GPT Challenge Iss1 1992 - Edge Lane

nGiPTryA GPT EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT PUBLICATIONGoi_ng rightM EA SU B I NG U P : B antinde r(Mindy) Andeh neasures ayou ng gnl duing het t ce nt workin Kenya. Find aut narc abouther visit to Alica tuth two naretntreptd calleagues an Page 3Rising to theGhallengeWcar.lookihq rorcontribu.tions tor fulure issues olCHlLLExGE.lr yo! h,ve beentrainins or developmenlandworth recounlinE lor others ihGPTto re.d, th6n p1..5. putFentopaper-orfingerstoconr.ibutto. to Helen HarveyiGPT Employee oevelopmenrDeparlm.nl, al N.w C6nlu.ywe a.€ju.ras inrer€sied inconstructivc criticism aslraise. olherw is. we ar€ nolableto imDrove. This is yourchanceto help us lo help you.to the corehelpdeterminetheskiTo deliver increasing value formoney to a widening base olcustomers end otrr shareholders,thrgugh the provision oftelecoft ft unicatlor$ sol|ttions toworld-class standards of quality,timeand cost- the GPT Mission.nr our Mission now t rnily eslab ishcd aslhe route lo iulure prosperty, we need lo! t look morc closcly al just how our peoplccan he p us, n what s !ndoubtedly a need lorlllsonethinglohavemissionsandvisorslorlhe compa.y, bLl qL ite a.other to ensore we havelhe peoplewilh lhe right sk ls n p ace allhe righttimeio carry them throuqh.Weareaddress ng that problem now. Achlev ngo!raims s going lo mean people !nderstandingand becoming proficie.l in cedain corecompetences whlch we urgenl y.eed todeveopll means apartrership al al eve s, roroL.in respond n!l-alfectivenesslo lh.-echallencesof th.,amarkel pLace is down lo good managementa.demplovees who are i exlble ani wilin0 to learn aniIt might be worth repeal nq jusl whal ishappen nq o!tlhere. We areseeking to mainta r o!rposition asaprol table company in veryditlic!llWe areoperati.q inaoloba ndusiry, conrronlLno.ompet tion lrom qroba compel lors whieweoperale in lhcwor d s most open, compeliiivetelecomm!nical ons market, where forelgn.om pelitors efjoy unr.stricted accessPrices now obtained tormajorsystems such asswilchesj tfansmission equ pment and lermi.als areamong ihe owesl anywhe.e in the wondWe lacecompel tion o. al lronls:on q!a lly, ontim-al. m.rkd .r.l .n ..srs lr.m nternrllonalcompanles who have lormidab e reputat ons in allThese are lhe reasons whychange ls lmperal v-"and why we are plac ng so much emphasis onrdenl fv nu dnd level!oirLo d.umber of corecompelenies and canabtlihFc a.ross GPT They wr !ls, knowedgeandexpenence requ reoor our peop e.Briei y. these are lheCORE COMPETENCES weafe lookrng lo develop:* CUSTOMEF FOCUS puti nq the customer 1st.2nd and 3rd in every1h nO we do lt means provid nOmarkel dr ven so utions alon! w rh exemplaryacco!n1 managemenlandc!stomersetoice* WINN NC lN NEV/ MAFKETS unrlerstafdinar1a -d6d! or 16rc, ,o.F,.:1rarq",and capabllries ro luli lthose needs.By PETER GERSHON,GPT lllanaging Director1. OPPOFTUNITY tor people lo app ywhat they have2 IMPROVEMENT n the r pertormanceJ. DEVELOPMENT of ihemserves tor rh-. ruru164. INCFEASEDPERFOBMANCEof thebusiness.GPT's inveslment in trainina and develoomentamounls lo !15 milllon a vear.-so wheredoestharn o.pJ y ndlos4..-,isd5pe1l, hr.ndaa'rilidldsro drrsor ' 16 .4 qle,Uol! w- t-, h; .anelime, asling for yo!r ideas on dav. oping "t ne(As a winncrol a National Trainina award nconsecutiveyears, GPT has aqoodlrack record ind4\6ooror.oolp Ihar lu b".u tdned lrdiirnqis both an inveslment ancl aliiel me experence. t iaalso a parlnership in whlch you must pailicipate.rq.-.5i,.* PROJECT N4ANAGEIVIENT being able 1o hand eprojects successf !l y reOardless of lhelr siTe andcomplerity and deLlvcrto customer requ rements iorqlalty,I me and cost.t NETWORKS beirgabletodesig.,implementand manage nteQraled .omrn!nicaiion networksthat enable cuslomers lo commun cate iorcompetit ve advanlage and personal convcnie.ce.* IELECOMS SOFTWARE bein! able todevelopand se lbenefildriven soilware iealures and* SYSTEMSINTEGBATjON beinOableloworkw th oursuppliers, partners. customers and eacholherso that sol!l onsto cuslomers needs can bedelvered both eiiic enily and eifective y* TELEPHONY APPLICATIONS beinq able todesiqn products andsvstems lhat arovi lorellective acccss, useand mdimum eliicrencyw rhin rhe r.nmeni* DESIGN 'rs-ar.nv FOF MANUFACTUBE redocing"concept tolal!e' cycle times by eltectiveiyntegrating markel ng, product design a.dmanutaclLring syst€m des gnTo aLhieve |re5e d m5 me.f') puttrng I drn ng cnddevelonm.nlimnn.JthFlopaqFnda temsandmakin! s!re the nveslment ls avaiable, TltisweHowever,jusl so mlch can belauqhi n theclassroom We musl a so lear. through ournormadayro day work experences.mproving lheway in whlch we carry out ourc!(e.llob and preparing torlut!re cha Iengescanorly be of beneiit to both GPTand our peop eWetre in training for successrIl| .l5e1.ir ,,Le ol a r^(e.ye" , p.o " a io I wh.hw l..v.rlhF ma.!:n.l varie.lw:!s 'I peootecan morove the r.uirenl r ls learnnewones, and deveop bolh n lhelrex sting job andlortheir nnrrre w thin GPTIt aims to explain whal kaini.g and deve opmenimeans and what it can do FOF] YOU. To ens!re abdL.l-F i. a.hiF\.d ari"tFs dr4 ro.w-rrp. rot6Lyb,personne and lra ning stall - lhey incrude realliieL perie-le, ol l re .oLr,- ) cld p 09 cr'r L, on ollelhrouohouithe businessesThe. m wi I be lo show thal lra ni.q andderaloo olLord-c.d rr.ol.ror bL ,D" roi lheoveral 'e1l,5 process of imDrov no bosi.essp6 lo'na-c6 Trai. q lo' , o{. .l -is tr, 1001- cifterest unless lt provides lour essenliai benelits;

