Six Under-Graduates Taken On In Polestar Training

The Polestar Group has invested in the bright minds of the future by helping six undergraduates kick-start their degree courses with hands-on training within the company.

The Polestar Group has invested in the bright minds of the future by helping six undergraduates kick-start their degree courses with hands-on training within the company.

Currently embarking on a five-year degree course in printing, packaging and graphics at the University of Leeds, the six students are employed at five sites within the Polestar Group, where they will gain first-hand experience of key subject areas covered by the course.

The first year of the degree course requires a year-long, on-site induction into all aspects of print processes and production, covering major areas of the business from press, bindery, and production planning to customer service, human resources and accounts.

With that in mind, Polestar has created a training folder, which clearly explains the subjects that need to be covered by each student, as well as time guidelines for when each section should be completed.

The students are Claire Greenham, Geri Greatrex, Steven Wray, Katie Lightfoot, Hannah Brennan and Jenna Beevis.

They met at Polestar's head office in Milton Keynes for a training day where they learned what would be required of them during the next 12 months.

The training day was introduced by Catherine Hearn, Polestar Group human resources director, followed by a short presentation by Carol Beanland from the University of Leeds and an overview of print dynamics from Polestar's training manager Darrin Stevens.

The students will spend a period of time in each department, culminating in a presentation to the customer services director and other relevant personnel at the end of each spell, demonstrating what they have learned.

The presentations will be assessed and discussed with other staff members.

The students will attend college once a month and will be given study time to work on their presentations as well as their course work.

Polestar said that training is a priority and is high on the group's agenda.

The undergraduates are not the only ones to benefit from the company's positive approach to the subject.

Following an initiative from Polestar's health safety committee, a comprehensive health safety training programme was launched across the group earlier in the year.

Developed by Polestar's Darrin Stevens and Andy Keech, a health safety induction was introduced for last year's intake of apprentices and the training programme has been extended and launched to all site health safety representatives.

The updated programme, which will be delivered to all new employees, now consists of a training folder, which contains all the relevant paperwork to teach those completing the induction as well as a test paper and a trainer's pack, which explains when each item of paperwork should be distributed, along with the answers to the tests.

The tests are designed to check staff members' knowledge throughout the induction.

The folder also contains a CD-Rom of all the paperwork, plus a Powerpoint presentation, which can be used for training.

Once the tests have been passed, the staff member receives a certificate to show they have completed the induction.

The group said that so successful have the internal training folders been that a new one has been developed for performance review, enabling managers at various sites to complete performance reviews in a standard way.

As part of that process, an HR portal has been set up on the group intranet, containing all the relevant HR paperwork, including the new performance review form, which can be completed and saved electronically.

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