This year the company has teamed up with Education Unlimited to provide exciting opportunities for warehouse staff to improve their skills and gain national qualifications. Two groups have recently completed their Distribution Savvy Certificate, a ten-week class covering everything from standard operating procedures and health and safety to interacting more confidently with managers, staff and customers. Sorted Logistics National Training Advisor Bronwyn Woodham says the training is already paying big dividends, both for the staff and the business itself.

Targeted training, tangible results

“This training has boosted staff confidence in their ability and enhanced their engagement with their work colleagues who work in different parts of the warehouse and business,” says Bronwyn. “It has benefitted team members’ productivity, given them access to a vast amount of knowledge, taught new skills and enhanced their collaboration and teamwork – plus they’ve had fun along the way.”

Job satisfaction, engagement and retention have also improved, and as a result the business is thriving.

“Investing in Sorted team members has improved customer service, streamlined our operations, and reinforced our core values: be honest, respect each other, share the passion, take pride, work as a team, and create fun. The team members have even come up with cost saving initiatives, potentially lowering our operations costs. This gives Sorted a competitive edge in the marketplace.”

The mahi never stops

In fact the company and their staff found the Distribution Savvy programme so beneficial that now warehouse employees are working towards their Team Leader Savvy Certificate with Education Unlimited. Another Service IQ Te Pūkenga qualification designed to upskill the workforce, Team Leader Savvy builds leadership capability by strengthening learners’ communication skills (touching on areas like giving performance feedback, training colleagues, giving oral instructions and speaking to an audience).

Meanwhile another cohort of Sorted Logistics employees are working towards their NZ Certificate in Business (Introduction to Team Leadership) with Education Unlimited. This Level 3 programme teaches emerging leaders to lead with confidence, enabling them to become forward thinking and effective communicators.

What’s the why?

So why does Sorted Logistics place so much stock in upskilling their teams? 

“Investing in upskilling opportunities for staff aligns with Sorted Logistics’ commitment to excellence, team development, and long-term success. Training strengthens the organisation’s capabilities, competitiveness and ability to meet evolving customer needs in a dynamic business environment,” explains Bronwyn.

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And with a mission statement that aspires to “develop great people that deliver exceptional results”, Sorted Logistics is a company that clearly walks the talk.

“We know that our people are the driving force of our business, so we prioritise investing in upskilling opportunities for team members. Providing our employees with the necessary knowledge, skills and tools to excel in their roles leads to increased knowledge, improved performance and a higher level of service provided to our customers.”

Transforming workplaces – and lives

We’d call that a win-win. And so does Education Unlimited trainer Jenna Paton, who has been delivering the Christchurch-based training.

Says Jenna, “I’ve really loved delivering this training to the Sorted Logistics team. It’s been particularly rewarding working with staff members who don’t have English as a first language, and supporting learners with lower levels of literacy build their digital skills.

“These guys are all motivated and keen to learn and they’ve really enjoyed the training. Sorted Logistics has four or five different warehouses in Christchurch, and it’s been really beneficial for all these warehouse staff to come together once a week and better understand their different perspectives and the way each warehouse does things.”

The Education Unlimited team are experts in the workplace training space, supporting businesses to invest in their people and grow their workforce capability. This mahi is not just enhancing Kiwi workplaces, but also the lives of staff, their families and their communities. And Jenna couldn’t be prouder.

“At Education Unlimited we’re passionate about creating a world where workplace training transforms the lives of people and their communities. We understand that through close collaboration with businesses we can unleash the mana of their people, achieving results for the businesses and leaving behind a healthier workplace and workforce.”

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