Going forgoals withVision O.N Erealhtakin9 advan.es inopi cai communicalionlech.. oqy afd qrow n!seruice demands ior moreLnlel iqent teatLres, largercapaciiy, h Aherspeeds a.dne1lvork.apab I tles. sel1hestage lor V sion O N.E.Oplimised Neiwork EvolutlonJo ntLy deve oped byCornun oatlons netlvorkqroup and GPT, Vision O N Eis aboul col aboral on .many ar-aas. blt panicu arlyt.ain n1] a.d dele opme.l,wh ch has been hlqh qlrledas cril calio s!c.essSluan Dyso., tech. .alra.ino managerol TSG,Edge Lane, s o.e ol lvJochaiffien ol lhe.egu arGPT/Siemens tra ninq rev ewss.l up lo pan and.o ordinai.lrain f 0. The.lher isarm IJennl, head oi thetrain ng.enlre lor communicationsnetworks at Siemens .'VisioiONE. saboul.ollaboration loresight andslrategy, said Stuart, andlra nln! is v tallo slccess TomaKe sure ure achrevecommon qoars In 1ra n nqrnere are r.g!rar mcer ngsHelststheamsas:* Train nq colaboration* Train na strale!! and* Reso!rce sharinqcaver ng, amonq ornerareas,d.ve opments, e.t!rlnc anrl* Train n! quallly and* Mulua!lyaqreed onq term'Botf GPT and Sienrenslra ning eslablishments have1oilardsVisionONE andlooerher caf oller a IlexibreseN ce to tlrosewrro req!rr-.th.supportote rer 'For t!a(her niormationccnla.l Sluat on 76{J 4521tf ri rtletting the mostA STEP.BY-STEP GUIOE,l ll ha nmg and developmenl c osls money. v0u g0 0n a c0drses0me0ne ras lo p ck rp lhe brlland. *helhGlllyour Iraininq is on or otl lf€ .0b. lhe r0sr can also be neasured in rine spenl und0rlakinq lle lraining 0rdcvelopmenl prugramne. Training is an inveslment an d, like any 0therkind 0linvesl|nenl, iiis erpecledl0yietd ag00d rclurn, S0.10 qel lhe m0sl oul0ty0ur lraining y0u willneed l0lak€ a danned, pr0lessi0nal, slep by slepapproach lo lh€ wholE process.1. PTANNINGBe0iiy bor ns d tr's uay yor srclerriim f,q mv cord yor h0 m0eciiedive? 00 y0! i..d io brusr n!iiy 0r lou skis? 0' acqlne mwoms?Peru!s a herrr mdeBr:idins0r drryarem 0r r0 rr!sim$ niqr[isrD. Aid yin srmnrd.rd? nry howwllo youcrsbma is aid *h:r lre, oiTiiir ibolr yu r:na :id Yotruieiifl yotrful b brc m a mvc0mide, arr rh6. qfni.6iid5. FOLLOW THROUGHTlu valle ol y!trlniiirq troEanmeeaini. lJ you mifl .r mrr'd Ne oty3rm*Jud sk s ilren you ao ioil[elY b dhi€E ]du b'oide'Iell yia n.nrss *har lor lreeOUTOFTRAI3. GET INVOLVEOwh!i y0u aE !iitrstrhq iny r0rn oliid, dove i[. i y0tr ds rmhaprdri.e na|6 prred s ir your2. CH00SE WTSELYwheiFrsinsr€!er.b*toyiun&rsssid imijtrm'ion*rhylun! rteparlmrr mk d'eEonid[nhdmndsh ind Mle dosi h0* rhisMrk. src yon mmptclr rny *dry0 ae ?sked b dt trlon sta|Lnqyou ll0lBmm€ vdudD ine ftdbe hsr in brnqin0 peo9re u! b rhereYerrhcy srro!d rrzle achiesd ii6. STAY IN TOUCH0m1 d0 hurr. w. opsr€ ii ,howrcdq. [f,keireWtrrehhaid4. SUMMING UPftddry dnll lhd yotr trrr t.'dJ0marreporr ro dsas you 'rhFinally,leeplalkinq l0y0ur manager He0rshehasavesl€dinler€stincnsuingtlratyouarew0rkingellecuand sh0uld be abh lo provido lhe adv ce lhat w'llhelp y0u tultily0ur p0lerlial. Thai way €verybody benelits.A placeamongthe elitePTbusLnessesare ookin!]lo oin an elilesroLp of nrajor UK compan es rho have!a ned Government r.cognltion 10r ink nCtra ning ard deve opnient lo mproted bus fessA natiofa standlrd was aunclre.l ast year byihe Government.a led nvesror n PeoDle ( P) Tl'rislays dovJn a p anned approaclr lo seti ng aidcommunicatln! b!sriess loa s and dcv.lon ngSo iaraboul30 compafles across the UK havebe€n awardedthel tleand now busifesses nGPT a.e be .q encooraqcd to go lor P status. 'ilh" t seems prettyobv o!s that by settin! b!s nessgoas,le Lrg cnip oyceswhal tlieyarea.denco!ralt ng them thro!gh 1ra nin! andd.vclopment to he p ach eve tlrose tarqels. we areallgo na ro be betteroif.'sald Andy Lee, GPTActing Person.e D reclor.' Now lhal ttre Government ha3..me !p vJ th anationa sta.nard rorimprolin! bls nessperformance lhrough lra ni.q and deve opment,businesses sho!ld be eve. more.a!1. to !]o fo.1heThecriera a d down bytlreGovernmenl toberecogfised as an nveslor . People are'ora l,rlake a pub lc.omnr tmenr trom the lop lodeve op all-amDlovecs io ach eve ls bus .essa Flequ ary revier tne train nl] and deveopme.l oia Take3cl on to tiain ard d.ve op .d v nLa s onrecrLilmenl and throuoho!l their employment.a Ela !atelhe inveslment n training anddeve opmenl to assess a.hlevenert and mproveGPI b!siness-ps w.rk ng tovr'ards the stan.iardwl need lo lo ow a pro.ess ol asscss nq how theycu(ently meas!re !p. iak.g a.t on to mpr.vewh.rc nccessary arLd then puttifgttrenscveslothe test. Th s assessm.nl rv llbc con.l!cted bylheir oca Tra.in! and Enterprise Cou.c (TEC).ll tlrey come lhro!gh tha1, pub c reccgn I o. a.dmosl mp.rtantlyj .!slomer rec.qnilion, w lto low'Wh e al husiness.s cuir.n1ly.arry oLt anerte.s ve pfogradrme ol tralning ard d-ovelopmentjtheimpet!sotgo.9toranationa slandardcafon yspurllrem o. lo do even beller, .'pnsur n! tharboth emoloveesand th. bus.ess benel t fiom theeJfort,' Andy Lee anded.

