Brand Trainer Review

I work on development plans for managers and creating training materials for teams within a group of pubs. I also work alongside the area managers and head of operations to plan for any future training and development needs, for instance new openings or new roles coming up. When there are any changes in processes which may impact the teams I will work on programmes to make sure the people are given the necessary knowledge to handle the change. I work with external suppliers to provide training for our people, ensuring a good level of product knowledge across the company.

I have learnt more about the strategic plans needed within learning and development and how to better work with stakeholders to gain the best possible outcome for all. My ability to work better with people external to the business has also improved, along with communicating better with people in higher positions than I.

I enjoyed the parts of the programme where we would get together and work in groups, the ability to bounce ideas off other people and talk freely gave me confidence that I was on the right track. Often when I was left to work alone this wasnt the case and my motivation would slip.

Not very organised at all. This is the fault of the training supplier and not my employer - the employer have been very good at communicating and I have always known who I could ask advice from within the company. The external supplier's lack of organisation has, on many occasions, made the course harder than necessary. I am at present waiting for the results of an assignment which I submitted a month ago and was told I would hear back within 3 weeks, this is just one example.

My manager has given me the support I needed, I have always known I could ask him for extra time on certain things when I was working on apprenticeship work and he regularly asks about my progress. The apprenticeship team at Marston's have also been supportive, I have only needed advice from them on one or two occasions but I have always known they would be there should I need to turn to them.

Quite limited, on a number of occasions I have asked for a return phone call to discuss some aspect of my course and qualification and I have not received it, this has lead to some issues with my own motivation and commitment to the course. On multiple occasions myself and a number of other people on the same course have enquired about details of our end point assessment, but were always given a vague response. I eventually managed to get the information from my employer.

The qualification has helped my knowledge of my role and my ability to perform certain parts of my role better. I have used some aspects of what i have learnt already within my role and I intend to keep using this learnt knowledge. I understand more about the Learning and Development industry and feel confident in my knowledge

I work field-based so being able to join in any social activities with my employer would be hard. I believe there are extra-curricular activities (football occasionally, pay day nights out) put on by Marston's but I do not live close to our base and do not partake in any of these.

Yes

I feel Marston's are over all a good employer, they have enabled me to complete the course and have felt supported by them. I don't think there are any things that I would advise anyone against applying for a role with the company. Salaries are about average, and the culture overall is positive.

I work in a part of Marston's which runs almost independently when it comes to interviewing and hiring so my opinion on this would be solely based on my experience. Personally, from first interview to actually starting was quite a long time, maybe 2 months, and in that time I had little contact with who would become my manager (since moved on), however this didnt put me off and I still felt happy to start so couldnt use this as advice for anyone