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Warwick wins plaudits for new online course at National Training Awards

Originally Published 18 November 2002

Warwick Business School has won a Regional Training Award at the prestigious annual National Training Awards for its innovative programme of training for the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. The awards recognise organisations and individuals who have achieved lasting excellence and success through training.

Warwick Business School has worked in partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group since 1997 to improve the skills of its operations managers. In 2001 they worked together to redesign the existing residential training course to combine the best of face-to-face and online delivery methods in a 16-week networked programme. The newly-designed programme is now on its sixth cohort of 25 operations managers from every part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group. It has been so successful in enabling participants to make operational improvements, that more courses are to follow in 2003.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group's project consultant on the Operations Manager Programme, Forbes Hayes explained, "Since we have adopted this new approach to training we have noticed significant improvements in the application of learning to work roles. The range and variety of learning methods and media being used on the networked programme is exceptionally effective in reinforcing and embedding operations management knowledge and understanding in RBSG."

During the course operations managers follow four modules, where they benefit from a residential workshop and carry out a series of learning tasks through self-study within a collaborative online environment. They receive support throughout from tutors, mentors and fellow participants. A final task allows managers to apply learning directly to their work roles and achieve significant improvements within their business units.

Using a mixture of face-to-face and self study has resulted in a high completion rate, almost 90% of participants have received the MBA-level Certificate in Operations Management from WBS, and those managers continue to use the methods of collaborative working in their day-to-day working life.

"The programme has enhanced my operational control and planning and given me a more structured approach and support tools for work tasks" said one delegate.

Warwick Business School's Director of the Executive Programme, Leoni Antoniazzi said, "I am very proud to be nominated as a finalist at the National Training Awards. It recognises all the hard work and innovative thinking that has gone into developing this partnership with the Royal Bank of Scotland Group and delivering results for the participants and for the Group."

For more info

Contact Leoni Antoniazzi, Tel: 024 7652 4627, Email: L.F.Antoniazzi@warwick.ac.uk