Morrisons aims for 100,000 staff on training scheme

THE head of human resources at Morrisons has echoed concerns of rival supermarket chiefs over the shortcomings of the education system, but said business leaders must take responsibility for making sure their employees are trained to the right level.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd Mar 2010, 19:40 BST
Updated 2nd Mar 2010, 19:40 BST

In an interview with the Yorkshire Post, Norman Pickavance said the Bradford-based retailer would increase the number of staff taking part in a company training scheme to 22,000 by April and 100,000 by spring next year.

Morrisons claims to have the largest retail skills training programme in the UK in which staff can complete the equivalent of NVQ level two qualifications. The first 28 employees to complete the scheme were presented with certificates yesterday in Northallerton.

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The training and skills issue shot to the top of the political agenda last year after Sir Terry Leahy, the chief executive of Tesco, criticised "woefully low" education standards.

His comments were followed by Sainsbury chief executive Justin King last month who said that maths teaching "needs changing".

Mr Pickavance, the group HR director of Morrisons, said: "It's obviously a concern around standards but nonetheless it is a responsibility of employers to make sure people have the skills to do the jobs they need to do.

"You can't point the finger of blame at anyone other than your own company. We know that school may or may not have done the right things.

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"What we try to do is work with people who have the right attitude and we believe very strongly that everybody has potential. We believe very strongly in bringing the best out of our people."

He said there are two reasons why Morrisons set up the scheme. First, it wanted to help provide staff with a greater level of knowledge and capability when serving customers.

Second, Morrisons is a fast-growing business – it opened 42 stores last year – and it wants to retain its "essence" by developing staff from within. Staff can progress from the nationally recognised retail skills qualification to traditional craft apprenticeships and on to management training. Last year the supermarket giant put 20,000 through its management scheme. The majority of store managers started work on the shop floor, said Mr Pickavance.

He added: "We have a strong philosophy in this business that we will take people and we will train them, providing people have the right attitude."

Related topics:MorrisonsYorkshire PostBradfordNorthallertonTesco