If your business is to be successful, you need to compete and to compete, you need to train your employees.

For businesses, getting the right skills advice is essential to choosing the best and most appropriate training. Train to Gain helps you to do this by using experienced Skills Brokers who can:

• offer free impartial and independent advice to businesses
• match any training needs identified with training providers
• ensure that training is delivered to meet business needs.

One of the key goals of the service is to make sure that both the training and the skills advice are impartial, flexible, responsive and offered at a time and place to suit businesses. This marks a cultural shift in how skills training will be delivered and will ensure that the delivery of training is much more responsive to the needs of every business.

Research shows that 1.3 million people go to work every day without the skills they require to do their job proficiently. Employers are increasingly investing in staff development and reaping benefits that include, improved staff confidence and motivation, higher retention rates and increased productivity.

The vision is that by 2010, young people and adults in England have the knowledge and skills matching the best in the world and are part of a truly competitive workforce.

How it works: five simple steps to great training

By ensuring your employees have the right skills to do the best job, Train to Gain can help boost productivity and keep you ahead of the competition.

Working closely with Milton Keynes College, you can provide quality, affordable training for your employees. Together we can:

• identify the skills your business needs
• pinpoint the right training
• agree a tailored training package
• find available funding
• review the progress you are making.

Step 1: Identify the skills your business needs
Based on a clear understanding of your business goals, we will work with you to carry out a free review and analysis of your business to assess what skills your business has right now, and what it might need in the future.

Step 2: Pinpoint the right training
Based on the skills analysis explained in Step 1, training recommendations may be made. The recommendation will help you:

• pinpoint the type of training that best suits your needs
• choose how and when the training is delivered
• determine which qualifications your employees will benefit most from.

Step 3: Agree a tailored training package
We will work closely with you to agree a training package.

Step 4: Find available funding
We can explain the funding options available to you. Train to Gain provides some funding itself. This might include:

• free training to help employees gain their first full Level 2 qualification and Skills for Life first numeracy and literacy qualification. This includes all training towards NVQ Level 2 or equivalent (equal to 5 GCSEs at Grade C or above), Skills for Life programmes, higher level skills and a wide range of other training for your staff.
• wage compensation for companies with less than 50 employees
• funded programmes, including for Apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships, NVQ Level 3 and above, such as higher education.

Step 5: Review the progress you are making
We will provide continual support and work with you to review how your training is progressing.