news

October 2011

Dear Valued Client,

To Train or Not to Train and what Type of Training?

Training! An integral part of any Organisation's progression forward.

We have on the job practical training, formal and theoretical training, certifications even degrees to show how trained we are.

Most Employers will at some point place their employees into some form of training throughout their employment. Some of this training maybe one off, others may require regular updates or re certification after certain periods.

We think nothing of going on Selling/Marketing Courses, Computer Skills Courses, First Aid Courses or Management Courses and the like.

What about refreshing ourselves in a skill that the majority of us use everyday and many rely on as an integral skill in fulfilling the tasks we are employed to do, Driving!

"Oh, but I have a Drivers Licence and I have been driving for many years without a serious accident", I hear you say. Well, maybe you have been very lucky!

Some questions for you to ponder:

• How long is it since you sat your Drivers licence? If you had to think about that for a while then think about this.
• Were you trained by a professional or by a non professional?
• Were the skills taught to you back then relevant today?
• Has vehicle technology changed in that period?
• What about traffic densities and roads, how much have they changed?
• Are you up to date of all the changes in the road rules that have been made since you obtained your licence? How long since you picked up a Road Code?

Now ask yourself this, have you considered Driver Training for your Employees, in particular those engaged in significant amounts of driving as part of their employment?

If not, why not?

Another cost I hear you say. Well there are two ways to look at any expenditure, an overhead to be recovered somehow or an Investment in increasing productivity, an Investment in your Employees welfare, an Investment that will reduce your costs and repay your initial investment many times over.

If you are now thinking, hey maybe that's not a bad idea, consider these points;

• Employees trained to be better prepared for those emergencies - reducing accident risk,
• Employees who are better drivers, smoother, driving in a safer and controlled manner,
• Reduction in Fuel costs,
• Reduction in Tyre wear and replacement,
• Reduced minor incidents around reversing and parking (shown to be the biggest contributor to the average Fleet Operators accident repair account each year).

So, you are convinced, let's get a Driver Training policy in place.

What type I hear you say?

There are many offerings out there, many are theory based, either sitting in a room for hours on end with information being pushed in one ear and flowing straight out the other or sitting in front of computer simulated models asking you series of questions and then gauging how much of a risk you are behind the wheel. All well and good and have their place within the training spectrum.

A question to you, would you be happy boarding a plane when you the knew the Pilot had received simulator training only? Climbing aboard a ship where the Captain has only steered the course on a chart?

Getting aboard a train where the driver had only ever controlled a model?

We think the answer to the above is fairly obvious.

What about a combination of theory and practical where your Employees are taught about the practical things when driving and these lessons are reinforced with good practical exercises interspersed between the lessons over the period of a day.

National Advanced Drivers School, we are one of the longest running (24 years) and biggest Advanced Drivers Schools in the Country, we can do just that for your Organisation.

We run a variety of courses throughout the entire country, from Whangarei to Invercargill on a regular timetable.

Our courses are a balanced mix of theory and practical exercises designed to back up and reinforce the theory, attendees learn in a hands on environment, receive immediate feedback on their attempts at each exercise and encouragement from a dedicated Team of very experienced Instructors.

Attendees are taught the importance of good tyre maintenance. This in itself will pay for the course within months with reduced tyre wear and better fuel economy. They are taught how to react in an emergency situation and how to be best prepared to react for that emergency.

They will learn how to reverse safely and park without causing damage to your vehicle, or other property.

They will receive an update on key areas of the road rules and good defensive driving habits to adopt.

At the end of the day long course your employee will be better equipped to manage those things that confront them out there on the road everyday.

Your Investment will be showing favourable returns immediately in reduced costs, less accidents and therefore less downtime of vehicles and Employee absence through injury and increased productivity of employees because they will experience less stress through better driving habits.

You will receive a comprehensive Skills Assessment report for each of your Employees, showing how they went on the day and if any further issues should be addressed.

Contact us now to make your booking or make further enquiries.

Happy Holidays