Nexnet

Kevin started out as a process operative working for poultry giant Bernard Matthews. He describes being trained as a first-aider - an important role on a fast-moving processing line where health and safety requirements are strict – as a key moment when he realised that training could be the route to achieving his ambitions.

“I swapped the yellow operative’s hat for the green first aider’s hat, so my team leader noticed me more,” he said.

 

‘Being noticed’ meant Kevin soon progressed to become an off-line trainer and was eventually responsible for the training of 1,700 people across three sites. Then, seven years ago, Kevin left Bernard Matthews to join food and drink industry training specialist Poultec, one of the first members of the National Skills Academy for Food and Drink Manufacturing.

 

He says the rewards he gets from his current job are unbeatable, particularly when he first sees the spark of ambition ignite in one of his trainees as they take the first steps on their journey.

 

He said: “It’s a fantastic feeling. When you’ve told someone they’re doing exactly what they should be doing and seen the look on their face, you can’t help but feel happy too.”

 

“You don’t just go in and deliver training to people, you need to get them interested. It’s about self confidence and getting them to believe in themselves. I learned a lot from my experiences and I always tell them my own story”

 

Kevin also knows that finding a standard way of working can be nearly impossible in the food industry. Companies often have their own ways of doing things and what goes on in one factory can be immensely different from another.

 

He says that is why Apprenticeships are ideally suited to training employees in the food and drink industry. Jack Matthews, chief executive of Improve, agrees, “We’ve been working and continue to work directly with employers to learn about their needs and develop flexible training to suit their requirements. We’re seeing the benefits of this approach and this is a process that will be continuing with the introduction of the families of new qualifications, Improve Proficiency Qualifications (IPQs) and Improve Vocational Qualifications (IVQs).”

 

The flexibility of the new qualifications will translate directly to Apprenticeships, with employers being able to work with learning and training providers to specify their particular needs and develop learning programmes for Apprenticeships to suit their requirements.

 

Kevin believes this hands-on, one-to-one approach is the key to the success of Apprenticeships in the food and drink industry. “We’ve approximately 120 learners in food manufacture – it’s all about the relationship with the candidate,” Kevin says. Training begins when companies find suitable candidates for Apprenticeships from their workforces, who then sit down with their assessor for an induction to find out what kind of training they need. “It’s not just a professional journey, it’s a personal one too. The apprentices finish in a very different place to the one they started out in.”

 

He has plenty examples of apprentices who have blossomed. One is Martyna Zelazek, who won the Food Manufacture Excellence Apprentice of the Year Award, which is sponsored by Improve. The 24-year-old is originally from Poland and did not speak much English when she first came to the UK. Kevin says her language skills improved tremendously as she progressed through an Apprenticeship, resulting in her going on to complete an Institute of Leadership and Management course. She is now working towards a Level 3 National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) in Food Manufacture.

 

Martyna is now a team leader on a production line overseeing 28 people at Marlow Foods in Norfolk, the Premier Foods-owned site where the Quorn and Cauldron vegetarian brands are produced. “She has developed and grown,” Kevin said. “The way she approaches issues is changing all the time – she’s really blossoming as a person.”

 

Kevin says, “Apprentices get a great sense of personal achievement and a feeling that they belong in the company and want to do well. Companies benefit from a trained workforce and give employees a sense that the company is investing in them.”

 

He says more often than not the results of putting a member of staff through an Apprenticeship exceed the employer’s expectations. “I’ve asked employers after they have trained staff whether they got what they thought they would out of it, and they come back saying they got far more than they ever expected.”

 

For further information, go to www.improve-skills.co.uk

 

Ends

 

Improve is part of the network of sector skills councils established by the government to take the lead in driving up skills in the workplace in order to promote higher productivity and stronger competitiveness for UK businesses in the global market. Funded primarily by the government, sector skills councils are also supported by employers whose needs they represent when stimulating change among the providers of education and skills. Sector skills councils work closely with employers to promote greater commitment to improving skills in their workforces, and with schools, colleges, universities, and private training organisations to improve the provision of basic skills training and to make vocational and occupational training more relevant to the modern commercial climate.

 

 

Issued on behalf of Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, www.improveltd.co.uk, by Nexnet PR, Leeds, www.nexnet.co.uk. For further information call Nexnet on 0113 247 0029 or email paul.newham@nexnet.co.uk or richard.stirling@nexnet.co.uk.