Should we be moving on? Timber training has come a long way in the five years since SCA Timber Supply first sponsored the Trainee of the Year Award. But is it time for a rethink?
The sector now has a much greater commitment to developing its staff, but much of the training is still covering basic ground with product knowledge. While this is still necessary for our new entrants, we now have a raft of young people who expect to be moved up to the next rung of the ladder, to understand timber’s place in the carbon-challenged business world they face ahead.
A few of us more senior industry members could also consider an uplift in their comprehension of the challenges ahead, such as potential carbon labelling of products, carbon pricing relating to transport, and proposed new methods of judging a responsibly-sourced construction product.
Investing in the development of expertise makes hard business sense. Customers of the timber sector, today and tomorrow, will expect us to have life cycle product information to hand. They will expect us to know how our products contribute to the carbon footprint of the finished article, be that a house frame or a timber window. They will also expect us to be actively moving towards reducing transport emissions. All this goes a long way beyond product knowledge, but it will enable our sector to compete on the same footing with other construction products.
The Career Development Awards, as they’re now known, are a benchmark of how well we are progressing towards that next rung of the training and development ladder – of whether we are equipping ourselves with the knowledge and expertise our customers will expect. The call for entries is now being made and the judging team looks forward to receiving your submissions for this prestigious award.
We have many great timber industry people out there starting to make a difference. Let’s make sure they take time out to submit an award entry.
