TRAINING
Jamie Proudfoot, VQ Assessor at First ScotRail, talks about training opportunities and innovation in customer service for the rail industry.
F
rom hospitality to engineering, First ScotRail’s Training Academy is a hub of learning and development. It delivers a solid knowledge base from which employ- ees and apprentices are ready to take on further courses and new challenges, in or- der to progress in the rail industry.
Jamie Proudfoot, VQ Assessor at ScotRail, spoke to RTM to explain more, describing the place where it all begins: “The academy itself is really where all our core training takes place, as well as development.
“Anyone new to the role, regardless of whether they’re working on the frontlines with the customer or whether it’s at execu- tive level, everyone comes here for their ini- tial induction. Whether they’re going on to work in engineering, as a train driver, or in a customer service role, for example a ticket examiner, conductor, at stations – they get their core training here.”
And it’s about so much more than just basic inductions.
Proudfoot explained: “In addition to that there’s a lot of developmental training that
62 | rail technology magazine Aug/Sep 11
goes on. We run leadership developmental courses, fi rst aid, confl ict resolution cours- es: quite a lot, it’s very busy. There are a lot of people just now; there’s actually two groups of new employees started, around 30 people coming in this week. They’re a complete mix of grades, all going through an induction: some engineering appren- tices, some for hospitality, station grades – quite a variety and quite a mix.”
In terms of apprenticeships, ScotRail brings a refreshing change to the industry, with their Modern Apprenticeship the fi rst programme to specialise in customer ser- vice in rail. Proudfoot explains: “Certainly within the rail industry it’s the fi rst mod- ern apprenticeship in customer service. It’s quite an innovative programme, it hasn’t been offered by any other UK rail company to date, and it just started at the end of Feb- ruary.
“It is an 18-month programme, and after their initial training, trainees are spending roughly six-month blocks in three differ- ent key areas of the business, so they’ll go from hospitality, then into a station envi- ronment, and then to a train environment
as a ticket examiner. They rotate round throughout the 18 months; it’s not just a static placement, they’re getting a broad range out of it.
“The initiative was really led from the top. Our managing director Steve Montgomery initiated it, I believe he had heard about some other programmes at other organisa- tions. It’s a great thing to get involved with, bringing younger people into the industry, this idea of nurturing younger talent and developing them along the way. Because it’s an 18-month programme, it’s quite in- depth, and they will learn quite a lot.”
The plan is to continue the programme, and roll it out to more people in different areas if the trial proves successful.
“This is a pilot, this is the fi rst time it’s been done. We’re about a third of the way through it at the moment with the current group. We’re already talking about the next group, increasing the numbers, using this one as a test and getting as much feedback as we can from the business, seeing how it impacts on the business as well. We are hoping that we see positive trends as an
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