BIFA Awards
(for directors who have the aspiration and potential to become country heads) is delivered by Kedge Business School of France. Packwood added: “As managing director, alongside a cohort of global peers, I am enrolled with Harvard Business School where each year a different area of expertise is in focus.” In person vs online Of course, COVID-19 derailed in- person training as travel was heavily restricted. For instance, the ‘Leadership Principles’ and ‘Disruptive Strategy’ courses that Packwood planned to attend at Harvard were delivered online instead. He did go to Boston in February 2022 for some on-campus training, however, which he described as “very enlightening: you think you know how to do your job, and then you hear a different approach that you can apply to your work. It makes you more self-aware.” “In a university setting, with a professor firing questions at you, you really have to be on your toes! It is much more participatory than digital learning. You share ideas with colleagues and you start to talk a common language, which I think helps to drive alignment through our core staff.” This is also true of apprentices, who have a camaraderie and a shared grounding in the business that BIFA’s Young Forwarder Network supports further. “Online courses, on the other hand, are very modular,” Packwood added. “You can bounce around in your cohort if you like, or you can just go through the programme and do the tests at your own pace. It is really down to you as an individual.” GEODIS has embraced the individualistic element of learning by making longer courses voluntary rather than mandatory. “You need a passion for the learning you are doing,” Packwood pointed out, “so unless something is mandated for legality/ compliance reasons, we try to simply encourage staff to engage in learning. And we find those who want to push themselves in this respect tend to have the most potential in the business, because they are willing to step outside their comfort zone.”
Some of the past and present apprentices at GEODIS LHR. From left to right: Kate Fowler, Elliot Haldane, Emma Davies, Tyanna- May Joseph, Thomas Frost, Ellie-Rose White, Hayley Duggan and Adam Long
GEODIS invests to develop a passion for learning
In the UK, GEODIS Freight Forwarding’s commitment to recruit, develop and retain quality people means that investment is always available to support the continuous training of employees – in recognition of which, the company won the 2022 BIFA Staff Development Award
most successful programmes. “The apprentices bring so much enthusiasm with them. They are keen to progress – which puts us under pressure to build careers for them, not just jobs. This has improved overall employee engagement.” New apprentices With locations nationwide, GEODIS will welcome several new apprentices in 2023. The first will join its Birmingham office this summer, with other open opportunities in London and Exeter. Up the scale, for management, sales and director training, external providers are chosen by GEODIS head office in Paris. For example, the ‘Rising Leaders’ programme
G EODIS provides a mix of training for its staff: some in-house, some external, some in-person and some online. Its own tools include G-Campus, an online platform that provides a huge array of courses that employees can engage in if they want to. These may relate directly to work, or cover other topics such as foreign languages. GEODIS has also developed ‘Manage’ (a two-year course aimed at existing managers in all departments) and ‘Sales Academy’, which is aimed at developing the skills of customer- facing staff. The company monitors all its training to ensure that it is always fit for purpose. With regard to the selection of external training providers, Chris Packwood, managing director UK and Ireland for freight forwarding, outlined: “Our freight forwarder and supervisor apprenticeships are both in partnership with Seetec. These are probably some of our
Chris Packwood, who is enrolled with Harvard Business School
Albacore believes that people are a company’s most valuable asset. That is why it is proud to sponsor the Staff Development Award for the 15th year. Albacore supplies and supports efficient and reliable IT systems which ensure productive, empowered and satisfied staff. Albacore IT for Business Staff Development Award
16 | July 2023
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