BTEC approval for departmentPT sTrain na Depadnrent at Covenlry haslree. approved lool'erthe iu IBTEC Nal onatl D nloma n EfllineerinC Ttr s approvaliseiven tor f ve consecul veyear. b.gli.ing nThe IechnicalTralning Detartme.l in Covcntryhasenha.ced ls co!fses forstrdents andapprent oes, so thal lhey.ow meet BTECThe scr!1iny covered the whole tiain rg processir.mlhese e.tion a.d .ducl onoisiudenls tothephysica resources, thelr mainlenance andrl.\.lopm.nt Th. q!.r l.il on\ rnd ndu!ni.e p!rie..eolle..lri.q 5lali o.Ll,rr"r Llement: oitheirdele opmenl were fev evre.l The melhods!sed fordevelopl.g common skilsanl assessinqstldents vJer-a eiam ned as vre as the proced!restor monilorl.q, eva !atin! and reviewing cour3e3.Ihc.ppfovcd co!rse consisrs oi 18 un tsa Sw r.h.q syslcmsa Transr. ssiri. Pr nciplesa nfofmation Hand in!t Systems.TOP OF THE WORLD: >a F e.lr.a & Electron. PrifciPesa M.ro elecronlc Systcmsa Sotiware Des 0n lvlelhols et..I s a so the .lcntion to offcr BTEC Conl nlirgErlu.al on Proq.amm.s Sh.( Proqrammes.l Sl!aVand fdiv d!al Un ts to allGPf emp oyees. w th theeventuai awa.d ot tcrma. nal ona ly{e.o!nis,pdC oserl nks vJ th Covenlry Po ylechni. are alsobeing eslabLlshed with rvJo ol Ihe depanrrenl sshorr co!rses bei.q a..rediled at Maslers DeOreelevel Fortnosc efro In! o. a PersonalDcve opmenl Prollramme o.the Polrtech.. sCo.t .!l.g Englneer nq sotrene, lh s accred talionmcans lhal credits for lhe lvr'o co!fses can be usedlovrards lhe q!a t cal of.Th. tLro..urs-As are:a O Prograirnnrng (7.rec I po rls)a Advan.ed C Proqramming (7 cred l po nts)GPI ri!r.! Depanme.rwl berespo.s blelordel ver nq and assess n! the m.du es Th. rirst orthcsc.ourses s cu(e.i y runn n!T^^-,^,^"t,tud.t vv\Jt N -POTOr teLI tU tdt I+^I,U ^1.^.., bI IUVVI IUVV IL Jr]r]noI man who oraclrcestl whal he.r-AachesA r',..mw.rk s PclcrDeve opn e.l Manager alrespoqsib I tyot Pelerana hisrcam s ro provroe a cosreiiecl !e. .on leclrnicaltrain nq and deve opmenlsefl celo NSG and CovenrryRcgion Hovr'ev.r, ir add tronlo.arryin! out lheselasks,llrey also povide train n9s!pporl to oth.rsrt.s.Thrs hcrp can takc m.nylorms, lrom unnin! coLrrs€sand workshops lo design .gpro!rsmmes whiclr.an be r!nTrio meetchallengeof Africarthr-F ntrrl, Li !rare ers I orn !PT rLLe.t yI rei | .m I Fny r where ha..l w"'f dnLlI 'rnp.ldF l.zl!r rr ry na rondrl !r re u re.ln teraly p!11n! a rooi olerlhe heads ol60"'0.]l3ii,; or Nsc coveniry. Ramin.rer(Mjndv)Andeh,of """,,"", ISG Poole.and Pau D3vs ofTSC Bccstor. vJe.e three ol rl GEC emplov-"es w:rocnF.r 1!e weet,s,,n rE c ld In.rn'p !t r ! woL,! Ll nL' O ! r.rLle - .roolrn.llhFnthFrfi.i'hi.'r'uofl ! th plumbino, wir.! af! p asten.!The Drolccr w3s organ.ed by Barry Roberts otD!i.hurch the CEc Manaqernent Co lccc. af.l wasornl.alv n1lfdcdtobeamedicalaidproie.l Thalwaa s!soe.ded asi Seplember ard the bulld rgprolecl pui n 1s pLaceTh. ob e.tives. ho\lever. !r-"re1he same lor bolh10 a ve the participarts agcd betvr'een lSand 27 aein n1] br dn n!l e?per e.re and I c !,vrt w LtsomF qra tr-, thcy Llid .or h.rL rl rhe bFq nn r'!l .rthe oro.ct. trhich staded a leer before the actLalFau.lor nslan.. aamns ihai ilwas lhenrorlhsot F annrfq wriich re\rarded him lhe most. Th s wasrna.lybecaus. h.was.hosen to be prolectmanaoerand eaiiied a ot abo!t .adersh p.''Th s took !p practicaly al mysparelmeloraVear,' he said. a.d ! benel ted iron the eiperiencebeiorewe $ent out perhaps more lhan when w--Brcndacommented The Droiect heLped m!leamh d n!.na n,.t-.t p dr r ro ,f l; and lrre me rpostt !! JrlLuoetor.rd. n rri. r( r lntred

The coolapproacn+^ + r^ i^i^^BY Tony Cooke, PersonnelrFhe lradil o.al l.ainl.!I term 1.. Brcak.. tookI on a whn a ne*meanlng whe.lwas inMos.ow recenlly !ndenakin!som-4 develo pme nt workwrthCOMSTAFI, the R!ssian CPTThe interPreter menl c.edthai il was part cularlycold onoLr openin!l morn nc. lle said'Today maybe 13 m fLs. . . ,whi.h probably a..o!nls fortre tact lhat lhe dooi 10 lheira nln! areawas frozen solidhave heard some prettygood excuses Tor nol lurn nguplo slan a train ng colrsebll1har co!ld berhe best yetMyassi!,nment was tointroduce lhe phllosoph es olpcrfomancc appra sals and,hop--JL ly,lo mplenre.l anellective sysLem nlo lheBusiness skillsprogramme -putting you tothe testI erdersh p tF:mworl.. bu.i.F...pn.- an.lI .ommur,.rrio. e!hnilt!e- drc r!