HandsHQ’s Training Register makes training management easy when compliance is essential.

Challenge

“Training is such an important part of our business,” says Fraser Lowry, HR Coordinator at Smart Tec Solutions.

With a large team of engineers out on site delivering mechanical and electrical engineering services across the UK, Smart Tec Solutions’ HR team needs to know that all the training certifications for those engineers are kept up to date. Only in this way can the company be sure that its customers are getting the best service from qualified people and that it is compliant with health and safety and other training requirements.

Fraser says, “When you have 159 personnel, you need something to make training and certification easier to manage.”

Solution

Smart Tec chose to implement HandsHQ’s training matrix software, to bring together training needs analysis, training records, automation and a large library of eLearning courses provided by iHasco to streamline the management of learning and certification.

Fraser explains, “We wanted a system that could help us monitor training so we could easily see where certifications needed updating or where they are missing. We liked the way Training Register makes it easy to follow up and chase renewals.”

Fraser worked with the team at HandsHQ to create individual roles for every team member. Each of these roles has training needs assigned to it, making it easy for Fraser to track training needs on an individual role-based basis.

Result

“Training Register has enabled us to get on top of our training,” reports Fraser. “Training is really important to us. Without certain certifications, our guys can’t go onsite – so this software is a really important part of our business.”

In particular, the Smart Tec Solutions team values Training Register’s ease of reporting. “I can be in the head office in Birmingham,” says Fraser, “and I can immediately send info to our site guys in Liverpool or Glasgow, for example, so they can check what training everybody has and ensure they are compliant.”

“The key focus for us is to ensure we have qualified personnel conducting our jobs and, with the help of HandsHQ, that’s what we’re achieving.”

The reporting of training needs analysis has also been improved. “Being able to download a training matrix is another key feature for me,” Fraser says. “The directors don’t want to see everything, so being able to send them a neat little matrix makes it so easy.”

In particular, the ability to follow up on expired or nearly expired certifications has improved compliance for Smart Tec Solutions. Automated reminders from the Training Register now enable the team to be much more proactive.

Fraser explains, “I love that sending reminders is so easy in Training Register. It definitely makes our lives easier as a back-office support function.”

Now, when a sub-contractor starts working for Smart Tec Solutions, they submit their existing training records and certifications and they are all saved in our Training Register software. The process of managing and keeping track of these certifications is made so much easier.

The Smart Tec Solutions team has also been making use of the library of more than 150 iHasco eLearning courses that are included in our Training Register package. After a course is completed, the training records are automatically updated.

“Having so many courses available is really good,” says Fraser. “The great thing is we can use iHasco courses or we can add our own. Everything is tracked in the same place. I love how Training Register has simplified training administration for us.”