Bouygues, Balfour Beatty and Walker Construction are amongst the 44 UK organisations commended with a Princess Royal Training Award for their workplace training
Presented by HRH Princess Anne and delivered by the City and Guilds Group, the Princess Royal Training Awards, now in their fourth year, celebrate exceptional training and development programmes across the country.
Ranging from apprenticeship schemes and interactive workshops to mental health and employee wellbeing programmes, the businesses recognised this year displayed a dedication to training, upskilling and reskilling their workforce.
All organisations were able to prove that the training had a substantial impact on their organisation and its people.
Only six construction firms are amongst the 44 Princess Royal Training Award recipients. These include:
- Bouygues – Invested in a Building Your Leadership Signature programme to support managers to lead and inspire rather than command and control. The programme includes a Dragon’s Den simulation where teams can present business proposals.
- Barlows (UK) Ltd – 95% of its staff have undertaken an Apprenticeship. The programme is embedded and integrated in the business and led from the top-down with training meaning that work is done ‘the Barlows’ way.’ There is a 97% retention rate of employees and the business has grown solidly for the past 25 years, even during recession periods.
- Balfour Beatty – Responded decisively to a challenging period, by delivering a corporate transformation built on upskilling its employees in order for them to deliver the commercial decisions needed for business success. The commercial programme has led to significant return on investment and an increased awareness of commercial governance.
- Bouygues Energies & Services UK – Recognised a need to create a UK-centric programme in order to build a strong managerial culture. ‘Building Your Leadership Signature’ supports managers to ‘lead and inspire’ rather than ‘command and control’. The programme includes a Dragon’s Den simulation where teams can present business proposals and has resulted in improved business performance.
- Cyfle Building Skills Ltd – Shared Apprenticeship Scheme is a unique collaborative training model set up to address predicted future skills shortages. 130 employees, of which 120 are apprentices, work with multiple contractors to increase their knowledge and accentuate their craft skills development.
- Walker Construction – Developed an innovative and multifaceted approach to mental health training, creating a robust support service for its staff. The business has established free counselling support available to all employees and their families and is offering varied training to different job roles.
Commenting on this year’s recipients and ceremony Chris Jones, chief executive of the City and Guilds Group, said: “The Princess Royal Training Awards are a highlight of the year, as we come together to celebrate the outstanding work of businesses around the country who put learning and development firmly at the top of their agenda.
“The remarkable employers we recognised last night demonstrate the power that comes from investing in people and training as a vehicle to strengthen organisations and open up opportunities for people.
“We hope that business leaders everywhere will be inspired by the efforts of this year’s PRTA recipients and go the extra mile to ensure their workforce is fit for the future.”
For the full list of Princess Royal Training Award recipients and their award-winning training, please see the link here.