-t d re( olIrhe q!al ties p!t io ihe resl in lcompa.yw de lra.ing in lial !e know r as thebuiif.ss 5k ls programmeArou.d 100 Deople a year are selected lor t reco!rsc vrhich tak.s ahands on approach to th.a^tr- l,'" F'lalp4 ordl"_d1"'lskils The course is aimed at peoplewho have"qFn-'shown an aplinrde lofw der respofs biil es.The proqramme beqi.svr'ilh a bus n-ossapprecial on co!rsedesigned 1o promote a broaderunderstand .q of commerc al praci cc throuqh astldyot key dis.iplnes These n.lu.le markelresearch, prod!.1 desigi, p!rchasing, recruitmenland tEinin!. prodlclion,I nan. a controland sa,psTwo separate dodu es cofs def the mpodafoeoi the market n!, costinq and jinance i!nc1 o.s.ION COUFSEj Howing across a r€seftoirattersuccesslullydesigning and building a rah.The.ommunicat on and nleryiew ng .ourse.overs selection. appraisal and drsc p ifaryi.teryiew ng pl!s meet nq a.d presentai on skllls.Ind vidual panlc palion and role p ay make tor alive y course and lhe skil s acqu red are q!ickly pulinto pract ce back al work.F nal y,l.amwork and leadersh p qualilies afelesled to the l!lli. aweek ongseresoic!tdoofexer. ses slccess n such act v ties as cae ng,canoe nll or enleer nqj m.ufta n res.!e, c mb n!and absei i.g enab es teams to win points whi.harelraded tortood and Fqurnment !sed duri.o aTh s lraining need wasnderlrlied as a Possibledeve opmenilhal co!ld beused lo qradual y ntroducetechniq!es and their potcrtiabenefils inlo lhe workplaceOn.ewe had the trad lionalhandshak ng o!t of lhcvJayeveryone snaKes .and s e!-4rymor.rnaon anlvar weperiormance appra sa lssues.These nc Lded objeclivetechniq!es, dea ing withre lcEnce. rev ew!ng pasrperfornance, preteftednia.aqeria approach. iraln ngallernatives and proiess onalThetlve execLtives o. theco!rse showed panicL arirleresl in some asPectsotthe body lang!age sess onThis was rhe Iirst tlme theyhad been erposed lo thes0bjecl and parrlc!i6ry-anloyedlhe idea thal caref!obseryalion oi body lanquaqecaf, n cerlain cases, releal apersof s irame ol mirdThehahlahloilheprogrannne was rne casestudy work wllh videoO!TCOMSTAR exec!tivesrevelled in lhe r nevlloundro es and actlaly lookediorya.d 10 the exercises.Thc q!ality ol theireiionswas fLly evldefl in thepiaybacks .we co!ld wellwllness a nassexod!s to thewariner climes ol Ho lywoodby acoupleor budd ng lilmstars c!rcnly bLding the rSpeaking from experience . . .Brenda taylor, a Development Group Ianag6r,took part in th€ I99Or9l Business SkillsP.ograftde. On lhe bu5ine.s simulaiionmodule she soon discover€d tnat .unn idg agr€etingscard business wa3 nolas easy as it"on the fifsr day we w€re asked to lisi rhequalities which conrributeto makins acofrpany succe3sful. One ot the issuesw€discussed was comhu.ication.r' said Erenda.!(burwhen w..an ihe erercise we railedfriseralrly inthis rcsp€cl. Alonc poinr we6uldn'r.ren find outhow many card5 we hadDurinq lhe business gam..very coursemember hasto play the p.rt of a m.naEer inon€ coftpanyand a produ.lion ope.alor inanorher, Br.nda recalls how their attitudetTALKING BUSINESS: Peler Zaboji >(righl)chals wilh lhe new sales peopleduring theif inductio..Video links put newstaff in the pictureI t deo.o.iere.. iq across the OPT Nei s aboof]lt nor o. vto blsincss.s a.d outsde clstomers.t but also lo peope concerned with lrainlnaw th.lhe orgaf sanon.A.ecenl eiampLewasthe ndlcl on ol l8 newsa espeop e into cPT Cornmunl.ation systemsLimited (CSL) The proaramme was des 9ned as parlollhedrve to mprovethe q!a rtyol salcs activilywithl. rhe.ompany and to.k n elerythln! lrommarkel n9 s1ra1egy 10 a uokal lhe Natlo.a See ceCenlre in Wellingboro!gh.As parl ot th€ denronslratron .l prodlcls lorthefut!re ink no vdeoconlerenc no and the CT2 - lh-asaespeople werevldeo trrked across lhe GPT Nelchanged according to the role they w€r€playinq. rrAs worke.s wewahted doreinto.marion, butas flanaserswG oould notprovidc it. Th€ course certain ly highlighted theditficulties ol runnins a business.r'Laler. on lhcourdoors module in wal€s.Brend. l€arnr thar she loves abseirihg bulncver wantstoEo down anoihercaveas lonsas sheliv€s. Thc imDort.nce ol leamwork wasalso graphically illus}ared when theyall hadtospend the night under cadvas,rrthroughoutthe week we h.d worked ve.ymuch as indiyiduals, no nal!ral leaderemerg.d," she said.rrHowever! wecould nothave sooccssfully orientee.ed to oor camp site,builr. fire, cooked a meal and erected aientindividually, welrad to rork as a team and rhisiswben wefinallygelled,,'Ț #lron' Beeslon to Klrkca d! and Ma denheadThis approach certan y impressed the!roup andshowed lust how la.GPT lras advanced w th lsOn the nna day ot atve.day i.duction co!rse lhesalespeop ewere asked ro make .divd!apresenial ons to an mag nary board ol direclors -which tuhcd out to bc quilc r.a as CSLmanagl.gdlrector PeterZaboliand iinance and commer. aldlrcctor Kials Pilzuhr bolh madc asurprlsev st andisten.a jn Ailetuards they answered.lrestionsMeaivrhie i. the U.iled Slales, GPT is partoT auniqlelve city m! tipoinl v.leoconleren.e nelworkused by Calilornia Slate Un versity (CSUr lor d sta.ce

