Nestlé's People Development Programs

Training Programs at Nestle Learning is an integral part of Nestlé’s culture. Most of the trainings are done on-the-job. Guiding and coaching is part of the responsibility of each manager and is crucial to make each one progress in his or her position. Formal training programs are generally purpose-oriented and designed to improve relevant skills and competencies.
1.Literacy Training. Most of Nestlé’s people development programs are based on a good basic education of employees. So, in many countries, a number of Nestlé companies have set up special programs for those who missed a large part of their elementary schooling. These programs are especially important as they introduce new production techniques into each country where they operate. Much of this is on-the-job training to develop the specific skills to operate more advanced equipment.
2.Nestlé Apprenticeship Program. It is an essential part of Nestlé’s training program, for the young trainees spent three days a week at work and two at school. There are lots of positive results, but some of these soon ran into a problem. At the end of training, many students were hired away by other companies, which provided no training of their own. Apprenticeship Program in Nestle will not be the end of their training but it will provide them with the right base for further advancement.
3.Local Training. A number of Nestlé operating companies run their own residential training centers. Ensuring appropriate and continuous training is an official part of every manager’s responsibilities and, the manager is personally involved in the teaching. For this reason, part of the training structure in every company is focused on developing managers’ own coaching skills. Most courses are delivered in-house by Nestlé trainers but, as the level rises, collaboration with external institutes.
The growing familiarity with information technology has enabled “distance learning” to become a valuable resource, and many Nestlé companies have appointed corporate training assistants in this area. It has the great advantage of allowing students to select courses that meet their individual needs and do the work at their own pace, at convenient times.
4.International Training. Nestlé’s international Training Centre, located nears the company’s corporate headquarters in Switzerland. The Centre delivers some 70 courses, attended by about 1700 managers each year from over 80 countries. The programs can be broadly divided into two groups:
---Management courses: The participants have typically been with the company for four to five years. The intention is to develop a real appreciation of Nestlé values and business approaches.
---Executive courses: these classes often contain people who have attended a management course five to ten years earlier. The focus is on developing the ability to represent Nestlé externally and to work with outsiders.

From Nestlé’s training program, we can see that it is important to give people the opportunities for life-long learning as at Nestle that all employees are called upon to upgrade their skills in a fast-changing world.