Alistair Enser, CEO of Reliance High-Tech, gives insight on his partnership with Zitko Talent
There’s no doubt that as a rapidly growing industry we’re going to need many more skilled engineers and technicians in the coming years. And the time to prepare for that demand is now, by attracting a new generation of entry level trainees.
We’ve long supported the apprenticeship scheme and we’re very happy to be doing the same with Zitko Talent. It offers a fast-track route into our business, not only for college leavers but for experienced engineers we could reliably cross-train from other sectors.
Talent offers an efficient end-to-end solution – from promoting the industry as a serious career choice, through identifying people with outstanding potential, to providing intensive, coordinated training over the critical first 12 months.
With our first trainees on board, we’ll be concentrating on providing the richest possible work experience, while the Talent team works with educators and manufacturers to organise the training and qualifications side.
The training extends from the basics such as safe working / ECS, through full tuition for the Level 3 Fire & Security Certificate, to over 160 hours certified manufacturer training. The latter will cover at least 6 of the systems we support at Reliance High-Tech.
The economies of scale provide significant cost and time savings compared with going it alone, and we’re highly impressed by the energy and commitment displayed by the applicants we’ve met, who’ve come through a rigorous selection process.
Aside from the benefits for our company, I think Zitko Talent gives the industry an opportunity to collaborate on solving shared challenges. We need to speak more loudly about the opportunities we can offer and increase the focus on professional development.
Talent integrates some formidable training capabilities into the programme, not only from specialist educators, but also from top manufacturers such as Lenel and 360 Vision. It offers the promise of an efficient, robust foundation programme for the entire industry.
I hope this is the moment we start to build the talent pipeline we all need to succeed in the future.