MUST FOSTER LEARNING

These individuals don’t just engage more in their job, they get more enjoyment from it too. Importantly, they help to create an innovative culture. In short, recruiting those willing to learn, and fostering the continuing learning process can deliver both a happier working environment and a competitive advantage. So why isn’t the practice of lifelong learning more widespread?

Creating a learning culture

In the middle of March, I was at elumatec’s Infocenter in Mühlacker, Germany, with around 20 customers. The Infocenter is multipurpose, incorporating both showrooms and training facilities. Throughout a relatively short visit, in this learning environment, fresh ideas were bubbling up.

Delegates were discovering solutions to problems and working out how they could apply them to their circumstances. There was energy, insight and creative thinking. It was marvellous.

Visits to facilities such as these are, I guess, special events. But I believe that if we can remove the barriers to continuous learning, this sort of powerful dynamic can exist all over our industries – in both management suites and on the shop floor.

There are unfortunately many barriers to continuous learning. If our industries are to thrive, we must take the barriers down. Whether they are financial, structural or physical, they have to go. If the barrier is a lack of motivation, we must question why our people have lost their desire to gain new skills, improve their competence or master their specialism. We should examine ourselves too. Business leaders may be at fault. It’s been proven that results-based goals can have a demotivating effect. If you’re set a sales target and fail to meet it, that’s it. You’ve failed.

If, however, your goal is learning-based, you can always move forward. If you try something and it doesn’t work, you’ve still learned something. Even if it’s only what not to do.

Finding, developing and supporting the talent we need

We should also consider whether our attitude to lifelong learning allows us to recruit and retain the talent we need. In a rapidly changing world, the best people don’t want to fall behind in their chosen careers. They want to continue their personal and professional development.

The most successful, high-performing teams are geared to support learning. They reward those who get involved. Throughout their working lives, individuals acquire new skills – both personal and professional – and this creates the conditions where companies can thrive.

We should let people explore their interests, rather than confine them to a defined training path. The accountant may be a ‘born’ engineer. The mechanic could prove fantastic in a personnel role. If an employee’s interests don’t seem immediately relevant to your business, take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Someone keen to gain qualifications in mountain leadership will learn skills that transfer to many life situations: first aid, planning, risk assessments, teamwork and more, all of which have relevance in a business context.

Learning isn’t just for school. It’s not just for a few years of further or higher education. It’s for life and industry needs to foster it.

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Building Our Skills - Making Fenestration, Glass and Glazing a Career of Choice has always sought to promote the breadth of career opportunities offered by the industry. The organisation strongly backs apprenticeships as a great starting point for those joining the industry and an employee at Kubu, the smart security specialist, is demonstrating exactly why.

Morgan Fisher joined Kubu straight from school as an apprentice in 2019. Since then, she has worked her way up to Marketing Assistant, and it is clear that she has her sights set on significant further career development.

Morgan says: “The company took me on as an apprentice in business administration. Pretty quickly I was dealing with all sorts of areas of the business, including customer service and key accounts management. Then Covid hit and the company needed me to be very flexible and take on a broad range of tasks. I really learnt ‘on the job’. You could say I was thrown in at the deep end, because Covid added to the everyday business challenges all the staff faced, but the experience shaped me and made me resilient.

“What really showcased the diversity of my skills, I suppose, was last year’s FIT show. I was able to organise quite a bit of it for the company, and this did two things: firstly, it solidified an ambition in me to get involved more in marketing, and secondly it brought my work to the attention of the company’s Head of Marketing, who arranged for me to join the marketing department. Now I’m handling a broad variety of tasks. One day I’m working on video production, another I’m arranging events. It’s challenging but enjoyable. I’ve got a diverse role, and I feel quite independent now. I’ve really had to rely on my instincts and use my initiative, which has been good for me.

“I’m really passionate about the apprenticeship I completed. It was a fabulous stepping-stone into the career that I’m forging for myself, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend apprenticeships to other people who are starting out and wondering what to do. I had no idea when I started out that the fenestration industry had so many roles on offer. You tend to think of it only in terms of installing windows and doors, don’t you?”

It is not just Kubu putting the seal of approval on Morgan’s career. Having tucked Apprentice of the Year 2021 under her belt, courtesy of the National Apprenticeship Awards, she is optimistic about her future. Morgan adds: “It’s such a positive thing that Kubu is willing to take on apprentices. The company has really supported me, and I feel it will allow me to progress my career. It’s clear that proper training and qualifications is the way forward, not just for me but for other young people. If you have a can-do attitude and are willing to learn I think the sky’s the limit in this industry!”

Marc Henson, Kubu’s Head of Marketing added: “Morgan has been an inspiration in our team. She has proven time and again that apprenticeships really do work. With the right attitude – both from Morgan and our staff to support her progression – Morgan has become an integral part of our team, and will only go from strength to strength. Being fairly new to the fenestration, glass and glazing industry myself, I’ve got to say I’m surprised at the sheer scope of roles available – from technical IT roles, such as engineering and programming, to highly skilled manual roles and everything in between. There really is a place for everyone – and it’s so friendly too!”

Building Our Skills’ Partnerships Manager, Mark Handley says: “All of us here at Building Our Skills congratulate Morgan on her success, and we wish her well in her future career too of course. She is a shining example of how the apprenticeship system can work for the benefit of both the apprentice and the business concerned.”

With over 50 career paths available in the fenestration industry, Building our Skills is helping to promote this diversity of opportunities. The campaign underlines that there are a multitude of career paths, from design, manufacturing, installation, marketing, finance or IT to warehousing and many others.

To find out more, either as someone looking for a career in the industry or as an employer wanting to help to promote it as a great home for training and career progression, visit www.buildingourskills.co.uk.