In the current economic climate, and the challenges associated with workforce recruitment and retention, Macpac Limited understand the importance of investing not just in the latest technology and machinery but also in the development of their workforce through training.  
 

The Company  

With over half a century’s worth of manufacturing experience, Stockport based Macpac Limited produces thermopackaging (moulding plastic packaging) for sectors including Food, Retail, Horticultural, Medical, Toiletries and Electronics.  Offering a full end-to-end solution, from design and manufacturing through to dispatch, Macpac’s workforce covers all skills levels from machine operators through to Engineers and Managers.   

The Background  

Positioned within the manufacturing sector, Macpac had already experienced some of the challenges resulting from Brexit, and the impact on the recruitment and retention of their workforce. In order to navigate this issue, investment in training would be a key contributing factor to success and lead to improvements in the company’s efficiency and productivity.  

To begin the process, Macpac’s dedicated GM Business Growth Hub Skills Coach Joanne Norbury worked together with Macpac’s point of contact Alison Griffies to conduct an overall assessment of the business’s growth plans and identify any workforce skills gaps that may obstruct the achievement of the business goals.  

The second step concentrated on Macpac’s workforce and understanding their current skills levels as well as their career aspirations. During this stage, it was essential for the Skills Coach Joanne, to be flexible to the needs of the client and to both the day and night shift workforce. As a result, Joanne conducted the employee registrations at by being there at 6:00am to meet the team coming off the night shift and until 10:00pm to meet staff finishing their day shift. This activity proved invaluable as the Skills Coach was able to extract information that may not have been as easily discussed within the business’s hierarchy.  

As a result of the assessments, Joanne was able to offer a combination of options moving forward 

To direct the Macpac workforce to look at the thousands of fully funded and partially funded course options available on the GM Skills Map.  

To use her portal knowledge to streamline a number of options that aligned with the business’s activites, this included the GM Skills Map to use her knowledge to recommend suitable course options including Lean Manufacturing, Team Leaders and Lean Waste Management. 

Learning and Development  

With an incredible training uptake of over 98% of Macpac’s workforce, a number of on-site training options were scheduled to fit in with Macpac’s manufacturing operations. The impressive training numbers also demonstrated the commitment from across both the company and the entire workforce to achieving success.  

The decision to conduct a compulsory company-wide Lean Training course option meant that all levels of the business participated in the same training. This included a number of business functions who would never normally meet in business practice.  

The Business Growth Hub’s Nick Brandwood conducted bespoke Manufacturing training that had an interactive focus resulted in camaraderie and competitiveness amongst the team.  

The Results  

• The business has enjoyed an inclusive culture as a result of the investment made into group training sessions which brought together all levels of the business.
• Improved communication and morale – the training has helped break down barriers.
• Increased employee motivation as Macpac employees are engaged with their own development and further enrichment.
• Macpac has been able to focus on succession planning as a result of the one-to-one training assessments conducted by the Skills Coach to identify career goals.
• Employees are committed to the business as they understand the importance of the training, why they are doing it and the role that they play in the business.
• The importance of the training was evident from the 100% course attendance levels.

The Future  

In these challenging times, identifying ways to improve employee motivation and business successes can be instrumental to the business. The work with GM Business Growth Hub has been a catalyst that has inspired the Macpac to invest in further training for their workforce to enjoy.  

These options include building on the training that has already been conducted as well as potential investment in a Learning Management System which will allow the workforce to take advantage of soft skills development via an on-demand, bitesize learning option.   

Alison Griffies, Macpac 

“Being able to draw on the GM Business Growth Hub team was invaluable.  Joanne’s expertise conducting the one-to-one meetings with our employees helped us glean an insight into their individual aspirations, and with Joanne’s help, were able to guide employees to relevant training opportunities.” (Alison Griffies, Quality and Health and Safety Manager, Macpac Limited) 

Joanne Norbury Quote (former Skills Coach) 

Being able to identify clear career pathways and employee aspirations was fundamental when working with Macpac, as this gave the business a clear understanding to ensure that they implemented an accurate workforce development strategy. By working together with Macpac we were able to improve staff motivation and retention.”