Members of EnerMech’s management team swapped business suits for boiler suits as part of a series of initiatives during Scottish Apprenticeship Week.
Human Resources Director Shirley Smith, Corporate Development Director Ingrid Stewart and Mechanical Support Services General Manager Alan Bailey, left their offices to spend a day working in the company’s Equipment Rental, Process, Pipeline & Umbilicals and Cranes & Lifting divisions.
The trio worked alongside apprentices and technicians, gaining a hands-on insight in to what goes on behind the scenes at EnerMech’s Howes Road headquarters in Aberdeen. Before starting the day Shirley and Ingrid had to complete e-learning modules and they were each assigned an apprentice as their ‘buddy’ for the day.
Shirley Smith said: “Having been with the business since start-up six years ago, it’s been very rewarding to see our apprentices grow and become a key part of our future. I want to encourage more females into our technical roles, so understanding what this working environment is like is key to holding that conversation with future recruits and explaining the benefits.”
With a career in professional services, chartered accountant Ingrid Stewart said the day spent in the workshops gave her a valuable insight in how engineering and technical projects are executed.
She said: “Our apprenticeship scheme is vital to the future growth of the business and the executive management team is very supportive of ‘growing our own’ and developing young talent. Scottish Apprenticeship Week has been very good in demonstrating the important role our apprentices play and it’s a great initiative which can help us in recruiting our next intake of future technicians and engineers.”
As part of Scottish Apprenticeship Week, EnerMech’s European Director, Stuart Smith, attended the Banff & Buchan Apprentice Careers Fair at North East Scotland College’s Fraserburgh Campus.
Also, pupils from Meldrum Academy took part in work experience in the workshops and engineering departments, and representatives from St Machar Academy and Aberdeen City Council visited the fabrication workshops to shadow apprentices and to watch them at work.
EnerMech has 34 apprentices currently undergoing a four year apprenticeship and plans to recruit a further six this year.