TRAINING
outcome – that would be ideal for us,” he said.
The scheme has attracted notice from sev- eral figures in government, with MSP visits a common occurrence, and feedback over- whelmingly positive.
Proudfoot said: “The apprenticeship pro- gramme itself has proved to be very popu- lar. We’ve had quite a few visits from MSPs – they have been in and spent time chatting one-on-one with the apprentices, finding out more about them, as individuals as well as what they’re doing.
“The feedback has been remarkable. They’re very confident young people, very enthusiastic, very clear on what they want to achieve from the programme, quite am- bitious.
“Whatever way you look at it, everything’s been a positive spin. In terms of the in- dividuals themselves, they’re getting an 18-month fantastic developmental oppor- tunity that’s not just about doing the job and earning a wage while they’re doing it, they’ll also be getting all manner of training from various levels.”
Proudfoot highlighted the fact that making
people stand out was one of the core com- ponents of this apprenticeship.
“In addition to the apprenticeship,” he ex- plained, “they will get the customer service SVQ (Scottish Vocational Qualification); they will also achieve a ‘gold’ Duke of Edin- burgh award by the end of the programme, which is pretty prestigious. It’s something which very few organisations offer - it’s a real differentiator. There are people out there who have experience, people have qualifications, and ideally people are look- ing for some kind of third quality that can differentiate them, and the gold Duke of Edinburgh award is one of those things: it really shows personal commitment.”
When asked about possible modifications to the scheme, considering the progress so far, Proudfoot sees nothing significant that needs to change. The main area for improvement is increasing the size of the intake of apprentices.
He told us: “I honestly don’t see there be- ing any major changes to the way the pilot is run. Certainly we’re only a third of the way through, so time will tell in terms of the other placements.
“It’s early days, but as it stands just now,
the feedback has been terrific, the gains for the trainees personally have been really good, the feedback from both the staff and the customers has been really positive.
“I can’t see anything significantly different changing. The hope is of course that we up the numbers; this was a relatively small group for the pilot and the hope is that we can begin to ramp up the numbers as the programme proves to be successful.”
Proudfoot concluded by emphasising the importance of training as an invaluable investment for operators. He said: “You can’t really put a price on the training side of things. As an operator of a franchise, we don’t own the trains, we don’t own the sta- tions, the one thing we can really call our asset is our people.
“There is that huge commitment towards learning and development. Something close to £1.5m of our budget is allocated towards learning and development; it can’t be used for anything else. It’s a core fran- chise commitment. I think it’s safe to say we’re pretty serious about it and that will continue.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION Visit
www.scotrail.co.uk
rail technology magazine Aug/Sep 11 | 63
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