How can we best help new starters quickly get up to speed? This was the starting point for an ambitious and far reaching training programme which the BMF is creating in collaboration with its long-term training partner, Cortexa. PBM reports.
Largely delivered online, the resulting BMF Building Blocks training programme provides an industry-specific curriculum which includes both core skills training and wider soft skills topics. Launched last year, the programme is now in full flow with the first four core courses receiving resounding endorsement and adoption across the merchant industry.
Travis Perkins, for example, has adopted it to provide apprentices and new starters with a solid foundation of product knowledge. It views the programme as ideally suited to support those joining the company under their ‘LEAP’ recruitment initiative, which encourages school leavers and graduates to learn whilst they earn. Over 500 Travis Perkins apprentices are expected to complete Building Blocks courses as part of their foundation training this year.
Building Blocks has been designed and introduced in consultation with the merchant community to ensure it meets their current needs. Based on their feedback, the product modules are not linked to particular brands but provide generic technical information on the material/product types and usage, relevant building regulations, common terminology, how to advise customers, etc. Merchant feed-back also helps the BMF establish the order in which new topics are introduced to the programme.
The first courses to go live covered An Introduction to Residential Construction, Heating & Hot Water Comfort, Timber as a Building Material, Buildings Insulation and Working Safely. Also in development (and due to go live later this year) are modules on Kitchens, Bathrooms, Below Ground Drainage, Above Ground Drainage and Customer Care.
The whole programme, which should be complete by 2023, will result in no less than 30 Building Blocks in total, with some aimed at the wider needs of more experienced merchanting staff, offering management and financial training along with a raft of soft skills.
Each multi-media Building Block combines a range of video, animations and interactive content to bring the subjects to life. A single course costs £125 and averages 12-15 hours of online training and the content is further reinforced with programmed learning in the form of downloadable reading/reference material and weblinks.
There is also potential for the student to undertake a practical activity in the workplace for review by their line manager, helping to create a joined-up approach to the subject.
Cortexa is an approved online centre for NVQs and the Building Blocks Programme will be fully accredited by Occupational Awards in the near future. Each module includes quizzes and knowledge checks throughout and ends with a final assessment, which earns credits for the learner towards the accredited Award.
There are various routes to access BMF Building Blocks, either as a full programme or for an individual course. The simplest route is through BMF Campus. Once registered, learners log in to access their current training Block from their individual profile and BMF Campus has an easy-to-use manager interface so their line manager can track progress, check on the action learning tasks, sign off on offline elements of the training and check assessment results.
For larger merchants who would like all the courses available to all their staff, Building Blocks can be accessed through their existing Learning Management System (LMS) or have the content hosted on a dedicated Totara LMS, as Travis Perkins chose to do.
To find out more, explore the options and review course content in detail, phone Cortexa on 0330 024 2881, or for more information on this or any other aspect of BMF training, please contact paige.godsell@bmf.org.ukor phone 02476 854980.
BMF training ranges from formal Apprenticeships, a sector-specific Diploma in Management and a Foundation Degree in Merchant Management to online product knowledge and other specialist skills training.