Talk-backvideo isprovrnga realwrnnerI I ention SPC io Operal ors.mp oyees atlltlBeeston and ther.wl bei.stanl re.oanii orl!l- thanks to two yeaB' hard work byiac I talors Phil Hargrave and Dave T!nstal 10en.oura!e traif f! by inleraclile video' P i Poq1o lake 1! I respo.sibi 'nn'Ji1y ior the producls a.dp.o.esses lhey work onslarisii.ar Pro.ess cc.lror (sPc) ls pail ot tlreTotalQuality Ma.aqemenl (TOl,4)vr'h ch has beeiadopled by esc to ens!re p.odu.ls meet cusiomerne€0s ano req!!renrerrsi\,lore tha.350 peop c h.v. been lralned on ihenteracll!{r v d.o metho.l, a _ia k back" videorhi.hhe ps lo tra n employees lo mon tortlrelroonpro.esses eadrr! l. cotrection of fa!lts vr'h le thepro.ess s rlnn nq savinc aovri l me andThc approach taken by the lac rtators lras 10 slanat llre root ol oDeral ons vJitn operaloB a.dass.mb crs Th:ir.omm1menl and entnrsiasm!-a.erated i rsl.!rios tyand then denraf! rro.l2iio! dLed q,o!ps sucn c! mi.r9e15 enq f.rrrnn irFporr leamr, lor f.o'J priq. nt SPc'The reason, qu te s mp y, ras the trai. nglechnia!e. sail Fri Harordve. "Wh l. there aren!merous lGiilnq pa.kaoes for SPC arouid, onecourse stood oul lron lheni al the rnt.raclLve-L,.ld.D'or-d ob-' L,a, r.d o p rq, ,the messaq. and lhe m.st cost eitecl ve a1 t90 per''Ihe train ng lias bee. rece !ed vJ th tr.me..louse.lfusiasm and th. rcchfique of'hear see, do ,nromoles agreaterdeqreeol r.tcntion '' said Ph L,l\ DEtjl|AND GROWS: Oualily Assurance enqineerKelth R€avill (lell) lalks lhrough lraining withPhil Hargrave (centre) and DsveTunnall.Nor is the.ourse too healy on mathematics.Theemphas s n SPC is ll0 per.enl.n job know edqea.d on y l0 Per.enl on slat strcs.Ph I expla ned: The success oJ th s programmelras bee. in ils app icat or to bf f! abollimprovede.l ll was esseni althere was rapi.iolod !p..cethe nit ai!/V lra flng wascomp etcd This \!as a.hieved by p!il]..r lnlopra.l .e hat lrad ilsl been earned''Thrapp icat on oithelechniquerilh. the rorn e.v ro.ment was f!ndamenla t the candidateswere to gai..onr dence This naturra ly led toana vs sottlre re.u ts and dec so.s!f dhataclion. \rere 10 be takcnThe coLrse !lves.andidales a grealerapp.e.iation oi the r mpacl of the qua Lly oiprodu.ts ihey man!ta{lure and tre graptricalreprescnlat on oi lhe process g ves rap d ieedbackot inlormat on on ho! theyare perlorm nqHe added: r4le have alfeady .oled lhe.hanges i.peop e s all tLrde be.a!s,aofrhe fos l ve rr:in nOme1ho.] aid tol ow on acl orrs Anolher lefelrl sthat because pe.F e have ownershit.l pr..essesandpurs!irgso!tions,pro!e'n3afe denl fie!at"Pr.veni ve mainle.a..e has v rtual y e im naledthe maiorlty oi machine brcakdowns and releclsiiom processes have been substant a ly f.ducedThclulure ho ds no bo!.ns forSPC. add-.d Ph lThe oblecl ve ls to spread the knowledge andappr..iation ol SPC everwider across BSG, itss!ppliers and cusiomers.Liverpoolvolunteerstune intoskillsprogrammerForoaramme is he o.opeope n the p!rchasin9deparlment at TSG Liverpoolto fin.luna th. rsk lsWhen an OES s!ryey to!ndthal lfain n! opporlun l cslvere seen lo bevari.Lsl! adhoc, non exisl-"nl'. reactiv.or'er. Lslve', slall I tlredepanment dec ded t wasThe iesllt s PDDP -ascheme for sell direcredtra ninq that can be laken !non conr.!ous las s oyeleryone in the depadment. amanua ssued t. arlstatt,o!lllnes apro!lrafr nie thatorfe.s cn thejob lra.inq,pl3.ements a.d lorma12 month a.ilon plans arerellulary mon tored w thPresenlat o.s a.d tfrenter.hange o1 inlormaliona so mpodanl padsol rheJ!sl aYearon a.d lhe s gnsare erco!rag ng. Here s wtralsome oi the participants ar-a'Peop c lik€ myse t lerd lolh ik lhal lhey have tl eloearn lJ !o!'!e treen or th.tra fing.ourses, lhai s i1 A!llh s s.rreme has he ped metorealse lhatwe are learn ng allrecoo. se lhe benetits hatday to day activ I es have ino!rdepanment. IorlLttchetl chlel BLyelThp inau.!ral vrdeoconfErrr Lc. oroarlreLl oi.ll/!y CSU, GP-T video Systems rrd Uc Srr nr inf..lSa.,ampnto Brf.rst eld n C! llr id Kd r!a5C 1y, WashinCton -n.l DCand London and was a sobeamed llve 10 educalona!estab ishments acrosslhe usA lry asale liietelev sion cducatrona channeLGPT be eves!ideoconterenclng has lremendousedlcatlona polent alas a means ol alow n!geographi.a ly.d spersed peoplelo ex.ha.ge.lormaliona.d deasspoftaDeouslyandBy ai ow ng students and p!piLs al ofeestablshmenlo lo low spec aist.oLGes oflered byaiother, vallable academic resources can be madeala lab e to thc widest poss ble audienceThe CSU nelwork wi alsobeusedtorsratldeveiopmc.l and i. senice lra. ng. presentations bydistingu shed academ.sand d slribulion oitim andvldeotape malerials. as we las genera a.ademic andadm. slrallve meet ngsV dcoconiere..in! has becomeviable asaleachinq med !m n fe.erl yeac be.auseoj lhe!realeravalab ltyof !ligita leephofe li.es anddeve opments in techno ogy. slch as v deo.ompression vJhich h6 redu.ed the bandwidth orcapa.ity requ red tocarryvideo p cturesoverdeparlmenfs comm lmeni 10tf. ning wil bring GPT maloro. a perso.al note, lee mor.deparlmcnt a6 a who.Sue tsums Super/isal'PDDP C ves ndiv d!als astruclurew thin whlotr thoy.an rea iselheircommilmenllo se I deve opmenl t shouldaci as the mode lormanyofourl!lure n tiat ves "SLsan Clatk EnptoveeE

