We have been named winners of the People Development category at the first UK Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) Summit Awards in Rotherham.
The award recognises success in the Fit for Nuclear (F4N) programme, which is intended to help companies meet the very high standards required to supply to the nuclear industry. Our journey began in 2016 and the award celebrates the outstanding progress that we have made. An industry expert provided by the University of Sheffield’s Nuclear AMRC helped us navigate through the process by benchmarking against a variety of business excellence measures, as well as with sector-specific assessment and development activities. These activities examined all aspects of the way the company developed and led its people. Although the feedback was sometimes challenging, it was massively beneficial to us and the findings and the other activities enabled us to identify gaps and close them. We have reached the ‘maintain and sustain’ phase of Fit for Nuclear (F4N).
We have since engaged in another similar programme called Fit for Offshore Renewables (F4OR), which is important for us as a large amount of our work comes from wind energy projects.
Proeon’s Commercial Director, Dr Dorian Hindmarsh and Sales Manager, Peter Lascelles being presented with the People Development Award.
Since starting the programme, we have increased our development resources, offering a mixture of online training, in-person sessions, optional lunch-and-learn workshops and external courses. We have launched a graduate programme to engage with local colleges and universities to offer placements in which individuals can gain practical experience of control and safety systems. Many former participants of the programme have joined the team on completion.
We are proud to provide apprenticeships, partnering with local educational establishments to offer the opportunity of paid training while gaining qualifications. Several former apprentices have joined the company after completing their apprenticeships and now have roles as engineers and administrators. We also have a work experience programme, which typically runs over two weeks, giving young people a practical hands-on introduction to control systems and the world of work.
We understand how important it is for people to feel included and informed about what the business is doing. As part of F4N, an information sharing plan was implemented, which promotes the regular sharing of business strategy and results to the team.
When asked if the time and effort put into F4N had benefited Proeon, Managing Director Richard Miller commented: “Taken together, the results speak for themselves. Better staff engagement and the increase of skills has helped Proeon win new projects and better serve its clients. This is enabling our company to grow and operate successfully within the transitional energy sector, working towards the net zero goal.”
Find out more on the Nuclear AMRC website