Employer of the Year category hails trainees’ nationally recognised accomplishments
Paccar Australia has been honoured in the Employer of the Year category of the recent Victorian Training Awards for 2018, and higher recognition beckons.
After its second Victorian training award this year, Paccar will now go on to represent the state at the Australian Training Award.
Victorian industry and employment minister Ben Carroll said of Paccar on presenting the award: “This is one of Victoria’s great manufacturing success stories.”
The truckmaker was recognised for, amongst other things, its partnership with Chisolm Institute to develop their unskilled operators aimed at addressing a skill shortage of spray painters for large commercial vehicles.
This leads to a Certificate III in Automotive (Body Paint).
Last year, Paccar trained more than 6,000 employees who achieved an average of 7.5 courses each.
Read about Paccars other Victorian training award win, here
“This award provides important recognition of Paccar Australia’s amazing, wonderful and truly valued employees, suppliers and dealers who continue to provide that little bit extra every day to ensure our customers receive the best product we can produce,” Paccar Australia operations director Tom Cooper says.
“This acknowledgement is testament to their commitment to their work, the company and the customers and it’s gratifying to be regarded as an exemplary employer.
“At Paccar Australia, we strive for quality in the products and services we provide. In order to achieve this, we need excellent people. We attract highly talented people and also provide our staff with the necessary tools, training and development to excel.”
Cooper explains the critical importance ongoing training played during a recent growth cycle.
“In 2017, we doubled our workforce to accommodate the rapidly escalating demand for Kenworth product,” he says.
“It was imperative that these new employees were seamlessly assimilated into our business, as the safety of all of our employees and the quality of our vehicles could not be compromised.
“This was challenging, but prior training for our existing employees over previous years allowed us to spread the load, so all our new employees were appropriately mentored and monitored.”
The Employer of the Year Award recognises an enterprise which has achieved excellence in the provision of ‘nationally recognised training’ for its employees.
‘Nationally recognised training’ refers to training that is based on a national training package or accredited course that results in an individual receiving a formal qualification or statement of attainment issued by a registered training provider.
Paccar notes it has twice before won the Victorian Government’s Employer of the Year (WPC category) Training Awards, and the Federal Government’sIndustry Training Award for Manufacturing, in 2012 and 2007, as well as the Australian Human Resources Institute AHRI Awards for Talent Development and Managementin2017 and 2014.