AkzoNobel, a leader in the manufacturing of paints and coatings, and owner of the Dulux brand, wanted to leverage the apprenticeship levy and ensure the progression and development of their team. Learn how our Level 4 Sales Executive Apprenticeship contributed to improvements in sales performance and growth.
AkzoNobel operates in more than 150 countries and focuses on sustainable solutions. With over 200 years to their name, and producing coatings for everything from beer cans to ships, they’re aiming to become the global industry leader.
Towards the end of 2019, their UK&I Sales Capability Lead, Simon Burke, sought out the support of BMS Progress. They wanted to explore what apprenticeships were available to develop their sales team, and we were recommended by the agency that manages their apprenticeship levy funds. Here, Simon details AkzoNobel’s goals and the solutions we provided.
We wanted individuals to be able to progress, helping us shape our organisation’s culture and retain and recruit top talent. For this, we needed a robust qualification delivered via a structured programme.
We needed a course that could teach our team the sales skills, behaviours and knowledge that they could employ in their day-to-day roles. This would improve their performance, in turn leading to growth and progression.
We had contributed over £250,000 to the apprenticeship levy, so there was a pot of money which could be put to great use – providing we had the right programme in place.
For 3-4 months, we spent time observing how BMS Progress worked. We witnessed how their people operated in face-to-face business development sessions, and were impressed with their approach.
There’s more to development than training – we needed to be certain that our partner could effectively support our people too. We were assured that a designated development coach would provide one-to-one coaching as part of the programme.
With BMS Progress, I had the opportunity to get involved and help with the programme’s content design. It was incredibly important to me that I could ensure it met the specific needs of our business, and at no point did I feel that I wasn’t able to offer my input.
I’ve seen a huge increase in the confidence of individuals, and can absolutely say the programme has contributed to their growth, personal development and progression.
Now that our team has learnt critical new behaviours, these will translate into better performance. Line managers are already noticing improved skills, attitudes and knowledge.
BMS Progress helped us work our way through the challenges related to using the apprenticeship levy and enabled us to get the most from it.
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Want to take advantage of the Apprenticeship Levy, or simply foster the next generation of talent? You’ll need to ensure that the curriculum is tailored to your needs and aligned with your values.
