Building buy‐in to people development at TNT
| Published date | 01 November 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14754390480000572 |
| Pages | 10-11 |
| Date | 01 November 2004 |
| Author | Ruth James |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
10 Volume 4 Issue 1 November/December 2004
HR at WORK
,
Short case studies that demonstrate best practice in HR
Building buy-in to people
development at TNT
T
NT has grown rapidly since it was
founded in Australia in 1946.
TNT’s UK arm now employs over
9,600 people and has a fleet of 5,000
vehicles. Its turnover has jumped from
UK£6 million in 1978 to UK£670 million
in 2003. Underpinning that growth has
been our dedication to quality customer
service through excellence in employee
learning and development.
This became an area of strong focus
in the 1990s because the then CEO
adopted the European Excellence
Quality Model. The company committed
to this in 1993 at the same time as a
commitment to the Investors in People
(IiP) standard which was gained in 1994.
The two are interlinked and were great
ways to leverage continuous
improvement.
In the latter 90s our approach to
training became more focused and
targeted and ROI was considered;
rather than making training available
to all in a generic way.
Setting a standard
Part of our continuous development
and commitment to excellence was the
People Development Charter which we
launched in 1999 (see sidebox, right).
We continuously look for ways to raise
the bar and we wanted to create a
visible commitment to people
development that everyone in the
company could buy into. We researched
the Charter by examining the IiP
standard and getting input from people
across the business, particularly at the
front line. It was important to keep the
charter short and simple to understand.
If it’s too long and complex people
won’t read it and certainly won’t be
committed to it.
It’s important to us that line
managers are held accountable for
people development because they are
closest to their people and are
responsible for their own profit and
loss. They know the skills their people
need to do their jobs well and,
ultimately, they are responsible for
service delivery. This is where we rise or
fall – our mission is to be the fastest
and most reliable provider of express
delivery services. We believe that if a
manager is responsible for service
delivery they must be responsible for
their people. They are the only ones
who can pinpoint those who need
further training and those who are
performing well.
Embedding measurement
Every manager at TNT must manage at
the standard outlined in our Charter.
We have a tier of regional training
officers whose role is to ensure that
managers are committed to meeting
these standards. We measure people
development both quantitatively and
qualitatively, and publish league tables
on a monthly basis for all of our sites.
Some of the elements we measure
quantitatively include whether sites are
carrying out appraisals and inductions,
giving briefings, checking compliance
such as driving licenses, and identifying
and meeting training needs.
We carry out an annual external IiP
audit but regional training officers also
carry out internal audits at individual
business units. This measures employee
feedback and is a gauge of the quality,
as well as the quantity, of people
development at the site.
People are held accountable if the
standards in our Charter are not being
achieved. The regional training officers
will visit the site manager and help
them, but we also take a “carrot and
stick”approach. Our league table will
name and praise. or name and shame,
depending on performance. If problems
arise the regional director may step in,
but as people development has become
an embedded part of our culture, this
very rarely occurs. If organizations don’t
measure or report on people
TNT Express Services UK and Ireland was
established in the UK in 1978. It now has
an annual turnover in excess of UK£670
million, it employs 9,600 people in the UK
and Ireland and operates more than
3,500 vehicles from over 70 locations.
TNT
Ruth James, head of people development at TNT UK, explains how the company builds managers’
commitment to employee development and why this is vital to the success of the business.
© Melcrum Publishing Ltd. 2004. For more information, go to www.melcrum.com or e-mail info@melcrum.com
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