Shaw Among Top 100 Training Companies

Dalton, GA, March 29, 2006--Shaw has again been recognized by Training magazine as one of its annual “Top 100” training companies. Each year thousands of companies are nominated and apply for a coveted position in the Top 100. Named to the list last year, Shaw was the first floor covering manufacturer to earn a place on the publication’s awards list, which features companies noted for exceptional training programs, including AFLAC, Pfizer, Intel, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Ernst & Young, General Mills, Lockheed Martin, Home Depot, IBM, and Microsoft. Representatives from the Shaw Learning Academy, the company’s name for its strategic corporate learning “umbrella,” accepted the award at the magazine’s Top 100 Awards Dinner in Orlando, Florida, on March 5, 2006. Training magazine, a 40-year-old professional development magazine that advocates training and workforce development as a business tool, conducts extensive research for the Top 100 through a multi-tiered nomination, application and interview process. Companies answer a detailed questionnaire, providing both quantitative and qualitative data. Inside Top 100 companies, training is routinely tied to business objectives, measured for return on investment and business impact, and is considered a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The Top 100 are chosen based on their commitment to provide learning that delivers results and performance improvement. This year’s Top 100 list comprises companies that collectively invest more than $5 billion into training and development and employ more than 21,000 training professionals. Each year, the increase in applicants, raised standards, and new criteria influence the ratings, and 24 of this year’s winners are new to the list. While the ranking of 28 other companies dropped, Shaw is one of the few companies who moved up in its ranking this year. In addition to the company making the Top 100 list, Shaw’s GED program was awarded one of the nine best-practice awards. Best practice awards are given for “the inspiration that these best practices offer to do things differently,” according to Training Magazine editors. Danny Crutchfield, Shaw’s director of corporate training and organizational development, accepted the award on behalf of the company. Crutchfield said, “We are excited to be named a Top 100 training organization for the second year in a row. This recognition is a tribute to our dedicated training professionals who are helping us achieve our business objectives by providing development opportunities for both employees and customers. Our senior leadership views this development as a strategic investment, and we strive to provide a solid return on that investment.” “This is certainly outstanding recognition and something all of us at Shaw can be proud of,” says Randy Merritt, the company’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. Merritt notes that much of the same training for which Shaw has been recognized with this award is also offered to the company’s customers through the Center for Retail Excellence. “Providing training for our customers is a big part of our overall program, and it was also one of the key factors in Shaw being recognized in the Top 100.”

Related Topics:Shaw Industries Group, Inc.

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