In 2010/11, over 97,000 learning hours in professional and leadership development and nearly one million learning hours of technical development were delivered.
Talent development continues to be a critical lever for successful business performance. During the past year, we completed the development of our leadership transitions strategy. In 2008, 'Developing Future Leaders' was created for senior leaders, in 2009, 'Foundations of Leadership' was created for front line or first time leaders and in 2010, we launched two programmes targeted at middle level leaders focused on their leadership style and business acumen. Middle managers also have access to a suite of solutions that can be used to customise a curriculum for their unique needs.
To support the development needs of the broader management population, a comprehensive portfolio of classroom based and eLearning solutions was introduced covering the areas of communication, performance management, business acumen and general management. More will be added as further business needs are identified.
To accommodate year on year growth in technical training needs in both the UK and US, significant investments have been made in expanding the Eakring, Nottinghamshire and Millbury, Massachusetts learning centres. We have incorporated cutting edge technology into our learning strategy to accommodate diverse learning styles and manage costs. This includes 3D technology, eLearning modules, online assessments, SmartBoards and virtual classrooms.
We continued our focus on safeguarding our future talent. In the US, 21 highly energetic and skilled graduates have taken on a variety of roles as the first class to graduate from the graduate development programme. Across the US, 51 high school students participated in a one week ‘introduction to engineering’ academy as part of the US launch of Engineering our Future.
In the UK, 164 new early career learners were inducted into various strategic technical programmes. The UK apprenticeship training programmes enjoy Ofsted outstanding ratings on all criteria and we were awarded the East Midlands National Training Award for our advanced apprenticeship model.