Sustainability is a lived value in our company. So I was all the more pleased to welcome Fynn to our team in January as the first commercial apprentice during my time as Sustainability Manager. He is training to become an industrial clerk and spends four weeks gaining insights into the area of sustainability.
Structured insights for our trainees
Fynn's assignment was the reason for us to establish a fixed structure for our trainees. In future, they will receive targeted and systematic insights into the areas of sustainability, energy management, project planning and the development of sustainable products. This will ensure that the relevant training content is taught in a structured manner.
At the beginning the trainees are given a general overview of the topic of sustainability. This is not just about company-related aspects - they also independently develop an understanding of global contexts, such as the 17 Sustainable Development Goals or the European Green Deal.
In the next step, they deepen their knowledge of sustainability within the company. They spend a week with our energy officer to particularly familiarise themselves with our energy management. This is followed by several days in the development team, where they learn what sustainability means at product level and work with different types of materials.
The rest of the time they spend with me again. With their newly acquired knowledge, they support projects on their own responsibility and gain deeper insights into Spies' sustainability activities.
This structure allows us to integrate sustainability even more strongly into the training programme and sensitise our trainees to this key topic at an early stage.
Insights from the field: Fynn reports
‘As I was the first trainee in sustainability for a long time, I didn't really know what to expect. The structure of the four weeks gave me a lot of exciting insights - not only into the area of sustainability, but also into energy management and our development department. The opportunity to work independently on projects and be actively involved in various topics was particularly cool. Overall, the four weeks went by very quickly. For me, it could have been more.’
Conclusion: sustainability as an integral part of the training programme
Fynn's experiences show how valuable these insights are for our trainees. The area of sustainability is and will remain an integral part of our industrial clerks' training in the future. We look forward to the next trainees and would like to thank Fynn for his commitment!
How are trainees involved in the area of sustainability in your company?
