We’ve been training people at the very start of their careers since 1975, and over this time we’ve learnt a few lessons that we thought we’d pass on, as part of National Apprentice Week 2023.
Apprentices are the first step in finding people that go on to become crucial members of the team. Many of our current workforce began their Amcanu career as an apprentice.
You don’t need all your apprentices to be A* students but there are certain attributes that we’ve found are crucial. The combination of juggling college assignments and work does not suit everyone. Whilst academic ability can vary, we always look for candidates that have good numeracy and literacy skills, are motivated to succeed, keen to make progress, hard working and able to communicate.
Owain Davies, MD, Amcanu
The method and speed of learning varies between candidates but the outcome is the same. Different people need a different approach. We offer our apprentices plenty of support in managing their workload and have great links with our local college.
Building a solid relationship with your local college means you will really understand what’s needed for your apprentice to do well. You also have the opportunity to make sure the syllabus fits with your business.
Rhys, HNC Mechanical Engineering Apprentice, Amcanu
We run our apprenticeships with Coleg Sir Gâr. The team there make regular visits to site to check in with our apprentices, and our production controller is also able to log into the college’s engineering department to check the apprentice’s learning progress. By working in this way there is an excellent dialogue between business and education – we can make sure that assignments are getting done and offer any support where it’s needed.
At a more strategic level we’re able to work with Coleg Sir Gâr to share knowledge and ideas with Welsh Government. This is crucial if we are to make sure government-funded national apprenticeship programmes really work for business, education and young people – to build a stronger economy for the future.
Rhys hard at work in the Amcanu factory.
We’ve learnt that if you want to retain the best people you have to make sure that they have the opportunity to progress in the business. Having open discussions around career ambitions will help to keep talented people.
Understand the direction that your apprentices might want to move in once they’ve finished their training and be clear about what a long-term career with your business might look like.
Owain Davies, MD, Amcanu
Our production controller Josh, joined Amcanu as an apprentice from Coleg Sir Gâr in September 2010 and then went on to be a welder fabricator. His experience on the shop floor, knowledge and willingness to take on new challenges made him a natural candidate when the opportunity for progression came around.
Now Josh is responsible for managing and supporting our team, including Rhys our current apprentice, on the shop floor.
Josh, Production Controller, Amcanu
Other recent apprentice success stories include Jordan, whose now in our technical design team and Christopher who is a machinist.
Apprenticeships by their very nature are ‘learning on the job’, it’s easy to focus all your attention on training youngsters at the start of their career, especially when you’ve got a wider team who already have lots of experience. We know that the world of manufacturing doesn’t stay still, and even the most knowledgable people need training to adapt to using new systems and technology in line with industry 4.0.
To make sure we offer customer’s the best service, we’ve invested in and installed new machinery and management systems to make our production process leaner and more efficient.
We’re big fans of learning on the job, and remain committed to attracting and keeping the best engineers in the business!
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info@amcanu.co.uk