What is it like to become a GIRI Approved Training Provider?

What is it like to be a GIRI Approved Training Provider? At the latest GIRI meeting focused on training and skills, Joanne Arnott and Dave Beer from Kier discussed the challenges, benefits and lessons learned from the business’s internal rollout of GIRI training.

In early 2024, Kier Natural Resources, Nuclear & Networks was awarded £109,620 by CITB to roll out GIRI training on eight diverse projects: Hinkley Point C, AWE (Atomic Weapons Establishment), Mansfield Sustainable Drainage Systems, Thames Water WAAP (Waste Assets Assurance Program), UK Power Network (UKPN), Environment Agency Collaborative Delivery Framework, South West Water Framework, and the Anglian Water Framework. 

The rollout started in August 2024, and 12 months on, the training has been successfully delivered into six of the eight projects, said Joanne Arnott, head of business assurance.

“We had the opportunity to put forward eight streams of work within the allocated funding, and we chose to go ahead with all eight. Did we bite off more than we can chew? One of the key learning points has been that within the construction phase, what you start with is not necessarily what you end up with, and on two of the projects – AWE and UKPN – we were unable to complete the rollout for business and construction-related reasons unrelated to the training itself.”

Kier started by training 20 internal trainers, and has recertified ten of these as well as maintaining its approved training provider status while the business decides on next steps.

“We have independent training contracts for roll out, such as Southern Water and United. These weren’t in the original commission. Instead, they are clients who have come forward as a result of the rollout, and we have been able to share some of the trainer experience and start training delivery. We have also put in our expression of interest for the GIRI operatives course development.”

The trainer experience

Dave Beer, Kier’s quality lead on the Environment Agency Bridgewater Tidal Barrier project, was one of Kier’s top trainers, delivering 19 supervisory and management skills courses across the Environment Agency, Anglican Water and UKPN contracts and training a total of 187 delegates. He shared his personal reflections on the training roll out, including giving him the confidence to talk to a room full of people. 

The challenges included the logistics of travelling between contracts, the set up of external premises, and connectivity issues. Dave’s advice: get there early to resolve any venue issues, ensure all course materials are downloaded and printed, and bring lots of HDMI cables.

However, he noted that the hardest thing to manage was delegate arrival time. “Herding cats has nothing on this – you would have people making coffee, on the phone, or outside having a smoke. Eventually, we had to put the start time as half an hour earlier to ensure we could start on time. When you are delivering two courses in a day, timing is tight.”

Despite these challenges, however, Dave said the training was very well received. “The format is well structured and well supported with materials and exercises, and allows for flexibility in delivery. One of the highlights is definitely the Lego exercise. This is universally loved and sparks competitive energy. You do inevitably get people on these courses who don’t want to be there, and the Lego exercise helps break down that negativity.”

He added that engagement on the day is key to successful learning, and the training uses participation exercises to help engage delegates. “We monitor how people are getting on in their group discussions. Some people are more vocal than others, and you will get a few who will happily sit there and just take it in, so we do try to encourage those people to join the conversation. The learning experience is for everyone, not just the most vocal.”

Another benefit of the training is clear messaging. “The core GIRI messages – build it in your brain, and press pause to avoid error – are simple, memorable and effective, and they resonate with delegates. Early in the rollout, because the messages were unfamiliar, it was harder for attendees to apply them without a shared understanding across the business. As the training has become more widespread, the terminology has gained traction.”

The concept of open questions is another key takeaway from the training, said Dave. “We find that a lot of people have introduced this idea when they come back for the second course. And the courses themselves give people the tools to have those conversations in their work.”

Dave concluded: “Moving forwards, we must sustain the momentum and keep discussing errors openly without blame – this is so important – and reinforce the training messages regularly. Ultimately, the feedback showed that participants gained a greater understanding of error causation and how they can contribute to a culture of improvement across the industry.”

Learning from experience

In totally, Kier has put almost 1,300 people through the training process, said Joanne. “We have found it a positive experience, and if you asked us if we would do it again, the answer would be yes because it was right for our business. It got the conversation around error going and instilled it even in areas of the business where we thought we might struggle. Now the conversation is around how we keep it going.”

In terms of what Kier might do differently, Joanne said that the business would run both modules of the two-part course closer together, or even on the same day. “This is because as the construction phase moves on, the people in module two aren’t necessarily the same as in module one – that was a key learning point.”

The trainee experience

“We collected a lot of feedback, and on the whole, everyone took something positive from the experience that they felt would enhance their day job or understanding,” said Joanne.  “There were obviously one or two delegates who were there because they had been sent rather than because they wanted to be, or who were stressed about missing time on their day job, but most people were very positive and that’s what we need to take it forward.”

Become a GIRI member and attend our next members' meeting.