We love working closely with Laser Plumbing East Tamaki and finding apprentices that meet their high expectations keeps us on our toes. Our recruitment manager, Nick Braddock, will ask ‘is this apprentice up to Gillian’s standards?’ and if the answer is Yes, we’ll launch our thorough candidate screening process. The recruitment is intensive; each candidate is interviewed, tested, reference-checked and drug tested, provided with PPE and introductory courses to ensure they’re ready-to-go.
So who is Gillian and why does she have such high standards?
Gillian Westbrooke is the Human Resources Manager and co-owner at Laser Plumbing East Tamaki. She oversees a team of over 30 employees, including eight apprentices through the Apprentice Training Trust, with new apprentices starting regularly.
Gillian said “We have a big presence in the Auckland market providing plumbing, gasfitting and drainlaying services throughout the region. We do a variety of work from general plumbing maintenance to new builds. We specialise in residential and light commercial, plus kindergartens, schools, retirement villages and more – we’re in a wide range of industries.
“We have a long-established relationship with the Apprentice Training Trust. There's a lot of work in managing apprentices. ATT provides us with new apprentices, which saves me a lot of time on recruitment and advertising. They oversee, coach, mentor and support the apprentices throughout their development. Before apprentices start with our company they have their tools organised, they'll have been on Site Safe courses and they'll have PPE gear which means they're ready to start on day one. ATT is invaluable, saving our company time so we can focus on running our business, I can pick up the phone anytime and they're always there for us.
“Here at Laser Plumbing East Tamaki we invest in extra training for our staff covering a range of topics including leadership training, team working, effective communication, delegation, giving and receiving feedback and so much more. We see these as essential skills that apprentices need to help them become successful tradespeople for the future. We are proud of the training we provide. Once our apprentices complete their training and qualify we look to provide careers, not just jobs, within our company. Many of our apprentices have gone on to become successful senior plumbers or even been promoted through to operations managers. Success for us is having a profitable company with a happy and engaged workforce where everyone likes coming to work each day. It's important for us to have a good team culture and work-life balance for everyone.
“There is a shortage of tradies within the industry, there has been for some time in New Zealand, and we need to train more apprentices to become our future trade staff, not just for our company but for the industry as a whole.
“We currently have eight apprentices through the trust, who are in their first, second, third, fourth, or fifth years of their apprenticeships. A large number of them do the plumbing and drainlaying trades, with a few also doing gasfitting. They come from a range of backgrounds and a lot of them have worked for different organisations before deciding to embark upon plumbing as a career. They all enjoy a lot of banter and humour on site and get on very well. It gives us great pride to see apprentices develop and become successful trades people. We are delighted to see a number of our apprentices have been awarded prizes at the annual Apprenticeship Training Trust awards.
“ATT also has a hand back option but we've very rarely used that service; we tend to select carefully at the beginning of an apprenticeship. However, it's reassuring to know that should we have a major downturn in work or if an apprentice isn’t the right fit for our business, then we have the option, with a three week notice period, to be able to hand back the apprentice to the to the trust, who will then find them somewhere else to complete their apprenticeship.
“With the current construction boom there's a huge demand for our work so we're currently on the lookout for talented trade staff and apprentices to meet the demand and to continue to provide great service to our valued customers. We're expanding our drainlaying fleet too, we've got a lot of drainlaying work coming up.
“For us at Laser Plumbing a successful apprentice is practical, enjoys physical work, enjoys working with their hands, they need to be committed to the career that they're entering into, both on-the-job learning and also doing their coursework and book work. They need to be great communicators, enjoy working as a team and be driven to complete their apprenticeship.
“Dave Whiunui is a great example, he was recommended to us from the Apprentice Training Trust. He was a hand-back apprentice doing plumbing and drainlaying. He's worked on a variety of different sites with different plumbers and drainlayers throughout his apprenticeship. It's been great to watch his development as he has just qualified in both trades and we've got some exciting projects coming up for him. He'll be leading teams moving forward and I envisage he’ll be one of our successful tradespersons.
“A plumbing apprenticeship is a great choice; it's a skilled industry, we are regulated by the Plumbers, Gasfitters and Drainlayers Board, and we provide essential services to all New Zealanders. Everyone takes for granted the ability to turn on a tap and get fresh clean water or to flush a toilet, if you consider all the buildings, offices, new homes that are being built there's a plumber and drainlayer involved at every stage of the construction, so you're entering a very solid career with good rates of pay once you're qualified and lots of career opportunities both in New Zealand and overseas. We are currently in one of the largest construction cycles New Zealand has ever seen, plumbers are in desperate need so it's a great career choice with continual employment for the future.”
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At ATT we love working with companies like Laser Plumbing East Tamaki and enthusiastic people like Gillian Westbrooke. See more of our hosts and apprentices’ stories on YouTube – click here or on www.att.org.nz/news. If you would like to find out more about becoming an apprentice, or hosting an apprentice, we have candidates looking for apprenticeships – see: www.att.org.nz