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11 May 2012, 00:00
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London, 9 May 2012 - Two of the UK’s leading logistics companies have backed apprentice, graduate and back to work schemes to help solve the expected shortfall in future logistics employees.
David Wilson, HR Development Manager, PD Ports, and Chris Malyon, Director of Sales and Marketing, DSV Road Limited, on 2 May told attendees at a Multimodal Exhibition seminar on staff recruitment and retention that the training and recruitment schemes they had implemented over the past few years had proved a huge success.
Mr Malyon explained DSV had launched a graduate recruitment programme and an apprentice scheme to help recruit young and enthusiastic members of staff.
Last August, the company took on 12 university graduates – 10 in DSV Road Limited and two in DSV Solutions Limited – for its sales teams and since February last year it has recruited 24 apprentices for a variety of roles, from customer service to warehouse operatives.
Both the apprentices and graduates attend training programmes, with apprentices leaving with an NVQ qualification, and to date, all 12 of the graduates are still working at DSV, while 18 of the apprentices are still at DSV and four have been placed in full time positions.
Mr Malyon said: “It’s maybe too early in the process to say we would only recruit graduates in the future, but it would certainly take a lot of consideration to recruit anyone other than graduates into sales positions for DSV Road Limited in the UK.”
He added: “Meanwhile, the apprentices are highly motivated and well trained individuals. Also, we have the benefit of gaining members of staff that will seize the opportunity to train and move up through the organisation. So there are certainly a lot of benefits to these types of scheme.”
Mr Wilson said PD Ports had created a two year foundation degree specific to the ports industry and its business in particular to help secure its workforce of tomorrow. So far, 30 people had participated in the scheme, which involves external lectures, work placement and internal training.
The North East UK ports and logistics company had also created a dock operator apprentice scheme in conjunction with local organisations which prepares the unemployed for work and, if they successfully complete an interview, take part in an 18 month apprentice scheme at PD Ports.
Mr Wilson said: “Our dock operator apprentice programme was specifically designed to offer job opportunities to those who are long term unemployed or who have never worked.
“Teesside has one of the highest levels of unemployment in the country and some people join the scheme from families that are third generation unemployed. As a consequence, the company wanted to offer these people an opportunity before they became part of the lost generation.”
Both Mr Malyon and Mr Wilson agreed that staff training was also important, as it helped to increase retention of staff by creating progression within the organisations. It also proved to customers that both companies took customer service seriously.
Both companies had recently set up hugely successful training programmes – DSV Road Limited has run a Sales Academy, while PD Ports has set up a health and safety passport scheme and a dock operator NVQ Level 2 programme.
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