“Businesses need to consider robust competency management if they are to win any of the plethora of work coming soon”

Rail companies across the UK are set to benefit from a number of tender opportunities coming up over the next few months.

After the pandemic put the brakes on many new opportunities across the industry, more tenders will arise for companies to bid for work as restrictions lift and buying organisations look to spend budgets before the end of the financial year. As a result, a number of PQQs and ITTs are anticipated to be announced in the next few weeks.

With that in mind, Sopra Steria, a European leader in digital consultation and software development, is working with rail companies to ensure they have the right processes in place when it comes to competency management.

Through its Competency Training Marketplace^TM (CTM), which includes an online management platform to ensure staff records and compliance information are updated in real time, Sopra Steria is helping those businesses to gain an advantage when it comes to proving efficiencies in competence.

Andy Willetts, Sales Manager for CTM in Sopra Steria, said: “We know the challenges that companies bidding for work face when it comes to proving efficient competency management.

“Organisations such as Network Rail and HS2 are placing huge emphasis on this and that is reflected through the weighting in the PQQs and ITTs – in some tenders, competence and training can equate up to 20% of the total score.

“It is therefore important that businesses move towards digitalising this process and streamlining how they operate so they can demonstrate this as part of their bid.

“We are delighted to be working with businesses through CTM to help them manage their competencies and give assurance to potential new customers that they have a robust process in place. Using a platform like CTM isn’t a nice-to-have, it is now an essential tool for any business if they want to continue to grow in the UK rail industry.

“Businesses need to consider robust competency management if they are to win any of the plethora of work coming soon and make them stand out ahead of the other companies bidding for that work.”

CTM is developed to help teams to get ahead of planning training and labour resourcing, with smart tracking notifying teams when a competency is due to expire. Coupled with a training course marketplace, CTM allows businesses to search for courses from training providers across the UK to achieve cost efficiencies and book it at a time and location to suit them.

HR teams can also plug any competency gaps on a project-by-project basis using the project matrix – a key tool for businesses as they grow and work on multiple projects.

CTM is free to use. Visit competencytrainingmarketplace.com or email info@competencytrainingmarketplace.com for further information.

Image credit: Network Rail

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