OEM Engineering Apprenticeship companies scoop prestigious Workplace Champion Awards.

OEM Engineering Apprenticeship companies scoop prestigious Workplace Champion Awards

The Generation Apprenticeship Workplace Champions 2023 awards took place on Thursday night last in the Morrison Hotel in Dublin, with awards being presented under three categories, Apprenticeship advocates to the outside world, Enablers and supporters of apprentices and Advocates of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, with 87 individual and team nominees in total.

The OEM Engineering Apprenticeship attended the ceremony along with partner companies Combilift, Dawn Farms, Kent Stainless and Irish Rail, all of whom had employees nominated for awards.

It was with great delight that two OEM Engineering Apprentice employers, namely Anthony Donoghue from Dawn Farms and Conor Doolan from Irish Rail scooped Workplace Champion awards in the ‘Apprenticeship Advocate to the outside World’ category.

Programme Manager for the OEM Engineering Apprenticeship, AnnaMarie Woods said,

“We are delighted that four of our companies have been nominated for the Workplace Champion awards and thrilled beyond words that two have taken home awards in the ‘Apprenticeship Advocate to the outside World’ category. Recognising the hard work and commitment of apprenticeship employers is extremely important as they are the backbone of the apprenticeship model, and we consider all our employers true Workplace Champions for our OEM Engineering Apprentices.”

The aim of these awards was to showcase and celebrate all those apprenticeship champions in the workplace who are passionate about the development and success of apprentices and the apprenticeship mode of learning. Workplace champions nominees were made up of individuals involved in the day-to-day training of an apprentice, in either leadership or supporting roles which included mentors, team leaders and shift supervisors.

In a statement, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris TD said,

“It is only right that we acknowledge and celebrate them and thank them for the role they play in bringing along the next generation of apprentices. They are all directly contributing to widening skills and training for our economy, creating more opportunities for people to help deliver on important priorities, for our society, such as Housing for All and climate action. I want to congratulate and thank all of those who have championed apprenticeships from the beginning.”

There was a strong emphasis on celebrating individuals who brought apprenticeship training alive in the workplace, through their mentoring skills, their listening skills, the many different ways in which they support apprentices as they embark on their careers and brilliant on-the-job learning and development experiences.

The event was also an opportunity to showcase the findings from the first national survey of apprenticeship employers. The survey sought the views of all employers with active apprentices in training in 2023. Jim Meade, CEO with Irish Rail, presented these findings, saying,

“It is extremely positive that this report confirms 9 out of 10 apprenticeship employers are planning to hire again in 2024. The skills I learned through my own apprenticeship, I am still using today and the skillset that apprentices are gaining today will also stand the test of time…. we’re part of writing the history of the future, those currently developing apprenticeships of the future will look back on our successes in years to come.”

The OEM Engineering Apprenticeship would like to take this opportunity to congratulate all eleven winners:

Apprenticeship advocates to the outside world

Anthony Donoghue, Dawn Farm Foods

Conor Doolan, Iarnród Éireann Irish Rail

Danielle Dalton, Instrotec Ltd

Enablers and supporters of apprentices

Aine Curtin, Hartley People Recruitment

William Digan, Alkermes Pharma Ltd Ireland

Willie McMahon, Ellab Ireland

Advocates of diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Brendan Kearns, Designer Group Electric Limited

Thos Kennedy, H A O’Neil (Jones Engineering)

Michael Fitzgerald, ESB Networks

Team award

Pfizer Ireland Newbridge

Overall 2023 Workplace Champion

Brendan Kearns, Designer Group Electric Limited

Click on the link below for more information on the OEM Engineering Apprenticeship.