HR Case Study - Teletext

Situation

Teletext is a well established information provider encompassing a wide variety of commercial services such as holidays, cars, finances and entertainment. Jade McAlpine is Human Resources lead. Teletext had secured government funding for specialist subject training l through Acton Training Centre, and People Vision were selected to design and deliver outplacement training for employees facing redundancy.
People Vision has established a handpicked team of specialist consultants who design and deliver training across a range of Human Resources skills. Victoria Lawes has a wealth of experience in resourcing, recruitment, competencies, outplacement and training. She has been working with People Vision for 4 years.

Challenge

Teletext had identified around 50 members of staff who were facing potential redundancy and People Vision were engaged to provide help and training with outplacement services. Victoria Lawes was to spend 2 days at Teletext in London, delivering training to enable the 50 staff members to prepare for the potential changes and to ensure they had the skills and confidence to advance their careers. The 50 people to be trained included members of Teletext’s IT, Sales, Administration and Central Project Management teams.

Action

Victoria prepared 2 different training sessions to deliver to the staff at Teletext. The first 2 hour workshop focussed on “How to write a good CV and covering letter” and the second 2 hour workshop was entitled “How to be your best at interviews”. Both covered a wide range of topics related to the challenges faced by the staff members.

Victoria delivered the training to small groups, working with 3 groups each day, to ensure that individuals had sufficient opportunities to have their questions answered thoroughly and to respond to the diverse needs of each group.

The first of the training sessions focussed on CVs and covering letters. The current CVs of group members varied from recently updated to several years’ old, and ranged widely in degrees of specialisation and format. With each group Victoria explored the aims and principles behind a good CV and explained how to fulfil those aims in practical terms. Questions of form, content, style and methods of conveying information in order to successfully promote oneself to a specific employer were examined in order to prepare the groups for future opportunities.

The second training session was focussed around optimum performance in interviews, but Victoria also trained the groups in the wide set of skills necessary to reach the interview situation. The process of job-seeking was explained with emphasis on practical concerns such as targeting agencies and companies. The preparation necessary before interviews and the ability to respond to questions and perform well in interview situations was covered in detail.

Results

The 2 days of training had a significant impact on the 50 people facing potential redundancy. While some of the people who participated in the workshops have since been made redundant and others have stayed on, all have been fully prepared to respond with confidence to changes in their careers.

Victoria and Teletext received great feedback from the group participants who found the training extremely useful, giving them additional skills to approach the employment market. The training enabled them to promote themselves effectively through their CV and covering letters, gave them an accurate grasp of employment resources, and helped them to develop the skills and confidence to shine during interviews.

Jade says that “I had great feedback from the employees who found the training very useful and very helpful. Victoria was very accommodating and answered all the questions they had, so they were very happy with the training.”

The training Victoria provided has given a tremendous boost in morale and motivation to those facing redundancy. Victoria explains that this kind of training “alleviates the fear factor” so that individuals can skilfully adapt to change. Training at this crucial time enables individuals to stay focussed on their career goals, so that after redundancy they can approach new opportunities with confidence and swiftly return to the workplace.

Client Testimonial

‘I found the whole service very professional. Victoria’s timekeeping was perfect and the conversations I had with Alyson were very helpful. She went through in great detail what would be covered in the training and asked if we had any additional information we wanted to be included on the course. We were very happy with the service.’

Jade McAlpine: Human Resources Assistant, Teletext
www.teletext.co.uk