coilsoRTrululI nnovaiion h6 as much toI do wlrh rrainln. as lr doesI with telecommirnl.aiionstechnolo€y, so new, eilecliv€ways ot tulliling tra ning needsOne ot lhe lalesi is ihcProf essional DevelopmentConsorlium, an nil ative !nderwh ch GEC companies,lncluding GPT, are bro!Ohtlogelher w th selecied0niversilies a.d polylechnics lomakc post graduate evelma.agement and te.hnicalirainlng more accessib e andThe Consortium oiiers ihelao lily lo put logelheraPe6onalDevelopmentProsEmme (P0P) compr si.9modulesol lcarning wh ch canbe raker indiv dlal y or linkedloqelherleadinq, ii desired,lo arecognised post !raduateEvery module is qua ityPartnershircIcortrolled by an exlernaelaminefand much ol lheassessment ol ihc studenfspedorhance is by post modulelask done i. the stldenfs ow.time,orat the place oi work aslModules are cross acoreditedso a student, with companyapproval, may register with oncot ihe selected universitiesorpolylechnics, but p ck modlleslrom others, so 6sembln(l aMod!lesoliered are typ callyone week rcsidcnt alordislance learnlng wilhaddiliona pre co!rse and poslcoLrse stldies in a.anOe ots! bject afeas: pe6onal andg.oup sk I s, manaqingbusiness, managing ogislics,des gn and n'arutacluingoPerallon, inlormaiionlechnolo9y and tcchno o9y forProdlcts and syslemsSpecliic co!rses inc ud.manutacr'ning slraieoy, qualitysyslems, design and prod!cltransm ssion and robolAmon9 rhc academicinslitullons c!irently olieringmodules as pariof rhe PDc areWaMlck University, Coventry(lclecomm!nical ors modules),H enleY MaoaSemenl Co legeand the open universiiy.GPT is an esrablshed userofthe Open Un v,.rsity andmembersh p oflhe PDC nowmeans that the many Ollstudentswith GPToanconsid.rlhe r dele opmenl inthe contert ol programmesolfered by thew dcr PDC.Abooklet etp aining the PDCin mofe detailand how il works,is ava lable trom yourlocalTrai.iiO Depanmentoralternal velytrori He en flaryey\7403621).ualitt\ince l!8b GPT ha! wor .ed\w th theOpen Unrvers ty to!t creaie opponuniu es iored ucaiional lu lfihent. Todaymorethan 300 former stldentscan testity lo the success oi lhelan Bradley, oi OpenDevelopment said: Therelationshlp between ihe OpenUniversily and GPT h6 beencarelu lY nudLred overthe years.Both organ sations believe inproducing qualiiy products andseto ces lo lhe highestslandards to meet c!stome.''Togeiherwe have bee.sLccessf0l in ensuf ngthepersonaL dcvclo pmenl of peopleworking torGPTio meetcompany oblectives and to makethal a. enjoyable experience''The successwe have had isdue to the dedlcation of a lthos.involved in providln! acarin!environment where train ngopportun ties can llour sh"Our partrership s bas-.d onprotessiona ism. We ooktorward to deve oping il torlheGPI is conl nuiog lo ook torwavs ol makina lhe scheme everm;e eJteciivelA re.enlsuccesstuL l.itialive has led tolhe supplyoi oneof each oi lhepop!larOU packs to thecompany s majorope. Learnlngcentres.This makes il eas erlorst!denlsiojol. the scheme ordec de which niodu elo studyThe soccess of the OUscheme is duc in largc m€as!retolheworkalthe iour niain siteco ordinators and, oico!rse,yourown enlhlsiasm An ope.dooa'policy exlsts and newideas are always welcome.lfyounave afy corninenrs orsu9Oeslions please contact DaveCarey on 7352252oro.e ol thefollowino sile co-ordinalors:L nda Cowen, PoolOU silecoMike Gilbert, Cove.try O! sneco.ordlnator, 740 3269.steve Hodgsor, Beeston OU siteco ord nator,780 3301Calvin Monk, LlverpoolOU siteco.ordlnaior, 760 3676.l |AN AFADLEY ol theOpen Universiry (letr)di$usses cours6 wilhGra ham Wolf during lheOl, Roadshow visit toOpen University - it's iust the iobrlhe valueol Open Universilylhe process ot working roq elhetI courses is conlirmed rime considerably as I was be er ableI andlimeagain bylhe lo understand sofiware melhods-"commenrs ol lormer srudenis.- David Bae"lhe solrware engineerinq "The only way tor me roachieveatrd computer architecturesan MSc is lhrough theand operaring systems coursesOpen Univetsity, Any orher way isgave me essential backgrou ndknoelege when I mov.d lromhardwarero sofiware, Betorethat I had to sp6nd consid.erable tine workinq wirh sofiwareengine.rs which was dilliculrdue to our dilterent knowledgebases. Ihe courses spoeded upioo life fraqmenting, I lind that Iam appryin9 my knowledge well- Kate sutcliffe."The Open Universily hasglven melh€ opporlunily todevelop myselt, nixinq workexperience wnh studywhile alihe sametime earning,"-JarlceFose"So fa. I have tound thatall olthe couGes (on rhe MB ) hav€been releva.t lo myjob,"Mike Tape."Having srudied rhe $fiwareengineering modulej chan9in9lron hardware lo solrware provedio be a lairly straighl-loruardsiep to take, slbseque.tly Istudied computer archilecluresand operating systems and Inow find I can lalk 10 operalingsyslems designers on equalretms. ' - Philip Biles.

