Old Ways Are Good Ways

David Thornton, Chair at The Window Company (Contracts), asks why craftsmen aren’t being used to train apprentices by passing on their skills – saying the old ways were the good ways.

At a recent forum I attended, the skills shortage was high on everyone’s list of the problems in this industry, particularly the urgent need to attract the next generation of fitters into fenestration.

Building Our Skills and GGF supported apprenticeships schemes are having a degree of success, yet we are still in a situation where  we are seeing more fitters leaving the industry than are joining it – and their skills are lost with them. 

 

What can we do about it?

How do we persuade youngsters and their parents and educators that fenestration is a credible trade which offers the same kinds of opportunities and financial rewards as becoming a plumber, mechanic or electrician?

From an installation company perspective, I think the group we probably need to mobilise are the skilled fitters themselves. We need to encourage them to spread the word about the opportunities and rewards available and give them more platforms to be able to do that – before they retire.

I think we should also be making it possible for them to take on the bulk of the training as well. Classroom training and paper qualifications are immensely valuable. Our fitting teams all have ongoing training programmes in place and hold or are studying for nationally recognised NVQs. However, there is no substitute for the kind of on the job training you get if you work alongside someone who has spent decades perfecting their craft.

 

Motivation both ways

Whenever we have incentivised one of our older fitters to take a trainee under their wing, we have invariably ended up with a highly motivated young employee who has stayed with us long term and gone on to achieve NVQs. They have learned from the experts the art of installing a whole houseful of windows in a single day and at the same time seen the degree of care and customer respect that is essential in the commercial sector. Crucially, they have also seen just what it takes to earn the best rates and realised that you don’t become a top earning fitter overnight. 

Interestingly, the benefits have not all been one way either. As well as being rewarded for their efforts, our experienced fitters have taken immense pride in their mentees’ progress and reported improved job satisfaction from having their skills recognised and valued. That increasingly looks like a win-win to me.

 

Picture: Should we be retaining skilled window fitters to train new fitters?

www.thewinco.co.uk  

Article written by David Thornton, Chair at The Window Company (Contracts)
22nd January 2025

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