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| 24 new apprentices join Zumtobel’s talent factory  There is a long tradition of training within Austria-based lighting giant Zumtobel Group: the Group has been training young people for technical careers since 1964. To date 800 young apprentices have learned their trade in the training workshop and within the group's various specialist departments. Up to the present day all of them have been offered permanent positions on completing their course.On 1 September 2011 another 24 apprentices – five of them female – started training as electrical engineers, electronics engineers, mechanical engineers, production technicians and plastics technicians. Training director Otto Bechter welcomed the newcomers on a three-day induction seminar at St. Arbogast: "Training is part of our corporate policy. Here we're training the talents of the future to meet our own needs – because having properly trained employees safeguards our product quality and competitiveness." The Zumtobel Group currently employs 80 apprentices at Dornbirn. What makes the Group unique, according to the young people themselves, is "variety and personalised advice". Training is a strategic priority for the Zumtobel Group, so right from the start the apprentices are given a "toolkit" that will help them develop the necessary competencies for building a successful career. Practical methods like CIP (continuous improvement process) and Kaizen are designed to encourage an active, entrepreneurial approach. Since 2009 Zumtobel has been involved in a research project undertaken by the University of Liechtenstein, designed to assess competencies objectively: the apprentices assess themselves and are externally assessed using questionnaires. The aim of the project is to design more action-oriented teaching and learning processes. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Construction News :: home page |