Take theOpenroad tosuGcessI nylhl.C you eam by yolrown eilods awaysII has asDec alvalue.That is whv theFtechniqueof ope. iear.ing has be.ome s.pop!lar. At GPT people areenco!raged to disooverlhingslorthemse!ves, because heLp n! them iodevelop wi I improve our bus ness pertormanceOpen learning rs atalning mclhod wh ch alorspeop e ro st!dy appropriale s!biects in theirolvnt me, at iheirown pace and at a levellvilh n theitown.apabiil es. Programmes.an be tailored tomeel i.div dua needs to al ow n.deplh sludy olA particu arbenelit ot the systen s rat l nEkeslraln nq avai able to awide range ot peop e oflenlo 9ro!ps who have nol had access totrain n9 anddeve opment Jorsome t meAs we las beinq accessib e, efiect!e andt exible, open l.arning provides lraining a1aIraction ol thecosr ol rhelrad tional ecluredcourses. Nor s there a.eed to.trave andeipenslve accommodal on ii il is prov ded on site.Open leaning svery cost eilectivc train ngLEARNING IUETHODSEach of the Io!rma n GPTs tes al Beesto.,Coventry Liverpooland Poo e has an open Learn ngccnir. and a var ctyot methods are used 10 prov denstrucllon.They inc udelcompulerbased trainidg (cBI)The mosl popu arlear.ing method, CBT. usesspeclalsollware packages designe.lto r!. on aDersonal comput€r The best.ourses lse anlmaied!raphrcs, tert, summares a.d q!estions 10 prcscntiniormation n a.lear. roo cal manner. Many aroecompan es have iivesled heaviy in thc tcchno ogyA powerfu and mpress ve medium n wh ch avideo disc playcr, conlrolled and suppo.ted by aPC comb nes sight, sound a.d stldent acl vi1y.Moslly !sed to deve op the nter persona sk I srequired oi mana!ers and superuisors.Vid4, audioandlexlOlten.ombined ior maxlmum erre.t, theycomplement each olher well Vldeo s ldealfordemonslralion, simulation and ro p -4aV. Audio islhel rsl choi.e lor langua!e lral.inq Text lsexp analory afd provides a record iorlutlre^ SUCCESS sToBY: Joan spencer (piclured) wassuccesslulat a recent interuiew du€totheeiperience gained on thecourse.Piactical expe.imenl kil3Usuallyco.slst oi texl supported by equ pmenldesigned le allow pracl !a work.Whalcou.sesareavailable?Coorses al lhe fouf mai. open earning ce.lresranqelrom simple nstrucl on to the mosl detaiedanalys s on topics as varied at.ompll ng,eleclronic eng neerlng, managemenl sk I sang!a1le train.O and financ alawafencssEveryone sho!ld th nk aboul !si.! the fac iil es.Heieare some ol the benelits:.-r AcquirelraininS and development needsdertit ed lhrough a pe rson al developmenta Use as acosl effective alternal ve to exlernaa, Preraral on foradvanced erlerna traLnlng.- Fev sion ol sk ls rhai area ltlle rusty:i Gain 1ra ninq vr'here atradrtiona course sa,: Supp ement oiherlraln ng.Atrangcments and cost vary from site lo site.Thefolowing are alailab e lo answeryo!rqleslions:a Beeston Chrsl neTyldesley 7803218.a colentry Mike GiLbeft - 7403269a Liverpoo G llSmyley 7603699.O Poole Derek Needham 735.2364Liverpool, i,-J^.^, ^^ ^vrrJVruu> dolowinorelerence/F\ pen lcafnLng has beenI lavailabl€ ar LileDoolsin.. N.vember lgaowhen iwo members-of stalihelped sludents throuqh selfpacedco!rses in unixjProtocol90 and projectmanag€meni srudies. Today,lhe centreoifers 50coursesand provides l5 workslalionscontain ng video pfesenlers,computers, praclicalk ts andThe average nLmberofstudents usin! the cenlreeach day hs risen iron threein Apill990to 24 at ihebeginnlng ol this year. Andlhe amounl ol time sFenl instudy hasdoubled in the pasl12 months Here is whalsome ot lhe studenis have''lget moreoutol thesesessions in the Cenlfelhanlheequilalent sessions alaaltepe, - fony Grant.''The CoLrrse is veryinteractiveand thorouqh.really good ovefa L ldrecommend ii to anyone.''ll s useririendiy..expLains things in asimpleway... colld be used byPeople wiih no previoosexperience or as areiresher''B.illlanr... glves ihest!de.1 kee choice what andwh€n to study.lthink ir'sgreal and l'm allh tavolrolapen eantr]. Liz Deighan.

