Customer satisfaction, deepening talent pool behind NBC’s TTC
Coca Cola, biggest-selling soft drink in history with about $81.6 billion global brand value and Nigerian Bottling Company, NBC, its bottler have one objective. It is to maintain the brand forte in Nigeria’s beverage industry and NBC knows that this can only be achieved with the right and skilled workforce.
In 1996, therefore NBC which operates 13 bottling facilities across the country established Technical Training Center. This is not only to complement the education of its staff and other Nigerians at tertiary institutions but to consistently provide a pool of resourceful and competent engineers and technicians who are in tune with the highly demanding technology and operating environment in the beverage industry.
The training in various technical areas which runs for months is crucial as NBC runs almost 24-hour operation to satisfy the teeming consumers as lack of competent technical personnel to handle complex machines when broken down could result in short supply of the product.
Last week, the center graduated 16 technical students who were drawn from contract staff of the company. On graduation they are absorbed as direct employees and upgraded. They are part of over 4,500 participants trained by the center out of which 493 have been offered jobs. “Over 90 percent of those offered employment are still working at various levels and capacities in the business”, the CEO of the company, Ben Langat said.
The 16 graduated students selected from the contract staff through competitive test was a special consideration by the management as the Centre normally throws open the courses to young Nigerians below 26 years old who sit for examinations and interviews before they are selected for the course. The training covers mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, automation, analytical fault finding and others which Langat said has been of immense benefit to the industry and the country at large through job creation. “We are also pleased to say that several members of NBC’s senior management team are products of this training center”
“As a business with strong local heritage spanning over six decades, we continue to confront the tough and unstable operating landscape with confidence, investing in our people and transforming our business with sustainable models that are comparable to best in class”
To the graduates, Langat said “they are now on a trajectory that will inspire them to apply their resourcefulness in a manner that aligns with our business objectives”
“The ultimate beneficiaries, in Langat’s view, apart from the individual trainee who receive both financial and intrinsic benefits from the training, are the customers. It is for them that NBC invests its resources, ensuring a painstaking delivery of top quality orientation to staff and other stakeholders, with a view to ensuring that every single product that comes out of its plant satisfies the aspiration of every consumer. He promised that NBC will not relent on its effort to sustain the policy on capacity-building and manpower development because therein lies the survival of the organization”.
Initially, the center was recruiting School certificate holders and they run through 4 years programme. Some of them leave the course half way to further their education at universities where they do well. “Later we were taking technical college graduates and ND holders. But now and because of complexity of technology all over the world, and to be globally competitive, we are now taking HND or equivalent”, said Tope Dada, Head of Technical Training.
With clear understanding of importance of training in any company, Paul Gbededo, the chairman, Association of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees said at the graduating event that there is “no gainsaying that sound technical education is crucial to any manufacturing company that would want to remain competitive, profitable and relevant”.
He regretted that the educational system can no longer be trusted to provide the very much needed technical knowledge; perhaps because they are not adequately positioned to do so. “There is misdirection in the perception of technical knowledge – it is being taught less in our schools and most people do not know the immense opportunities that abound here”
Gbededo therefore challenged the government to ensure that technological education is a core ingredient of the educational system at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education whilst encouraging all sectors of society including industries, to train people in technical management.
“For the graduating technicians, my message to you today is to take advantage of all that you have learnt and capitalize on the opportunities before you. Leverage on your creativity and your newly acquired skills and continue with the zeal, dedication and hard work that has brought you thus far, as these will prove to be very valuable in the advancement of a successful career”, he said.
Speaking on behalf of the graduating students Uroko James Uroko, the best student in class who appreciated NBC for investing in them promised that the graduates would not disappoint the management.
Currently, the 64 years NBC operates 13 bottling plants, 57 distribution depots and a network of about 900,000 distribution partners. It provides direct employment to over 7,800 Nigerians, thus creating livelihood for households and many more across its distribution channels.
Daniel Obi