For many small companies, particularly in the fresh produce sector where margins are tight to almost non-existent, training is a luxury many cannot afford.
Skillnet was a concept created by the Irish government to combat that problem across all industries and improve the overall skills base of the entire country.
The first round of Skillnet, from 1999 to 2001 proved a huge success with 58 networks established throughout various sectors of the economy, with government and European funding to the tune of e11 million.
That success inspired a second round of funding, this time to the tune of e15m to run between 2002 and 2005, and the Irish fresh produce sector decided to get onboard.
John Clarke, chairman of the Fresh Produce Skillnet’s steering group, and general manager with leading potato supplier Country Crest, had been involved in another Skillnet group the first time round, and he saw the advantages for the fresh produce industry. “I decided that when the next round of funding happened, we’d get involved.”
But what exactly is a Skillnet? Put simply it is a group of companies from a common sector who co-operate together to share the kind of training resources needed for their industry.
In the case of the Fresh Produce Skillnet, the opportunities the group has provided to its members range from general management training and health and safety through to more sector specific skills, such as manual handling and forklift truck driving.
“It’s about working together,” says Clarke, “to move our businesses onto the next stage. Getting together means we can share problems and often find simple solutions.”
The objectives of the scheme, according to project manager Lorna Coleman, among others, was to provide certified food safety and hygiene training and to ensure each company has a comprehensive and fully functional HACCP system. “We also wanted to ensure that each member business has an active training plan and associated records in place by the end of the programme,” she adds.
All of the companies involved in the project have one thing in common - they all supply Tesco, and another key objective of Skillnet was to help the companies work towards achieving Nature’s Choice and EurepGAP accreditation.
As a result, the retailer was one of the key driving forces behind the scheme, says Pat O’Conner, general manager with Dublin Meath Growers. He says: “Tesco saw it as a cost effective method of paving the way for Nature’s Choice. They gave us the nudge to get involved.
“I initially thought, well if it costs me a few grand and keeps Tesco happy, then fine. But it’s turned into a huge win, and I’ve got a lot out of it.”
Of course, the Tesco involvement did have a slight negative effect, says vegetable grower Paul Brophy: “Some of the companies didn’t fully buy into it, they simply thought it was just another Tesco requirement they had to undertake. But those who have got involved properly have found it is second to none.”
Aidan Lynch, group managing director of flower supplier Interbloem, says the Skillnet has certainly put them in a stronger position to gain accreditation on schemes like Nature’s Choice. “Tesco was keen for us to go for it, but we wanted to as well. You can only really get out of it what you put in. But if you want to be a service provider into a leading multiple, you’ve got to have the proper accreditation.”
Membership is made up of 20 companies which fit into three different size groups, micro, small and medium, says Coleman. “Around 80 per cent of the companies involved have less than 50 staff. Our smallest company has seven people working for it and the biggest several hundred, however the average staff size is 32.”
The size of the companies involved is telling - when you have a staff of seven, the last thing you’re going to need is a human resources manager. However, when it comes down to it, often staff are your most valuable commodity, as Clarke says: “Without trained and skilled employees, companies like Country Crest would not be so successful.”
Lynch says it has made a considerable difference to his business: “When it comes to human resources, it’s really raised the bar for us and as a result contributed significantly to our company. It’s allowed us to generate new opportunities.”
For the companies involved, being able to tap into the resources the Skillnet provides was a golden opportunity.
Brophy is one of the smallest operators involved in the group. A vegetable grower, based near Naas, he says: “It’s been a massive boon for us, as the kind of training it offers would have been out of our reach.”
So far, staff from his company have undergone training on food hygiene, forklift truck driving and manual handling.
But even for the bigger companies, the benefits have been obvious. Keeling’s is one of the biggest fruit and vegetable suppliers in Ireland, and the biggest company in the Skillnet, but Mary Carty, group human resources manager, says: “Although we would have had training in place anyway, the Skillnet has allowed us to tap into new resources.”
