Training helps company to avoid deep job cuts : … and prepares employees for the economic upturn

Purpose – This paper aims to describe a training program at the Craigavon plant of NACCO Materials Handling Group, which enabled the company to avoid deep manpower cuts during the recession and be ready with a more skilled workforce for the upturn. Design/methodology/approach – It explains the reasons for the program, the form it took and the results it has achieved. Findings – It details how lean manufacturing, skill flexibility and quality performance all improved considerably. Employers, employees, dealers and customers all noticed a new problem‐solving mentality at the plant. It also took a massive step towards a culture of continuous improvement. Employee morale, fulfilment and mutual trust improved. Levels of employee absence halved. The total workforce was held at 520, so avoiding an estimated outlay of around £160,000 on redundancies and recruitment. Practical implications – The paper reveals that 42 employees gained National Vocational Qualifications and 22 managers completed their Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) qualifications. More than 50 employees were trained in problem‐solving. Social implications – It highlights how training saved a number of jobs in Northern Ireland, which was already an unemployment black‐spot. Originality/value – The paper provides the inside story of an award‐winning training program.