11/07/2022

Why Apprenticeship is so Important to Sygma

Apprenticeships give young people fantastic experience in the working world and show employers that they can ‘hit the ground running’. Hands-on training gives apprentices a real chance to put their skills into practice and helps them to gain more confidence in a working environment. They also earn while they learn. Sygma currently has two apprentices.

Harry Lister is 18 years old and is currently in his first year of a four year course at Chelmsford College studying for his level 3 ‘Electrical Installation’. Harry works for Sygma four days a week, working with and learning from our experienced engineers and then attends college on a Thursday to study for his qualification.

Harry thinks that ‘…apprenticeships are important as it shows you what it is like in a normal working environment and everyday you’re learning something new. What I enjoy about the apprenticeship is the freedom that you have compared to an office environment and the people that I work with. I hope to gain enough knowledge from this apprenticeship so that I can do jobs on my own without needing help from my work colleagues. I would recommend other people to get apprenticeships as it gives you experience in a working environment and you learn all the skills along the way’.

Glen Bartlett is 25 years old and is currently halfway through his three year course, studying for his level 3 Electrotechnical qualification at ProCat College. Glen also attends college once a week and works alongside other Sygma engineers for the remaining four days. ‘On my apprenticeship I’ve been a part of some big projects and carried out various tasks under great supervision. You are able to learn the theory from college and put it into practice in the workplace and learn the skills required’.

As part of their ongoing training, Sygma ensures that both Harry and Glen also undertake all health & safety training alongside their colleagues through quarterly Toolbox Talks, online training and in-house training events such as Emergency First Aid at Work. In addition to this Harry and Glen also attend product training to ensure they continue to add to their ever increasing skill set.

Communication between the Colleges and Sygma is very important and both Colleges regularly liaise with us to ensure we are updated with Glenn and Harry’s progress, test/exam results and attitude towards their peers and tutors. It’s so great to report that we always get really positive feedback about them both.

Sygma’s MD, Kevin White states that ‘more employers are beginning to understand the benefits of apprenticeships. These include increased staff loyalty and retention; employees who have continual in-house training tend to be highly motivated and committed to the company’. Kevin also adds ‘Apprenticeships also provide a highly skilled future workforce which can only benefit Sygma long term and skills developed can be matched to our future requirements’.

Sygma truly believes that if a company is willing to invest in their team and support apprenticeships, it shows a positive approach to our ongoing CSR Policy, which in turn attracts more clients and further skilled team members.