The 8th intake of the CQP (Certificat de Qualification Professionnel) ‘Team Leader in the Chemical Industries’ went back to school a few weeks ago. Offered by ARMOR GROUP University for the past 6 years, this state-recognised qualification is designed to help local managers in chemical industry companies develop their managerial skills.

Supporting local managers in their mission
For several years now, ARMOR GROUP has been running two Certificats de Qualification Professionnel (CQP) within its in-house university, ARMOR GROUP University: a CQP ‘Equipment or packaging line operator in the chemical industries’, and a CQP ‘Team leader in the chemical industries’. The latter certification, which was awarded to the latest intake of students at ARMOR GROUP University a few weeks ago, is designed to help local managers at ARMOR GROUP and other companies in the chemicals sector in Western France to develop their managerial skills. Recognised by the French government as equivalent to a 2-year higher education qualification, this CQP is based on an average of three training days per month. During the certification process, which lasts several months, trainees learn how to support employees and help them develop their skills, how to motivate and motivate a team, and how to pass on safety rules so that they are understood and complied with. ‘This course is a plus, it's beneficial for me,’ says Fanny Charrier, Packaging Leader at ARMOR GROUP and a trainee in this 8th promotion. ‘The days are very useful, with lots of exercises and a lot of sharing with all the trainees and trainers’.

The course culminates in a final examination conducted by an independent assessor from outside ARMOR GROUP University. To date, 100% of all trainees who have taken the exam have passed.

Learn from other company cultures
The West Atlantic section of France Chimie (the professional organisation for chemical companies in Brittany and Pays-de-la-Loire), which initiated the scheme, has entrusted ARMOR GROUP University with the task of running the CQP in 2019. While the Nantes-based group is already very committed to training its employees through its ARMOR GROUP University, founded in 2011, this certification is also open to external employees. The classes, comprising around ten trainees, bring together employees from various chemical industry companies in the Brittany and Pays-de-la-Loire regions: this year's participants come from SANOFI WINTHROP INDUSTRIE, Secanim Bretagne, Inver France and ARMOR GROUP. ‘This inter-company format is beneficial for the trainees, who can discuss their practices and see what is being done elsewhere. This means, for example, getting to know each of the companies from which the participants come,’ stresses Stéphanie Guitton, Training Manager at ARMOR GROUP.

Kader Pineau is one of the employees from outside ARMOR GROUP who took part in this training course last year: a local manager at Valspar (Sherwin-Williams Group), he was a trainee in the 7th promotion. ‘This certification has given me greater legitimacy in my dealings with my colleagues,' he explains. ‘It has given me greater self-confidence and I feel more at ease in management.’ He adds: ‘The pleasant working climate, the friendly atmosphere in the group and the healthy exchanges between the trainees have all helped us to improve’.

A response to a training need identified by the industry
The CQP Team Leader in the chemical industries was launched 10 years ago by the West Atlantic section of France Chimie. At the time, its members had identified the need to develop the managerial culture within their companies and to support the development of the skills of employees who had taken up local management positions as a result of career development. France Chimie Ouest-Atlantique therefore took up the issue and worked on the creation of this CQP. Since the launch of this course, convinced that local managers are essential cogs in the chemical industry's wheel, the trade body has been working hand in hand with funding bodies to reduce the remaining costs for companies and facilitate access to this certification.