Record number of apprentices recognised in graduation ceremony

Led by Joanne Ryan MP Federal Member for Lalor, the ceremony was also attended by industry leaders TWC’s Directors, Executive and Managers, the Institute for Tertiary and Higher Education of Australia (ITHEA) and the team from the BMAA’s training partner The Frontline Group.

While the significance of this event for the individuals and for Total Window Concepts (TWC) can be easily understood, this event is also very significant for the window furnishing industry.  On another Friday, this time in November 2022, more than 60 companies gathered at the second National Training Summit to consider the industry future development and training priorities best summarised by a participant’s statement … “Our single biggest issue is that around 80% of new entrants to the industry are unskilled, untrained workers many with LLN (language, literacy and numeracy) issues.  We need a program that deals with this issue urgently.”

Prior to personally handing their Certificate to every individual graduate Ryan commented: 

“Today, we celebrate the strong partnership between employers like TWC and training organisations, who are providing their employees with skills that will benefit them professionally and boost the local and Australian economy”.

The magnificent achievement celebrated at the graduation ceremony was the result of more than six years commitment to the training programme which supports staff to build their capability to support production and supply chain efficiency.  Much of the success of the programme can be attributed to staff, managers and trainers working collaboratively with training scheduled onsite in the business during work hours.

Speaking at the graduation, TWC CEO Scott Gurnett congratulated every one of the graduates acknowledging the effort that each of them had made to reach their achievement.  “TWC regards learning, training, and development as a key aspect of our success and of who we are.  We were pleased in 2018 to establish training as a key feature of our organisation’s culture and operation initially at Hoppers Crossing, and later at Derrimut and now also at Yatala in SE Queensland” he said.

The graduation of so many apprentices is evidence of the success of the training programme and what can be achieved by effective collaboration. By not needing to spend time travelling to learn offsite, participants have been able to train and learn onsite in their familiar technical work environment.  Importantly, learners have had regular scheduled paid time away from productive duties to work with their trainers on site in structured individual and small group training and assessment sessions.  

Speaking on behalf of her fellow graduates, Rita Hornjak reflected on how the program had developed her understanding and capability across the wholesupply chain and steps in the processof making, selling and installing window furnishings. She reflected that “… even if we make it perfectly but it is poorly packed, that can lead to damaging the product, delaying installation and disappointing the end customer … each step in the process needs practical hands on quality”.

While this has impacted production, this has been mitigated to some extent by the availability of the Federal Government’s Apprentice Incentives for Employers.  Acknowledging Government support for the program, TWC nevertheless regards the impact upon production as an investment in the skills of its workers and future productivity gains and efficiencies.