“What we do isn’t unique but we do need to be the best at what we do. To achieve that we invest heavily in our staff’s personal development and learning,” says Fifteen Group Director Ian Walker.

The Stoke-on-Trent company specialises in providing telecommunications, IT, Fire and Security efficient technology solutions for businesses and organisations across the UK.

Founded in 2006 the company has ambitious growth targets of achieving a turnover of £10 million in the next five years and staff learning and development is central to them achieving that goal.

The senior management team have all undergone Sandler Leadership by Organisational Excellence training. This training helped set the company’s direction of travel, focussing on driving the business forward, company strategy, goals and the structure needed to meet their objectives.

Ian said: “To grow the business, it’s important that we take our staff with us on the journey so that they understand what we want to achieve and how we are going to achieve it. The Sandler training really helped us set the tone for our direction of travel by laying down the foundations to provide a great culture throughout the whole of the business.

“It’s not just about the senior leadership team though – we want our entire team to play their part in helping us achieve not only our own company goals but to align them with their career and personal goals too. That’s why we place such an emphasis on learning and development, from the top down.”

All staff, not just senior leaders, are offered ongoing training and professional development as part of the company’s annual review process. This not only ensures that each individual’s goals are documented but that training and development can be put in place to help them achieve those goals, support their career development and help the business as a whole too.

This focus on learning and development has ensured there are clear career progression pathways throughout the organisation so that staff can be promoted from within, rather than relying heavily on external recruitment.

A number of company staff drive their own vehicles for work purposes (known as grey fleet). Staff also drive company vans for work and Fifteen Group wanted to ensure they were doing all they could to ensure their drivers were as safe on the roads as they could be.

As a result they brought in road safety specialist Adrian Hide who introduced specific training measures including online driver training, a director and manager workshop on effective driver risk management and the introduction of an online induction course for new starters.

Ian added: “We believe strongly at Fifteen Group that we are only as strong and as successful as our team. Ultimately their success will be Fifteen Group’s success and investing in their learning and development in a positive environment is absolutely imperative, not only to help them be the best they can be but to help them achieve their career aspirations, which will ultimately help us become bigger and more successful in the future.”

Fifteen Group has entered the Skills For the Future category of the Staffordshire University Business Awards.