Awards recognition boosts D&A

Dollond & Aitchison submitted an outstanding entry for the Training and Career Development Award 2006 and despite tough competition in this category, the optical retailer impressed the most because of its determination to provide training for its national store teams, in the absence of an existing national qualification.

Wendy Albutt, learning and development manager explains: “There was no qualification in the sector which fulfilled our needs, so over a number of years we have designed a workable qualification in optical retailing.”

Firstly Dollond & Aitchison developed its own learning programme, and then it worked with the Learning & Skills Council to design an NVQ

based on that extensive groundwork. The resulting NVQ in optical retailing is therefore largely down to the perseverance and time and resources invested by Dollond & Aitchison.

Today hundreds of optical advisors across the have completed the NVQ and all newly recruited advisors go through the comprehensive training programme. “It means the wider optical retailing sector has benefited from this, raising standards of in-store customer service and ensuring people employed in the sector can use the qualification for meaningful career progression,” says Albutt.

She feels winning the award last year confirmed the hard work had been recognised. “This was a long, evolutionary process so it's great that all those people involved can be proud of their achievement,” says Albutt. “Crucially for us it means we can now call our training 'award-winning training' which all goes towards making Dollond & Aitchison an employer of choice.”

News of the win was communicated internally and proved a boon to staff morale. Company literature and materials used in conferences and training sessions make mention of the award, and plasma screen news bulletins broadcast at the head office support centre often refer to the training award.

“Awards are always nice to get, but we feel we have used the accolade to keep the momentum going, as we continue rolling out and improving our training programme,” says Albutt.

ENTER NOW !! The next People In Retail Awards take place on October 3rd so there is plenty of time to get your entries in. For more information click on the link below.