Prized Assets - not Snowflakes!

The media often describes young people as ‘Snowflakes’ - drifting from one interest to another. In our nearly 30 years of experience in training the timber industry’s next generation, we feel that description is not always fair.

Not long ago, we had the great excitement of seeing our very first Level 6 Wood Science Diploma candidate, Chris Thompson of Bentley Motors, receive his Diploma at the prestigious London Hardwood Club luncheon at the Honourable Artillery Company in the City of London. Chris’s Diploma Project was based on a significant body of research into wood veneer options: and his Technical Essay was of commercial significance to his employer.

A Level 6 qualification in Wood Science did not actually exist before we, at TFT Woodexperts Limited, developed it and obtained our Accreditation for it as a Masters-equivalent qualification. Previously, we had created – and gained accreditation for – our Level 4 Wood Science and Timber Technology qualification, which is a significant step above the online and other training currently available to the wood industries. We would not have done that, if there were not a palpable demand from both employers and young timber trade people themselves.

Many young people are keen to make progress. They want to have a career that is rewarding and interesting; and gives them meaningful goals to aim for. In our view, it is a myth that the young are less loyal and are thus more likely to move between employers. Those employing and training young people need to reflect the additional skills they obtain through training, and also value them properly, so that the young person themselves will feel valued and will want to stay with that company.

Another myth is that employers don’t want to recruit young people, preferring instead to ‘play it safe’ by recruiting from their competitors’ existing talent pools. According to a survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development, employers actually do want to recruit young people, with around half saying that they recruit the young because of their willingness to learn and because they don’t come from a ‘pre-programmed background’.

The continuing demand for our Wood Science and wood product training bears witness to employers’ enthusiasm for developing young people’s knowledge, for best-fit with their businesses.

Delegates on our courses study seriously and gain good marks – mainly Merits and Distinctions – to more than justify the cost of that learning to their employer. They become more valuable to the company in the race towards better productivity and more value on the bottom line. With their young ‘Millennial’ and computer-savvy minds, combined with their enthusiasm for gaining Wood Science and Timber Technology qualifications, they are definitely not ‘snowflakes’ – they really are our industry’s most prized assets.

For details on our courses please CLICK HERE

16 2018