Award winning

Festo Training and Consulting are part of the wider Festo engineering group. As a result we have experience of the challenges and opportunities that exist using training as a strategic tool to develop an engineering business.

We are delighted to have been recognised for our work with Festo by a number of external organisations.

Festo winners of the  National Training Award East Midlands

Festo, a world leading supplier of pneumatic and electrical automation technology, has been announced as the East Midlands winner for a medium sized (50-249 employees) organisation at the National Training Awards.

The company will now compete against other organisations from across the country for ‘Winner of the Year’ at the National Training Awards 25th Annual Ceremony which takes place at the WorldSkills event on 5th October at ExCeL, London.

The Award recognises Festo’s company training programme for its UK sales force.  Called ‘Fit for Change’, which equips sales managers, regional managers and directors with the skills needed for a consultative and team-based approach to customer requirements. Now in its tenth year, Fit for Change combines a highly effective combination of training and coaching.

Gary Wyles, Managing Director of Festo Training and Consulting comments:  “A coaching approach has been an essential ingredient to the company’s success, enabling it to grow its market share by more than 30%, in a market that has declined by approximately 35% over the last decade.  The journey has not been easy and has not been without its setbacks, as it takes a while to embed new skills and a coaching culture within the organisation.  However, the result has been that Festo is consistently outperforming its competitors and is growing market share year after year.”

John Haynes, Further Educations, Skills and Lifelong Learning Minister comments:  “The National Training Awards highlight that firms that invest in workforces skills gain real dividends.  Not only are their employees more motivated because they are happier in their work, but they reap the benefits of productivity, profitability and competitiveness.”
 

Sunday Times Best Companies 2011 - 1* Accreditation for Festo

Festo, a world leading supplier of pneumatic and electrical automation technology, has been awarded a 1* Accreditation in the Sunday Times 2011 Best Companies Accreditation scheme, an award which recognises Festo as a first class company to work for.  The award is given to organisations with more than 50 employees who stand out in the following areas:  Best Leader; Wellbeing; Training and Development; Giving Something Back, Innovation in Engagement Practice and Best Improver.  Designed to measure employee engagement, the Best Companies survey uses 70 questions to gain a comprehensive view of employee engagement across eight factors.

Festo has a long and well-respected track-record for its people development, so much so that a separate division was set up in 1968 to share its learning and development expertise with other companies in the manufacturing and engineering sector and beyond.

Gary Wyles, Managing Director of Festo Training & Consulting, comments:  “We are proud to have been awarded 1* accreditation.  This is our first year of entering the scheme and we are delighted to have done so well, first time.”

More than 90% of employees within Festo completed the survey.  Of particular note, was Festo’s ability to communicate organisational goals and objectives to its staff.  More than 90% were in agreement that organisational goals were clear.

Managers received high praise, providing a strong sense of empowerment and a commitment to the organisation’s values.  100% of employees stated that they felt trusted to get on with their job and 100% also felt that their manager put the organisation’s interests above his or her own personal interests.

Respondents also strongly felt that the senior management team made sound group decisions and there was a very high level of brand loyalty amongst employees.

Commenting on the results, Gary Wyles says, “It is clear that our employees enjoy working at Festo and are proud of where they work.  There are always a few areas that we need to focus on, but the Best Companies to Work For survey has helped us to identify what we do exceptionally well and where our priorities should lie over the next year.”

Jonathan Austin, founder and CEO of Best Companies also comments: “I would like to congratulate Festo on its outstanding achievement. This year it is encouraging to see that more and more organisations are recognising the value of employee engagement and are willing to benchmark themselves against the best to ensure they are offering their employees a very positive experience. Organisations like Festo have continued to focus on their employees and have been rewarded with an engaged workforce who tell us that this is a great place to work.”