Mike Wright BSc (Hons) FIMechE, Plant Director at Vauxhall in Luton, has initiated a Monitored Professional Development Scheme (MPDS) with Senior Business Development Executive Paul Tabern, of the Institution.
Mike felt that the status of engineers, and of manufacturing, needed to be raised. The Luton plant employs well over 1000 staff. He wanted to encourage engineers at his company, at whatever stage they may be in their career and experience, to demonstrate their commitment to engineering through professional registration. He said:
“The Institution has supported our Vauxhall plant in bringing a number of engineers into membership and professional registration with presentations, on-site development events and accreditation. The difference I see now is that engineers are proud of their professional status; undergraduates entering our schemes are responding to our professional expectations, and graduate recruits are attracted by, and keen to know more about, the ways in which Vauxhall will support their career development.”
Paul Tabern worked with Vauxhall to increase the uptake of professional registration, and extend mentoring and professional development at the plant. Paul said:
“The Institution’s relationship with Vauxhall in Bedfordshire really picked up pace last year. We held some in-house company based registration sessions, and put together workshops and one-to-one advice, providing individuals with the information they needed to channel their achievements and provide evidence of their competencies. There was already a good number of ‘ready-to-go’ engineers who quickly gained their registration.”
Vauxhall, Paul commented, employed many routes to professional registration to support the level of experience and competency across the plant, from EngTech to CEng. He mentioned the example of Keith Gamble IEng MIMechE, an engineer who benefited from following the Career Learning Assesment (CLA) route to becoming an Incorporate Engineer. CLA is an accredited scheme, which retrospectively recognises the experience and knowledge gained at work.
Keith, a sheet steel specialist, was one of three new Incorporated Engineers selected by the Institution, from its entire year’s cohort of Incorporated Engineers, to be put forward for nomination for the Baroness Platt of Writtle Award, given by the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
Keith joined Vauxhall as an apprentice and has considerable years’ experience with the company. As part of his role, and because he believes in the importance of professional development, he is involved with mentoring incoming young engineers in materials engineering and process quality, and encourages colleagues to engage with the Institution.
Keith commented on his IEng status,
“I’m very proud to have been acknowledged by my peers and have proved that you’re never too old to learn if you’re prepared to put in the effort and apply yourself.”
He added:
“If professional registration is acknowledged it can only be a good thing, both for the individual and the company. External suppliers and colleagues at other GME plants know that they are working with individuals at Luton Vauxhall who have achieved the required professional level, which creates mutual respect.”
Another of Vauxhall’s Incorporated Engineers, Tom Bosza IEng MIMechE, identified the opportunity to apply for professional registration as an important element of his ongoing personal and career development, demonstrating his motivation and commitment to the future of the industry.
Tom said:
“I came to the company having completed a traineeship that had taken me to ONC level. Through Vauxhall I was able to do my HNC in Mechatronics before going on to a degree in Integrated Engineering. Vauxhall has supported me throughout the process to become an Incorporated Engineer and now my development plan will be altered to plot my path to become chartered.”
He sees membership of the Institution as a vital factor in the growth of the industry:
“The Institution is committed to improving the world through engineering, providing a support network for engineers and promoting development and learning. As members, we all accept the code of conduct and as such endeavour to maintain a professional approach to work at all times, and contribute to sustainable development. I am also driven to maintain and extend my professional competence and will support the development and promotion of the engineering profession.”
Paul Tabern said:
“Vauxhall’s MPDS is accredited by the Institution and it’s a really valuable feature of the company’s recruitment and retention of young engineers; more senior employees are greatly valued for their input into these programmes, sharing their knowledge and experience.”
Mike Wright feels that applicants are conversant with their own career development and that the Luton plant has a strong structure in place to fulfil its – and its future engineers’ – expectations of professional development.
Mike Carrey CEng MIMechE commented that Vauxhall was fully supportive and encouraging of his work to become a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institution. He stated:
“Becoming a Chartered Engineer is the pinnacle of my career and something I have striven for, for many years. To be welcomed as a member into the elite of British engineering, steeped in a long tradition of excellence, is both an honour and privilege. I consider engineering to be at the cornerstone of British industry and as such we need to continually enlist and grow the membership of professional bodies such as this Institution.”
Roger Sant MEng CEng MIMechE says that, having joined the Institution over 20 years ago, he has only recently become chartered, but that it has had a great impact on him professionally:
“Two years ago the Vauxhall Luton plant decided to actively support their engineers achieving Chartered or Incorporated status. Through the company registration scheme, and with mentor support at the Luton plant, I became a Chartered Engineer in 2013. This meant a lot to me and is something I should have done a lot earlier. It has given me more confidence and I feel that my opinion counts with my colleagues. Within industry it is important that the views of engineers are heard: professional registration supports this.”
Another Vauxhall Chartered Engineer, Mark Davies CEng MIMechE MIET said:
“I felt that professional registration was the best way of formalising my career development and experience and ensuring that the career development activities I’d carried out through Vauxhall were recognised. Gaining chartered status was important to me to demonstrate my status and standing as a professional engineer – to the engineering industry as a whole, not just within automotive facilities. Due to my educational background and experience I felt that chartership via the Institution of Mechanical Engineers was the logical route to take, despite already being a long-standing member of the IET.”
Mike Wright concluded:
“It’s a successful three-way partnership between engineers, the plant, and the Institution. We are all working towards a common goal: to increase the number of professionally registered engineers for the good of the company, the profession, and the country overall.”
For more information about Professional Registration and MPDS schemes within your company, contact your
Business Development Manager.