NVQ training an asset for small businesses
Posted on April 8th, 2008
Gaining an NVQ led to promotion at work for grandmother Jackie Evans.
Jackie was a Customer Service Administrator at Enia Carpets in Hartlebury before she gained a Customer Service NVQ – and now she has been promoted to Customer Service Manager!
‘This role has a lot more responsibility and I am positive that the NVQ helped me to gain promotion and to get my new job,’ she said. ‘It has been so successful for me that I am hoping to take further study.’
Jackie, who is married with three daughters and five grandchildren, was made redundant when the company she worked for was taken over and moved to Kent a year ago.
Luckily the commercial carpet side of the company was bought by Enia Carpets and returned to Hartlebury and Jackie regained her former job as Customer Service Administrator.
‘I decided to take the Customer Service NVQ to enable me to do my job better than I thought I was doing and to really understand all the ins and outs of it,’ said Jackie. ‘’This was something I had always wanted to do and the course was really interesting.’
The NVQ involved two days at Worcester learndirect centre, which is provided by Business Advice Direct, and the rest of the training was done at work.
‘The company were very supportive of my training and once I got the NVQ I was promoted and I am now Customer Service Manager,’ said Jackie.
Director and General Manager of Enia UK Limited Graham Lewis said he was delighted with the results of Jackie’s training.
‘We are a small company employing 14 staff in the UK – and I don’t have the facilities or budget to offer internal training,’ he said, ‘although I am used to the formalised training supplied by large companies, both internally and via external consultants.’
He continued: ‘I am a great believer in developing people internally to promote them from the inside as part of their career progression. When Jackie approached me about the NVQ to improve her skills I was pleased that she had the initiative to find something she wanted to do – especially as I was unable to provide it within the company. Gaining the NVQ has given her a lot of confidence and I was quite happy, when her department manager left, to promote Jackie to that role.’
And Mr. Lewis is keen for Jackie to continue her training.
‘Following her success I would like to see her undertake management training as the next step,’ he said.
