DEVELOPING PEOPLE AS WELL AS PROJECTS
Our people are our greatest asset, and their happiness is crucial to the future success of our business. We have multiple initiatives, which focus on areas such as staff retention, talent development and professional training, wellbeing, Gender Pay Gap and keeping people safe. Reflecting our people management and development excellence, Winvic also holds Investors in People (IiP) status. Crucially we promote an environment where anyone can thrive and progress and aim to attract and develop an increasingly diverse and inclusive workforce.
A sustainable business puts its people first, and we create a happy, safe, healthy and inclusive place to work by:
- delivering training and development for all staff and suppliers across health, safety and wellbeing
- educating our workforce, and the next generation of people seeking careers in construction, about how digital design reduces carbon footprints
We empower our people to achieve their full potential and all our employees receive training and development. We have 13 per cent of employees on early years or ‘earn and learn’ programmes including apprenticeships and industrial placements. A further 51 employees undertook our leadership development initiatives last year. We also support employees who want to become Chartered by the industry body that is relevant to their construction discipline because internationally recognised accreditations raise standards of construction management around the world. We work closely with the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), amongst other organisations, and offer accredited ICE and CIOB training schemes to our workforce.
of employees are on early years or ‘earn and learn’ programmes
NURTURING TALENT
We’re committed to training and personal career development in every area of the business and all employees receive Training and Development. We have this year yet again exceeded our goal for staff on early years or ‘earn and learn’ programmes including apprenticeships and industry placements - 13%, which is well above the industry average minimum of 5 per cent.
Our apprenticeship, industry placement and graduate programmes are also helping us to secure a wider talent pipeline. We think that real world experience is essential for those studying a construction related field and if the industry is to attract the best future minds, companies like us must help individuals to gain a head start. We welcome students and graduates to our sites through different programmes, which enhance their academic studies and teach young people valuable hands-on lessons ready for their forthcoming careers.
A twelve-month on-site trainee role for university students who have completed two years of their degree.
Supporting Level 4 and Degree Apprenticeship students into a construction career without the traditional academic route.
hours of placements for T-Level and BTEC students
Helping construction discipline graduates to enter the industry, and thrive and succeed through additional training and development opportunities.
Working directly with colleges, we support industry placements of up to 350 hours for T-Level and BTEC students.
A diverse workforce is important to our future, and we were delighted to read in October that women make up a higher proportion of the construction workforce than at any time since official record began – now reaching 18.8 per cent. We’re proud to be actively engaged in activities aimed at encouraging women to enter the sector and we promote an environment in which they can thrive, develop and progress. Like most companies in our industry, we recognise that we must find better ways to reach and resonate with young women and make construction roles more appealing to them.
Two of our team members – Kayleigh Merritt and Zoe McArdle – were shortlisted for the Inspiring Women in Construction & Engineering Awards 2023 for Rising Star: Contribution to Gender Diversity or the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) Champion categories, we’re all so proud of their hard work.
Zoe McArdle, Design Coordinator and Chair of National Association for Women In Construction Northwest
“It’s important that I utilise my knowledge and skills to be part of an educational cycle where I inspire the next generation, who will encourage the next. My passion guarantees more young women are being educated about STEM and construction roles, career paths and potential salaries. Within my role at Winvic and the other organisations I’m involved in, I enjoy explaining the benefits of different education routes and qualifications, combating the outdated perception of ‘being a builder’ and highlighting the latest technologies like BIM, VR and AI.”
“Gender diversity with the industry still means giving attention to activities that lead to increased female representation and my interactions with students, parents and tutors allay reservations about site experiences. Results and feedback show we’re most effective when female team members ‘show and tell’, desensitising issues and normalising women in construction. We see even higher engagement when students visit site and see with their own eyes; clean, modern site set-ups with happy and confident women. I enjoy promoting our fantastic construction roles available to young men and women so much.”
MEET OUR PEOPLE OVER ON OUR BLOG
If you didn’t know, our blog showcases a whole host of our team members, including our Year In Industry students, who offer their insights into their day-to-day roles, careers and experiences as well as the projects they’ve been working on. You’ll also find some video interviews where we dig in a little deeper to really show you what it’s like to be a Winvic trainee. Some highlights from 2023 include…
International Women’s Day
On International Women’s Day back in March, which was also halfway through Women in Construction Week, we shone a spotlight on two of our female heads of departments who are an inspiration across Winvic. One was Rebecca Schwarz, our Head of HR and Training, who has been with us for eight years and has grown the department from one to six. Read her blog to learn what her team is responsible for, what she loves about her job and her thoughts about women in construction. The other was Heidi Salmons, our Head of Marketing, Communications and Social Responsibility, who talks about the collaborative work her team does to leave a positive legacy in local communities through the delivery of Winvic’s CSR and social value programmes.
Green Careers Week
For Green Careers Week in November, we published a series of blogs with Laila, one of our Environmental Advisors, our new in-house BREEAM Manager Blythe and one of our Senior Sustainability Coordinators Robbie, who not only explains her role at Winvic, but also her recent work on the UK Green Building Council’s (UKGBC) Embodied Carbon task group.
Net Zero Week
For Net Zero Week in July we couldn’t miss the chance to ask our Technical Services and Sustainability Director to share his thoughts and explain some of his work – 22 Net Zero schemes are either completed or underway and our commitment to be a Net Zero business by 2025 still as strong as ever. From dreaming of designing cars to now paving the way in Net Zero construction best practice, Arun wrote about today’s industry challenges and Winvic’s solutions.
Year In Industry
As we always do each year, we also caught up with all six of our Year In Industry students as their placements were coming to an end. This last cohort worked across our design, commercial and operations teams, but all enjoyed mini placement within a variety of departments so they could get to grips with a project’s whole process. Furthermore, these blogs are actually vlogs – so you get to see and hear the students speak about what they’ve learned, their on-site responsibilities and what it’s like being a Winvic team member.
Rebecca Schwarz, Head of HR and Training
“We look after all our employee’s benefits, from financial to wellbeing, through the entire employee lifecycle – with 550 employees, it’s not a small task but it’s a team effort. I’d say my overarching objective is to be fair and equitable with people and although we’re proud to have a very good staff retention rate, our open-door policy and exit interviews are important so we can see what can improve on. One of the biggest parts of The Winvic Way is our challenging nature – that is challenging ourselves to do things better and learn what else is available for our people.”