The 2008 National Training Awards of the Irish Institute of Training and Development [IITD] took place recently and once again saw outstanding business initiatives taken, through investment in training, being rewarded. Now in its tenth year, the IITD National Training Awards aim to both recognise and celebrate the commitment to and achievement of learning development within business organisations;

Halifax Insurance Ireland was named as the overall winner, in recognition of the significant positive cultural change the company has undergone since 2006, through its dedication to training and development.

FCI Ireland received an initiative award for its commitment to retraining and outplacing its 240 staff, who are facing redundancy when the plant in Fermoy, Cork, closes later this year. FCI’s training programme was praised by judges as a ‘role model for other organisations in similar circumstances’. Bausch & Lomb and Ulster Group Bank also received initiative awards.

An Post received an initiative award, in recognition of the ‘Return to Learning’ programme it has set up to give its employees the chance to return to education and improve their literary, numeracy, IT, communication and personal development skills.

The Irish Space Industry Skillnet at Athlone IT received an outstanding achievement in recognition of its success as Europe’s only space industry training network.

The full list of award winners was as follows: University College Cork, as the public sector category winner; KARE, as the voluntary and community category winner; Phoenix Safety Services, as the SME category winner; Dulux Paints Ireland, as the All Organisations category winner; Halifax Insurance Ireland, as the indigenous category winner; Ernst & Young, as the multi-national category winner; Construction Industry Skillnet, as the networks and groups category winner. Outstanding Achievement awards were received by the following organisations: Comreg, Dublin City Council, Anderlift Safety Services, Space Industry Skillnet, Abbot Vascular, Hewlett Packard, Wyeth Medica Ireland, IVAX Pharmaceuticals Ireland, Matheson Ormsby Prentice, Tourism Learning Network, Society of St Vincent de Paul, Thomson Financial Ireland, Amazon CS Ireland, Stryker Orthopaedics, Bausch & Lomb, Ulster Bank Group, A & L Goodbody, PM Group, and Design Ireland Skillnet.

Commenting on the awards, Sinéad Heneghan, Director to the Irish Institute of Training and Development, said: ‘now, more than ever, training and development is recognised and utilised by these companies as a key tool in the battle between business success or failure.’