Comment: Road to success 2021 update
From a basic concept to an active and functioning traineeship that has brought more than 30 new people into the industry, it has certainly been busy first year for Road to success
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Industry leaders working on developing future training content
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Te ara ki tua Road to success is coming to the end of our first calendar year and what a year it has been. From a basic concept to an active and functioning traineeship that has brought more than 30 new people into our industry, it has certainly been busy.
With the lockdowns and uncertainty that COVID-19 has brought, we’re proud of the operators and trainees who have helped keep Road to success going when it could so easily have floundered.
I want to particularly acknowledge our Auckland and Waikato operators for ensuring the wellbeing and inclusion of our trainees in their teams during the lengthy lockdown period. We know the pressures you and your businesses have been facing.
We have learned many things during this year: one is that road transport is a viable career pathway for young people. Another is that we require ongoing support and commitment from the industry to ensure that opportunities remain available to our trainees.
Without that, Road to success will go the way of a number of other cadetship/traineeship/training programmes and be shelved before it can really make a dent in our driver shortage. In order to encourage operators to take on a trainee, it has been up to Road to success to provide the tools to ensure the trainee benefits their business.
Our focus over the past few months has been on developing the training content of the programme, as we know training someone from a Class 2 to a Class 5 requires going back to basics and that isn’t something that every transport business is necessarily equipped to do.
By working with those in the industry responsible for driver training, we’re developing a better understanding of the training content we need to develop to assist more operators to make Road to success part of their recruitment plan.
The first phase of this has been to bring together a group of leaders from across the industry with the goals of identifying the non-negotiables a new recruit needs to be trained in, and the ideal timeline required to develop a safe and professional Class 5 driver.
All those involved have made a great contribution, bringing expertise from different parts of the industry. The traineeship is designed to work within a business without the need to hire an additional resource to run it. So, who better to train someone than those already deeply engaged and invested in the business?
It’s gratifying to hear stories of how existing drivers in a company have stepped up to take part in training a new driver. It cannot be overstated how important the free sharing of knowledge is to a new recruit, as it helps them feel part of the team.
Making micro-credentials a key part of our traineeship has allowed trainees to gain an insight into the theory side of the industry and earn nationally recognised qualifications while continuing with their practical traineeship.
The potential workforce we’re trying to attract sees a career as including qualifications and a career pathway; it isn’t just about having a licence and taking home a pay packet.
It has been exciting to see seven of our trainees already move up to piloting Class 4 vehicles and two more onto Class 5. We also have six trainees who have come on-board in the past two months, which given the current COVID-19 situation is really great.
While we all look forward to taking a break over the Christmas holidays, we’re proud of the work we have done this year and how far Road to success has come. The feedback from operators who have trainees has been positive and encouraging. We have the right people in the right place, who are being given the right opportunity to flourish, and we look forward to that continuing in 2022.
Merry Christmas and travel safely these holidays.
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