Training and development
We recognise that the success of our Group is a result of the loyalty, passion and drive of our people and we greatly appreciate all their efforts. Alliance Boots is a dynamic international group and achieving our ambitious goals depends on the motivation and quality of our employees at every level. Our employees are a key asset.
Our experience continues to demonstrate that motivated and enthusiastic people deliver great customer service and care. We aim to create a culture throughout the Group that fosters the commitment and trust to achieve this.
We believe working for Alliance Boots offers an exciting and stimulating environment where employees can develop their careers. We offer considerable scope for personal and professional development through training and international mobility.
We also provide opportunities for continuous learning undertaken in the working environment. There is a significant amount of ‘on the job’ training within the business environment as well as regular career development and performance reviews.
In July 2010, Boots UK Support Office in Nottingham hosted its annual ‘work inspiration’ week. A hundred students from across five bordering counties came together for a week designed to ignite their imagination and inspire their future career plans. The week was a resounding success thanks to the effort and encouragement of colleagues and line managers across the Support Office.
During the week the students participated in an action-packed timetable of activities including tours of our manufacturing and supply facilities, as well as getting to meet some of our senior leaders in the business.
The students finished the week by presenting their ideas on how Boots can drive the business forward. The programme is being built upon for the 2011 event, to include a mentoring programme for the students by Boots employees.
“I genuinely enjoyed my time with you and this experience will be beneficial in helping me decide my future studies and, by extension, the career I wish to enter” Work inspiration week attendee.
300 university students every year in Turkey are able to achieve a university education, thanks to Hedef Alliance. In the 2010-2011 academic year, 271 students received a full scholarship from Hedef Alliance. Some of these students are pharmaceutical students and some are the children of Hedef Alliance employees.
In January, Alliance Boots hosted the UK element of the European Year of Volunteering Awards. Similar awards ceremonies took place across 23 countries as part of the European Union’s Employee Year of Volunteering to recognise and reward companies that are developing employee volunteering programmes to help people who are facing barriers to work and to improve their employability skills.
In May 2010, Boots Opticians welcomed five learners and three members of staff from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to Boots Opticians support office. The visitors were from the RNIB’s centre at Loughborough which helps visually impaired people enter the workplace, whether new to work or returning to work. The purpose of the visit was to introduce them to our workplace and what it feels like, and to give them confidence to work in an office environment.
Boots Opticians is the biggest provider of National Vocational Qualifications in Optics through its Diploma in Optical Retailing available to all new joiner Optical Consultants. This provides training at NVQ level 2 and 3.
In addition, Boots Opticians run a comprehensive Continuous Education and Training (CET) programme for over 1,000 clinicians to gain required CET points to practice, and to ensure that they are up to date with the latest industry thinking. In partnership with Optician magazine, we provide materials for clinicians to complete training in their own time. The programme is accessible to colleagues via online materials, distance learning and set piece seminars and conferences.
The business also runs a comprehensive practice manager induction programme which takes place over 8 days at our support office. Our managers can also access the Boots UK Stepping Stones programmes, Legendary Customer Care training and the Future, Engage, Deliver Leadership training.
In July 2010, every manager in the business took part in a Future Engage Deliver leadership programme to create a platform for ongoing leadership development.
In addition, Boots Opticians offer an e-learning platform, which provides, among other things, 30 and 60 minute tutorials to support the training and development of our practice colleagues. They also have over 3,000 books, videos and other resources in various central and regional libraries for employees to borrow.
Line managers understand the value of continual on the job learning, and they mentor and coach colleagues on a daily basis. As part of our succession planning, line managers identify talent at an early stage and put these individuals on fully supported pipeline development plans. These develop their management and leadership skills, to prepare them for their next role. For undergraduate optometrists we run summer placement programmes to help them get used to the world of retail optometry. Annually, we sponsor 23 Optical Consultants to attend a 3-year trainee dispensing opticians’ course, at Anglia University, to become a managing dispensing optician.
Hedef Alliance has a strong CSR tradition and is particularly committed to educational development in Turkey, contributing to a number of important education projects. One such project is the Education Reform Initiative (ERI), which aims to increase the quality and the content of education for all, eliminating inequalities and bringing equal opportunities for everyone.
Besides periodic donations to the ERI, at Hedef Alliance we create our own ways to support the initiative. For instance, we use the suppliers meeting as an opportunity for fund-raising for ERI.
Alloga Blois distribution centre signed a second year-long agreement to host a person with a disability, to work at the centre for 30 hours a week as part of an education programme. This follows the first placement at Alloga in France, which was a hugely positive experience for everyone concerned. The aim is to help the individual develop their independence and confidence both at work and socially.
In addition, the distribution centre site director led a group of 25 students and their teacher on a tour of the Alloga distribution centre in Blois, to learn about the healthcare sector.
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