INSTITUTE NEWS


Apprenticeship Week highlights varied opportunities and need for new skills


The 14th annual National Apprenticeship Week took place from 8-14 February 2021. National Apprenticeship Week is an annual week-long celebration of apprenticeships across England, and is a time to recognise and applaud apprenticeship success stories across the country. Gemma Boulton, a former Administration Apprentice at IHEEM, who is now the Institute’s Events and Marketing Support Officer, explained: “This year was focused around ‘Build the Future’ (‘celebrating the diversity of opportunity and value that apprenticeships bring, and how they can help individuals and employers build their future’), so we wanted to take this opportunity to highlight what our Company Affiliates are doing to support the future workforce, and also encourage more businesses to take on apprentices by sharing their success stories.” Below is a


selection of comments from some of these organisations on the success of their apprenticeship activity.


Troup Bywater+Anders Building services consultancy, TB+A, said: “Our apprentices are our future leaders, who can go all the way in running our business. With 75% of our partners starting with us as young recruits, our apprentices know we are fully committed to continuous training, development, and progression. The whole dynamic of our business is youthful, thanks to our apprentices. They bring enthusiasm and fresh ideas across the board. We are seeing far more females coming into the business through this route, and are providing professional career opportunities to those from diverse backgrounds. By training and investing in our apprentices, we are addressing the industry skills gap, particularly in building services engineering, which is traditionally not as well known. We have significantly reduced our recruitment costs, and our retention rate is far higher than the industry average, at nearly 10 years. Our business growth, success, and sustainability, are directly attributable to our investment in apprenticeships.”


Dane O’Brien (left) and Luke Collins are Building Services apprentices, studying at Bath College, with Interserve.


Interserve


Construction company, Interserve Construction, said: “At Interserve Construction we are committed to investing in apprenticeships and our employees. The Apprenticeship Levy has allowed us to open up our apprenticeship opportunities to existing and new employees. This will ensure that we are able to develop our staff to the highest level, and retain employees by investing in them and supporting their development.” Stephen Carroll, Apprenticeship Manager, said: “Dane O’Brien and Luke Collins, Building Services apprenticeships, for example, have both progressed exceptionally well on our apprenticeship scheme, and I am delighted by the progress they are making. I hope that they further their education in construction and building services engineering at university.


"We believe that investing in our employees is the best way to ensure the business retains the best people, and to make sure that we have the right blend of knowledge and experience that is necessary to succeed in our competitive marketplace.”


Static Systems


Adrian Turner, Managing Director at Static Systems, the designer, manufacturer, and supplier, of nurse call systems, custodial and staff attack alarm systems, bedhead trunking, wearable communication devices, and fire alarms, said: “We are delighted to support the 2021 National Apprenticeship Week. From our outset we have offered apprenticeships as a proven route for attracting people and helping them to flourish. Our apprentices experience and learn in each area of our business. This helps


to ensure that they understand the business dynamics, and gain an in-depth knowledge of different departments. It enables us to assess and mentor them to identify areas where they show the greatest potential. Testament to the success of this approach is that many of our current workforce, including a number of our senior management team, started their careers this way.”


North East NHS Apprentice Programme


Eileen Bayles, Training & Development Manager – North East NHS Apprentice Programme, said: “In the North East, as I am sure is the case nationally, Estates teams have an ageing workforce; training an apprentice is not easy, and takes time and effort on all sides. However, the long-term benefit of having an apprentice is invaluable. You develop an individual to meet the needs of the sector, and give them opportunities to develop and grow in post. Apprentices help improve productivity and quality of service, and are motivated to learn and develop knowledge, skills, and understanding, so they can progress and become an invaluable asset to any organisation.”


During National Apprenticeship Week 2021, IHEEM also had the opportunity to highlight the work it has been doing to assist young members and apprentices. On the Institute’s new website is a ‘career map’, developed in partnership with HEFMA. The map aims to highlight development and progression opportunities within Estates, Capital Projects, and Facilities Management roles in the NHS, allowing apprentices to see their journey through the system, and how they can develop and progress throughout their career.


IHEEM is actively encouraging Company Affiliates to come forward and give the Institute details on their apprenticeships and what opportunities they offer to future leaders, which will in turn be advertised within the new ‘Future Leaders’ section of the website. If you are an IHEEM Company Affiliate and would be interested in marketing your opportunities, please contact Gemma Boulton, via office@iheem.org.uk


Roundtable a chance for young members to give their views retain, and acquire, young members, and will feature a panel


IHEEM is organising a ‘virtual’ roundtable event for young members, taking place on 8 April this year, to give them a platform to ‘feed back’ to the Institute on what they want from their membership.


The event will focus on what IHEEM can do to better serve, 10 Health Estate Journal March 2021


of current young members and young engineers, providing a forum for in-depth discussions. If you are interested in being involved, email office@iheem.org.uk to express your interest before 19 March.


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