Broadgate Homes builds a team ethos : Training makes employees more aware of their effect on others

Purpose – This paper aims to examine how training programs are helping to combat skill shortages and promote a healthy corporate culture at two UK building companies. Design/methodology/approach – The paper aims to focus on mentoring and apprenticeship programs at Broadgate Homes Limited, of Spalding, Lincolnshire, and William Davis, of Loughborough, Leicestershire, which won prizes in the UK National Training Awards. Findings – The paper describes how Broadgate designed a bespoke program with input from senior managers, who assessed the skills of the workforce and produced a priority schedule of required training. William Davis, meanwhile, began an apprenticeship program immediately after the Second World War, and since then has employed trainees in bricklaying, carpentry/joinery, electrical, plumbing, scaffolding, plant mechanics, quantity surveying, buying, site engineering, design engineering and accounting. Practical implications – The paper reveals that both firms report employee‐retention rates of more than 75 percent. Originality/value – The paper highlights the impact of good training practice on employee morale and quality of work.