Jose Rocha

A recent training success story is that of Jose Rocha who came to Oliver Valvetek from Mexico in 2006 with little formal engineering experience but a natural ability that meant he was well suited to working in the precise field of assembling subsea needle and gate valves.  Jose recently achieved an NVQ level 2 in Performing Engineering Operations.

“My NVQ has certainly solidified the experience I have gained whilst I have been working for Valvetek and it has helped me to improve my practice,” said Jose.  “Where I used to assemble valves in a way that felt natural to me I now find myself questioning the procedures.

“I also now have the confidence to pass on what I have learnt, supported by the fact that I have a recognised qualification. There is a psychological difference. I came to the company as an unskilled assembler and now I am an engineer.”

“The new practises that I bring from my NVQ training are welcomed by my colleagues because they learn new, more efficient and safer ways of doing things. My workmates are becoming interested in studying towards a qualification now because they see the way that I am progressing within the company – the way that my efforts and achievements are being recognised.”

The qualification is a foundation and career development within the company does not stop once a certificate has been awarded.

“There is nothing to say that these trainee engineers are going to remain on the shop floor,” said Sharon Inch, HR Manager.  “There may be a match between somebody’s engineering knowledge and their interpersonal skills that makes them suitable for a role in sales or purchasing for example.”

The next step for Jose is a move towards team leadership but, true to the Oliver’s psychological contract, Jose is already thinking a little further down the line.

“I have a natural advantage because I speak another language so perhaps I might find myself in a field based role where I can travel from project to project using my engineering knowledge to explain the finer details of our technologies,” said Jose. “Before I came to Oliver Valvetek I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I had a degree from Mexico University in Marketing but I didn’t want to pursue it as a job. My experience here has really made me think about what I want out of my career.”

The benefits of ongoing development are felt as much by the employer as they are by the employee. An investment in training is not a paternal gift and any outlay has to be reflected in the bottom line.

Oliver has seen their investment result in positive returns.  By improving the skill set of their employees the company are able to fill key positions by recruiting from within thereby negating the need to employ the services of external recruitment agencies.  Staff turnover is at an all time low as employees realise the personal benefits in embracing one of the training plans and absence levels have been considerably reduced.

“The biggest reward as far as the company is concerned is the reflection of our investment in terms of quality,” said Mrs Inch. “We are confident that we have a workforce that is intelligent, highly skilled and totally engaged in all areas of our business.  The values we have as a company are mirrored by the values of our staff and this programme will safeguard the future of the business for the next 30 years as we continue to breed our own talent.”