PTare helping students on Merseysideloundersta.d the fz.ts.l ndrsiri3 iteAs four der members ol the Merseysidelr'Uustry and Commerce Awards {MICA) s.hemeGPTar Edge Lhe are al thc lorehonr ofr se|e5ofinil alivesdesioned to foslerlinks belweenbusiness and ed!calionTen loca flrms and abolt 40 schools andcorlegesare ifvolved in the scheme,which hasg ven hundredsofstudents the cha.ce lo preparetorthe adurl word oi work lhrough c ose study oflhe reqion's lnduslraland commerc allie.The keylo rhe success oiihc schcmc nowinits tilth year- is ihai competinA teamsol studentsareab e lo cul the rleelh on reaiand re evanlExpla ninS someoliheaims and meihods of thcscheme, [l| le Horqan, GPT r.nrFsFntatire on lheMICA sleerinq commrrree, sa d: MICA i5 armeLlmainlyat sixlhJorm stldents Oneolthe keyleaiuresolthe scheme is the encourageil'enl 01teamworklo a.hi-Ave s!..ess in an induslr.l6rcommercial situal on. We like to see m xed ab lilyleamscompetin0 and lakeaccoLnt of this in o!r''A lthe projects are real, c!(enl businessprob ems prescnted by ilre parriclpal ng iirms w lhhelp from each company."Each leam is guidcd by acompanyad! sor, ormenlor, and each company hasthreeorlourleamsworklngon ils project. Teams normally con sisi oftourlo eiqhl stldents who wofk parr.time overtwoterms on lhe r oroiecrs. Thelrcomoanv advisorscommil lo prolid{iabout 1o ho!rs coisu tancywolkwith thengroups, but lhis is usually we Iexc6eded En.ouraoem-ent lrom bos ness experlsand the useol top class iacillties prove a powertuThe compeiition r assessed in two stages Ihelirsl slaoe ol assessmenl lakes place al thesponsor n9 company. Awinnng leam earns!l00lorlis schoo and book lokens lo lheval!e of fi00 iorlheteam membeF. Teams placed second and th rdwin book lokens to thevaloeoil50 and 125Getting ataste forbusinessWioning leams go torward io compele aqainsleach otheral lhesecond slaQe where they presenttheirrepons to a panelofj!dqes belorea. invitedaudience oi parents teachers and indusft alistsP olecrs are crlegoriscd n lhree 9roups,commericrl crealive an.l l.achnl.al and the hecrteam t.om each category receives 1200 for tsschoo orco eqe. Elerystudcnt who successfulyconpletes lheir prolect receives a descriptiveThis year lhe GPT MICA project askspart c pants to consider lhe lollowinq:Many largecompanies operate schemes ihati.volve linan.ial awards tor s!ggestio.s,innovalions and specia caftribLti(rns. cPT aiL verpoolhas two such schemes: The innovat onaward scheme and thc irdlvid!a contr but onaward scheme You are asked to investigale:1. What lype ol schemes are operaied by asamPle oJ comPanies on Merscys de?2 How ellectlve theseschcmcs are?3. $/hy UK schemes seem to bc gcneraly essetiect vethan schemes operaled by Japan.-.seandS.hools tahinq parl ,re De La Sal e Wcsl De byConrprelrenrrve dn! rl'e h tro Davtd 5.hool. GPTadv sors tothethree respective leams are E arneFowley, Tony l-l uqhes and Simon Kenn ck.The calegory winners will redelvc th.ir awardslfom the DukeolWesh nsteron linal'snight nPRoJEcT: Julielte GarnerFact-finderJuliettegives boostto schools'supporrI I then Julielrc Garncr wasUlt s€con.led iiom GPTIo!J GEcshewas asked tolook lnto Lhe need lorsohools'c!dculum suppon maler al inscience and technology. Threemonths raiershe had a projcctproposal and coslinqs ready.The time was spenl evaluatingmaterlala ready produced forteachers and consull ng avarictyof edlcalional sts. lr becameapparenr lhat, a thowh iherewas a qood mix oi maleriaiaround,lhere was a need iorworklng in coniuoclion withtheSchoo s C!rricu !m InduslryPannership (SCIP), GEC agreedto tinance apa.k.onta ning 6ixApprentices are a class actllpprenlices employed by/Fencourased 6 relu.n lorhe schoolroom lo helppupilswilh a projecl and, attlre sametime, encouraoegoodw llbelwee. the cohpanyapprenlices lrom BSG afeshowl.g yo!ngsters irom anearby school how io b! ld amoisturesensorwhich.ourdhave a number ol usei!lappllcations in the home.The apprentices, Mark Read,Sal y Dafie and AndrewH!nler, spend an hourand ahali at the aldermar WhiieComprehensive School whef esome25 pupils allend lhe rvisiled byirainees. We regardlhese visils as a two wayapprentices qain somesupe tuisory expe.ience andenjoyexira responsibil iy,wh lelhe pup ls caiiyoltausefu project " said GrahamMaltby, Recruilmenia.dDeve opmenl manaeer at lhewhileihe soil sensorhas lhernostobvous use ot inlormin!peoplewhen plants needwater, it can beadapled torAllached lo a blzzerli.ou dhelp a parlia ly.sighled peFonmeasurethe water depth in thebalh and could inforn thehouseholderwhen wash ng inpupis wanlthen to be, andlhescheme,which hasparallels al olhe. s tes! ishelping io fosler lseiu inksbetween the company andschoo sto munralhenef rJulielle has abackgro!nd inpersonne and marketing. shemanages the project on behallotGEC and cu(ently six teachershave been seconded tfom theirschoo s to write stud es.J! i€li€ commented: GEC isconcerned aboui mprov nqleve s ol a.hicv.m.nt n scicnccand lechnology n schools.Thecompanywanicd lo hclpteachers in lhe r diit c!ll lask ofCutric!l0m and my or qinal brieiwas lo t nd oul howGEc mighibestass st. spenl somel meta king lo lhe science andtechnolooyadvisorsotWatuicksh re and Coventryeducal on aulhorliies and olher"The pack conra ns sir casesludies aimed a thecoftro andmeasuremenl are4 0ltfrescience and lechnology NationalCuniculum. They are designed lohelp teachers deliverlhis parl o'thecutrlc!lumio 11 io l4yearo ds in theilassrootrr. 'I''we have qood links w th anumberol schools in theNotingham areawhich areThechoice oi prolect can beas var ed as the schools andl GUIDING LIGHT: t{ark Redshows the lads how il's donaPoduced by Editotial Associates lA6Aa 256a36. fypeset byCfL Conputer Iypesettats 1t,3.10532)7445/7. Ptinled by Yo'kshn,"CohhuhicattansGrcup(0924) 331330.