Presidents Post | May

TRAINING THE FUTURE TRAINERS

Kiwis and Aussies have always shared a comradeship, all be it mixed with a large amount of competitiveness and mutual ribbing. We all face the same issues and challenges in the day to day running of our businesses.

I am currently travelling OZ and have spoken with several sign shops spread around the country and have heard the same concerns as those voiced by my peers at home in NZ.

Lack of trained staff and quality tradesmen seems to be the big issue for both sides of the ditch. This has assured my confidence that the NZ Sign & Display Association is heading in the direction with the implementation of our training arm, Signee Industry.

Lack of skilled trades people is not just an annoying problem but, in my opinion, it is the biggest problem facing the future of our industry.  Therefore, the NZ Sign & Display Association has spent the past couple of years working to create a training program for our industry to work alongside our apprenticeship system that can grow to resolve this issue. The first stage, the Signee Industry Course is up and running and attracting great support from other training organisations and schools, along with interest from other trade organisations both in NZ and overseas. All it needs now is support from you, the sign makers within industry.

As sign makers and business owners we need to remember that our apprenticeship provider, currently Competenz, soon to amalgamate with Te Pukenga to form a new apprenticeship programme driven by the by the government, WILL NOT and DO NOT CARRY OUT ANY ACTUAL TRAINING for sign apprentices.  The actual training of our tradespeople is up to us business owners, sign writers and sign makers. We simply cannot sit back and expect others to train our future trades people, or this problem will only get worse.

The lack of skilled trades people has several causes.   Reliance on others to train our apprentices is one. Sign shops need sign makers… they struggle to find any so figure one option is to take on an apprentice, under the assumption they will be trained by the sign apprenticeship scheme which relies on the sign shop to do the training.  Some shops also specialise in only certain types of signage, so the apprentice may miss out on some of the training needed for a well-rounded trades person.

Another contributing factor is production specialisation. It is becoming the norm in most shops that different people do different parts of a job, one person designs, another prints, another applies, another installs. While this proves to be the most cost-effective option in the short term it has the effect or watering down the skill base of employees, thus creating problems in the long term regarding finding well rounded trades people. This specialisation method also creates boredom for most trainees thus contributing to many apprentices not finishing their time and moving out of the industry.

Also, time or rather the lack of it is another contributor for lack of skilled sign makers.  A busy sign shop must keep production up, so slowing processes down while training employees is seen as impossible.

So, what do we as an industry do about it?

Taking on an apprentice or trainee is not just about getting another employee, it is a responsibility to train that person to the best of you and your businesses ability. This does mean some sacrifices. If you can make the time to train, it will only benefit your business in the long term. If you or your employees do not have the knowledge in a specific area or cannot spare the time to train, then assist the apprentice to get that training from elsewhere like the Signee programs or supplier run training programs. NZSDA Master Sign Makers are a great source of knowledge and may be able to assist with giving an apprentice another avenue to watch and learn.

Let us keep our team excited to do and learn new things through training and diversification of skills, this will in the long run keep our young people in the industry and give them the satisfaction in their work to promote the want to excel as trades people which will only benefit all sign makers and out industry in the long run.

Let us all do our bit to train the future of our industry. If you have or are looking to employ a newcomer to the industry, the Signee Industry Course is the best place to start. For further information or simply to discuss your training requirements contact the NZSDA Training Officer, Carol