Sustained growth has seen the business expand from a single factory in Brisbane to today supporting over 1800 employees across 35 locations across Australia. In 2017, G.James achieved the significant milestone of 100 years in business.
Apprenticeships form a vital part of the skills development pipeline at G.James, both for new entrants and as a career pathway for existing staff to move into higher skilled roles. More than 50 apprentices are employed across glass and glazing, electrical, carpentry and engineering trades. These apprentices are spread across 20 locations, most of which are outside of capital cities.
Having this number of apprentices spread across many sites creates a significant logistical and coordination challenge. G.James actively rotates apprentices across different areas of the business to ensure they are fully competent in all aspects of their trade. Additional complexity is also created by the numerous differences in how the apprenticeship system operates across each state.
G.James has employed a dedicated apprentice coordinator to help manage this logistical challenge. Through the dedicated support provided by this position, G.James is able to maximise the number of apprentices that can be appropriately trained and supported within the business at any one time.
The duties of this position extend well beyond traditional human resources functions to include sign-ups, TAFE inductions and bookings, monitoring of competency verifications and progressions, coordinating internal rotations and providing guidance and support to apprentice supervisors. The apprentice coordinator also provides regular mentoring with apprentices, which contributes to a completion rate that is well above average.
The cost of the apprentice coordinator position is offset through the employer incentives that G.James receives through the Australian Apprenticeship Incentive System. These incentives are a key consideration for the business in determining how many apprentices to employ and how the apprenticeship program is structured.
G.James invests significantly in its apprenticeship program and is committed to building its skills pipeline in this way. However, it is increasingly costly and complex to maintain an apprenticeship program at the current scale. Support from government, including through continued access to employer incentives, will be an essential element of ensuring that G.James can maximise the number of apprentices undertaking and successfully completing apprenticeships into the future.
Apprenticeships and traineeships underpin the pipeline of skills needed to deliver some of the biggest priorities facing our nation. In an environment of widespread skills and workforce shortages, a strong apprenticeship and traineeship system is more important than ever.
