identified for staff, managers and directors?
• An explanation of how your individual training plans link to the organisations overall objectives. Does your business work with any business support agencies as part of its staff development strategy and do you use any Government funded business support schemes?
• Examples of how specific strategies undertaken by your business have driven growth. Outline the strategy and the impact it has had on your business (choose a minimum of 4 strategies covering areas such as marketing, staff development, customer recruitment and retention, financial planning and control, supplier relationships and management, operations, IT and innovations
• A summary of why your company deserves the award