O’Connor says it has pushed them forward: “We have been doing training without this, but what it has done was prompt us to do further training. It’s pointed me in the direction of courses that I might not have thought about sending staff on, such as management training.”
In fact, in recent months, the main focus of the Skillnet has been on management skills, says Coleman: “We have a core group of around 10 to 15 people going through training in areas such as basic management supervisory skills, time management skills and managing safely.”
She said mentoring or coaching sessions were supporting the training to help the trainees put the theory they have learned into practice.
As a result of this, a number of sub-groups within the management training have formed from companies with similar issues and difficulties.
Brophy is one of the people involved in that: “We formed a sub-group to take advantage of the mentoring, we all have common problems and it allows us to benchmark each other against ourselves.”
He says the management training has been an eye opener for him: “It has made me realise how badly organised I was and how I need to manage my time better. Also the way I deal with staff has changed.”
He said he now delegates more and has clearly defined all his staff responsibilities: “We have made a lot of changes and as a result, we’ve seen a tremendous uplift in our profitability and part of that is down to the new efficiencies we have gained.”
And of course, the advantage of buying-in training as a group has benefited everyone. Coleman says they are able to negotiate better rates for training sessions when buying in bulk.
Carty agrees: “Going through Skillnet, the prices are more competitive and better still, the courses can be tailored to individual companies needs.”
O’Connor says the savings are substantial: “For us to go through training on forklift driving on our own, it would have been e500 a head, but through Skillnet it was only e200 a head.”
Members of the Skillnet play a flat fee to join, but the majority of the costs of training are met through central funding from the government.
One of the key benefits of the Skillnet has been the general change in culture, says Coleman: “The whole experience has really helped to create a culture of training within the companies taking part.”
The biggest key to that has been the train the trainer opportunities, allowing companies to develop their own in-house trainer.
Coleman says: “As well as putting more than 250 people through training in 2003, so far, we have developed 26 fully qualified trainers; four on forklift trucks, 10 manual handing trainers, 10 on food hygiene and two sensory analysis trainers.
“That means we have a good skills bank to draw on within the group, and it doesn’t cost us much, all we have to do is cover people expenses.”
Effectively, undergoing the train the trainer courses helps make the Skillnet self-sufficient.
It also has a payback for staff morale, says Clarke: “For the people who have been trained as trainers, it’s an extra skill and string to their bow, and also provides a new experience for them.”
Brophy says it has paid dividends for his staff: “The buy-in I’ve had from the people I’ve put through the training has been very good. My forklift trainer now feels more important and he feels he now has a trade. I’ve seen a massive improvement from everyone and that also makes me more determined to hold onto my staff.”
The Skillnet has also fostered a more co-operative attitude between the various companies, says Lynch: “In the past, there hasn’t been a great deal of communication between companies in the fresh produce industry, but Skillnet has certainly helped improve that.”
Of course, all good things must come to an end, and the group’s time is almost up. “The funding was only until 2005,” says Coleman, “so that is almost up. We’ve been given a slight extension of the scheme until March, and from January till then we shall be looking at consolidating our projects and planning for the future. At the moment we don’t know yet whether we’ll have any more funding to continue.”
The real test of how effective the project has been will of course be once the funding has dried up. Will the companies stick together and continue to share skills and pool resources?
Brophy thinks it will continue in some form, albeit on less of a scale: “When it ends, I can see smaller groups continuing and I can see a level of sharing going on between the companies.”
Carty says there is certainly potential for the companies to keep it going with their own funding. She also points out that the Skillnet has had another benefit: “Training companies are now more aware of our industry - whereas in the past, they probably wouldn’t have thought of approaching the fresh produce industry. We’ve not been top of peoples lists, but that’s starting to change.”
Lynch certainly hopes the scheme will continue: “We would like to see it extended, we don’t think we’ve yet achieved all the potential within the network.”
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