Why ‘the Greater’ believes training adds real value to its business

The Greater Building Society (the Greater) continues to outperform many of its rivals, and “as the business continues to grow, retaining and developing the right staff is an important priority”, according to chief executive, Don Magin.

In 2006, senior management at the Greater realised that as part of its succession planning, developing middle management skills within the organisation would be an essential criterion for moving forward.

Creating the right culture in the workplace was also recognised as vital, from the observation that staff loyalty involved more than just monetary rewards, and was about building the right environment for staff to grow and develop with the organisation.

According to Don Magin, “We recognised that we had staff who were very happy with where they were, whilst others were more aspirational, wanting to move up within the organisation and we were keen to provide training opportunities to that group.”

Don speaks from experience having been with the company for more than 22 years. He started in the IT Department and has taken various other positions including responsibility for advertising, marketing and the customer service centre. “The Greater’s core values contribute to the staff’s strong sense of loyalty. These are the principles we manage our people with and supporting and developing our staff is an important factor. We have one staff member who has just celebrated 35 years with the company” said Don.

The Greater investigated a number of training organisations, looking for one which could provide value back to the organisation through customisation rather than using generic case studies. According to Don, “We chose UNE Partnerships as our training provider because they could provide us with a training program that developed the specific skills required for the Greater. Their style of training ensures direct application of new skills into the workplace, which meant that we were seeing the outcomes relatively quickly.”

To date, the Greater has supported almost 40 staff through UNE Partnerships’ Advanced Diploma of Business Management. The program was delivered through a mixed mode of distance study, workshops and group projects. For some this was the first formal study undertaken since leaving school, but with the support of their managers and UNE Partnerships’ trainers they were able to achieve their ambition. The workshops provided a great opportunity for staff from a wide range of branches and Head Office to work together and discuss new ideas and concepts and how to apply them in the workplace.

As part of their final project, groups were formed from a cross section of personality types, positions and locations.

Each group had to develop a project that provided a new concept or improved an existing service within the Greater. One such project that is currently being implemented is a Carbon Footprint strategy. This project set out to promote a culture of carbon reduction by adopting a sustainable use of non- renewable resources. A detailed document provided ‘quick win’ practices which included lighting, climate and fossil fuel reduction measures. It highlighted the role each staff member can take in adopting a more sustainable work practice. The Greater has already experienced substantial dollar savings as well as significantly reducing carbon emissions across the company.