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The Pensions Trust embrace workplace learning with learndirect

Twenty staff at The Pensions Trust in Edinburgh are taking part in a pilot scheme designed to bring workplace learning to the fore.

The Trust, a provider of occupational pension schemes for charitable, social, educational, voluntary and not-for-profit organisations, employs over 170 staff and has offices in Edinburgh, Leeds and London.

The six month scheme, named Learning D-I-Y and assisted by learndirect scotland for business, was undertaken by members of the organisation's Money Purchase Team. It was set up to demonstrate how co-ordinated learning can contribute to the productivity and output of a team.

"The pilot scheme was set up at the beginning of 2004 with the aim of enhancing the training and development of the Money Purchase Team, and to investigate the possibility of rolling out the scheme across the Trust", said Valerie Cochrane, Technical Training Co-ordinator at The Pensions Trust. "With the help of learndirect scotland for business, we evaluated learning styles and attitudes of our staff before starting the pilot. We also set up a dedicated learning centre, to be used for computer-based training and for training sessions for small groups."

Derrick Ross, business services manager at learndirect scotland, said: "At the beginning of the pilot scheme, we looked at the culture of the pilot group to work out what types of learning would provide the best results. We provided The Pensions Trust with support throughout the pilot scheme, providing access to advice, briefing staff on the e-learning concept and assisting them in sourcing the appropriate ‘bite-sized' e-learning courses."

Cochrane continued: "We went ‘back to basics' with our technical training, running courses such as ‘An Introduction to Occupational Pensions' and ‘A Guide to the Money Purchase Plan', underpinning the basic knowledge and understanding of our staff.

"As well as using traditional training methods, we introduced staff to e-learning. learndirect scotland for business provided us with access and support for over 40 courses, from basic Word, Excel and PowerPoint, through to ‘Report Writing' and ‘Dealing with Difficult Customers'.

"The e-learning courses proved to be a real success. The flexibility of the courses allowed staff to complete them in whatever spare time they had. Some even used their lunch hours to get ahead, and we were able to distribute some ‘early completers' certificates."

As well as using the e-learning courses, staff were provided with 50 Learning D-I-Y Training Vouchers to purchase training of their choice.

"The free learning vouchers were a great bonus for staff, allowing them to pursue their own interests, for example to study a foreign language", said Cochrane. "Overall, the pilot scheme has been a success, with staff adapting well to both the technical and e-learning elements. We now aim to evaluate the project with the aim of rolling out the scheme to our employees across all of our sites in Edinburgh, Leeds and London. I've no doubt they will get as much out of it as our pilot group, and take us one step further towards achieving excellence in training."

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