Name:
Victoria
Role at Harlow:
Human Resources Apprentice
What do you enjoy about working for Harlow?
The people at Harlow’s makes it what it is, Since I started here last September everyone has been kind and welcoming. The family business feel is great, and it is evident that employees are at the heart of everything we do. Harlow’s has excellent learning opportunities for both current and new employees, I am doing a Level 3 HR apprenticeship, this supports everything I learn in my day-to-day role and allows me to gain a qualification whilst working.
Harlow is a newly formed Employee-Owned Trust. What are your experiences with the evolution of the business?
Since coming to Harlow’s I have seen lots of change, we are constantly working to make improvements to the working environment and to ensure everyone is given the opportunity to develop within their roles. The employee-owned trust gives everyone the opportunity to put forward their own ideas and influence changes in the company to help us grow. There are lots of great ideas and suggestions being put forward and many exciting projects coming up that I cannot wait to be involved in.
Harlow has recently created a new online academy training system. Tell us more about your role in bringing the concept into a reality:
Harlow Academy is our new online learning management system, it provides online training sessions on a variation of topics from health and safety to management skills. I worked with the senior management team to create bespoke learning plans for each department and role that we believe will provide key knowledge and skills that will allow them to develop within their role and progress if they wish. I have designed and delivered training sessions for all of our managers to show them the new system and how it is going to benefit our teams. All Harlow bros employees now have access to this training via a computer and at our larger locations via group training sessions. We are liaising with other areas of the business to create their bespoke training plans and roll out Harlow academy to their employees too.
How do you see the Harlow academy benefitting our colleagues?
Harlow academy allows employees to access training on various subjects that can help them improve in their current role and also help them to develop skills which may allow them to progress within the company. This platform also provides important health and safety refresher training to keep employees up to date with current legislation in order to keep themselves and colleagues safe. The training is easy to access and convenient which means training can be completed in bitesize modules at a time that is convenient for the learner.
You are personally conducting quite a number of training sessions with our staff, how have you found the role of delivering to the wider team important understanding?
As I am still reasonably new to Harlow’s the training sessions have allowed me to get to know our employees. It gave me an opportunity to listen to our employee’s feedback and how they feel that Harlow Academy can work best for them as well as other suggestions they have about the business. The majority of our employees felt that introducing this new training platform was a positive change and were looking forward to completing the training. I have really enjoyed delivering the training and providing our employees with key skills and knowledge for their roles.
Lastly, what are you hopes and aspirations both for yourself and Harlow in the years to come?
Initially my main goal is to complete my apprenticeship and then I hope to go on to complete further HR qualifications to develop my knowledge whilst gaining experience. I aim to continue to contribute to the growth and development of the HR department and in turn developing the employee experience.