Raising the bar: Interserve, AssocRICS case study
Every business needs good leaders, and good leaders need good training. As one of the largest support services and construction providers in the UK, Interserve wanted something to set apart its employees – and future leaders - from the rest of the industry.
The support services business has an annual turnover of £1 billion and employs 29,000 people, therefore ensuring staff training is kept up to date is central to the business planning process. Interserve is completely committed to delivering training and development opportunities for all their staff from Skills for Life through to their Leadership Challenge programme.
Every individual is given the opportunity to develop and equip themselves with skills and competencies to perform their roles to the highest standard. As part of offering employees the best support available they have implemented a suite of e-learning modules and workshops to address gaps in staff knowledge and skills. Adding to this they have recently taken the opportunity to link training with RICS’ entry level RICS Associate qualification.
RICS Associate membership provides an opportunity for individuals in land, property and construction sectors, with relevant work experience or vocational qualifications, to gain industry recognition for their skills. For Interserve, this allows its employees to be assessed against RICS’ technical and ‘soft’ competency skills and gain a recognised industry qualification – giving them and the company a key competitive advantage.
In 2010, Interserve worked with RICS to develop an Associate pilot scheme. Over a six month period, ten Interserve employees were asked to record and track their progress for measurement against each Associate competency and provide a portfolio of work experience.
If there were any areas of weakness or areas where an individual didn’t feel as capable as they should, they worked closely with their line managers to gain experience and provide evidence for any training and development they undertook. The final portfolio was then submitted to RICS through the online Managed Learning Environment (MLE) where an RICS assessor reviewed them for the Associate qualification.
It was a flexible process that allowed each member of the pilot scheme to work towards the qualification in a structured and practical way.
The RICS Associate qualification fits well into our business aims. It’s flexible, user-friendly and causes minimum disruption to service delivery.
It also ensures that our future leaders are fully prepared and gives them a real competitive advantage – especially in front of clients who demand an assured level of competence from their suppliers. We’re really pleased with the pilot scheme and expect to see more members of staff work towards the qualification in the coming months.”
Tony Sanders, Managing Director - Commercial, Interserve
Beth Phelan, Business Process Manager at Interserve was one of the first pilot scheme members, and also saw the importance of the RIS Associate qualification:
Working towards the RICS Associate qualification has allowed me to match my skills against RICS competencies and address any gaps in experience I may have. RICS’ Associate qualification is a mark of professional competence and an endorsement that matters to clients as well as your peers.”
Beth Phelan, Business Process Manager, Interserve
Facilities Management is an increasingly important, and increasingly sophisticated, industry that is constantly evolving and remains vital in managing the quality of our built and working environments.
What we have with the RICS Associate qualification is a way to raise standards for facilities management professionals around the world and allow them to understand more about their role and how it impacts on a business, without them needing to have academic qualifications.
For Interserve, RICS’ Associate qualification has helped to up-skill staff and has given professional recognition for their skills that will give them more confidence when dealing with clients.”
Sean Tompkins, RICS Chief Executive
