Jaguar Cars: Halewood
Venture out along the boulevards of South Liverpool and you'll see enough evidence of automobile activity to keep Jeremy Clarkson happy for months. It isn't just Jaguar, celebrating the launch of the latest version of the X-Type, it's Decoma International, manufacturing external body parts such as bumpers for the X-Type; LEAR Corporation, manufacturing seats for the X-Type, Visteon who supply the X-Type's cooling modules and cockpit assemblies and Coughlin Logistics who handle supply chain management on behalf of Jaguar and its parts suppliers.
Many cars, many parts, many more people. And looking after the humans is just as important. The Business Support Team at JET (Jobs, Education and Training) South Liverpool has worked closely with the Human Resource Managers at the new factories from the start. Challenges to be met ranged from transferring existing staff from other plants in the UK to recruiting completely new teams.
The HR managers were acutely aware of their interdependence and their relationship with Jaguar. So in December 2002 JET South Liverpool arranged the first meeting of an "Automotive HR Manager's Forum" at the Partnership for Learning facility on Speke Boulevard.
The meetings, held every 6 to 8 weeks, are chaired by Pauline Brown, HR manager at Merplas Decoma. Representatives from Jaguar, Lear, Visteon, Coughlin, Johnson Controls and HP Chemie Pelzer attend. JET South Liverpool arranges the meetings and circulates minutes.
"Topics include employment issues such as training, sharing best practice, quality, and health and safety." says JET's Business Support Co-ordinator Joe Cummings. "Future meetings will include company presentations and guest speakers such as union officials. Each company representative gives a short information update and the group is setting itself clear milestones and targets to ensure that the forum does not simply become a talking shop".
The JET team is now considering establishing a similar forum for the pharmaceutical sector in South Liverpool, perhaps with a more general remit rather than just focusing on HR issues. For more information about the Automotive Forum or other ideas about sharing information and best practice contact Joe Cummings at JET South Liverpool on 0151 448 7860.
