Building business skills around busy roles

Ford & Slater takes employee development very seriously. The DAF Trucks dealership group is continually investing in the skills and careers of its workforce, including partnering with the Open University (OU) to support staff through business management higher education qualifications.

“We actively encourage educational growth pathways within our business as we believe it develops more effective leadership and management skills and the ability to gain a broader perspective on situations and challenges,” says Josh Spencer, EV Manager at Ford & Slater. A firm advocate of OU study (and OU graduate), he encourages employees to take up the learning opportunities on offer. As well as enhancing their skills set and improving the quality of work, he has found that it is strong recruitment and retention tool.

Ashley Williams and Kirsty Vince have both spent the last two years studying for the OU’s diploma in business management, sponsored by their employer. On successful completion of the course, they intend to continue their studies for another year, progressing onto a full degree qualification.

The perfect fit

Account manager Kirsty has been with Ford & Slater for over 10 years. She has always enjoyed learning, so she jumped at the opportunity to study for a degree, while still being able to hold down a full-time job. A newcomer to digital learning, she is impressed by the OU’s learning model and the level of support available. She also likes the flexible, asynchronous nature of the programme as it means she can study and access learning resources such as tutorials at a time that suits her.

"This fits much better for me. It is more flexible and means I can work evenings and weekends."

Jack Tibbles, Retail Sales Manager at Ford & Slater, says the flexible learning model works very well for the company and the learners.

The Open University provides an excellent flexible opportunity for learners to complete degrees at their own pace remotely without the need for extended time away from the business.

Jack Tibbles Retail Sales Manager, Ford & Slater

Widening perspectives

The diploma aligns with business needs, which means that Kirsty is already applying a lot of her learning in her day-to-day work, particularly with regards to statistics, data analysis and management. “It definitely gives you a broader perspective on business and a higher level of understanding.”

Ashley has worked for Ford & Slater for 17 years, having joined the company at 16 and starting a mechanic apprenticeship at 19. Later specialising in sales and vehicle legislation, he never thought he would achieve a degree qualification. “Even if you’d have asked me three years ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed I would be doing a degree.”

Applying learning to the role

He finds the content and resources very engaging and like Kirsty, he says his learning helps him in his current role.

It gives you a wider lens to view things and having that bigger picture and understanding the implications gives you the ability to make better decisions.

Ashley Williams Sales and Vehicle Legislation, Ford & Slater

This is something that Jack has also noticed. “Ford & Slater has found that sponsoring employees taking part in degrees has benefited us, the employee and more importantly, our customers. The programmes employees have taken have helped them gain hard skills whilst also improving their soft skills, such as critical thinking.”

Find out more about how The Open University can help your staff build leadership and management skills.