Training For a Successful Future
*Taken from the Construction Skills 2006 Brochure 'Action For Skills' where we were a case study.
A strong commitment to staff training has helped a Devon family building firm grow into a successful small construction company working on major house building projects.
Training has been essential to the company’s growth and reputation, explained training and health and safety manager, Sue Davie. “We’re very proud of how the business has developed. We’ve been employed by some major contractors on large-scale house building projects and even developed an offshoot business, Davie Brothers Scaffolding Ltd, four years ago.
Despite doing so well, we wanted to keep improving and prepare ourselves for changes happening in the industry.”
With the industry’s increasing requirement for recognized qualifications, Davie Brothers has worked hard through both companies to make sure every member of staff has acquired, or is working towards acquiring, a CSCS card which provides proof of employees’ qualifications and health and safety awareness.
“We have a good relationship with CITB-ConstructionSkills and their Company Development Adviser really helped us to structure our training and make it available to all staff. We have introduced a comprehensive training and development plan. It’s a successful useful easy way to keep track of training currently being completed and identify areas that still need work.”
Currently, Davie has three apprentices who are working towards an NVQ Level 3 in Bricklaying. Four more are attending the National Construction College on scaffolding courses, which involves a mixture of college courses and on-the-job learning.
Sue said “It is great that our experienced workers have the chance to pass on their knowledge and help create more skilled workers for us and the wider industry.”
Experienced staff are also able to achieve NVQs through OSAT and the company is working with CITB-ConstructionSkills to qualify all its workers, who will be supported through assessment and any additional training requirements.
“We consider training to be a long term investment,” explained Sue. “However, we are already seeing the benefits. Our employees have a greater understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They also feel more valued, as we have shown that we care about their future with the company and in the construction industry as a whole.”
