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Engineering education must be a life-long process, and employers have an important role to play. Taking the right approach is good for workers, and for business.
Engineering is in a constant state of flux. Innovation provides new approaches to society’s problems, but the industry must also adapt to changing demands. Sustainability efforts mean old techniques and products are no longer acceptable, for example.
“The physics of engineering doesn’t change, but how it’s applied changes,” says Lydia Amarquaye, professional development and education policy adviser at the IMechE. “If somebody is working on a traditional internal combustion engine, how can we reskill them to apply those skills to battery technology?”
Having the knowledge and skills to innovate is not just useful for engineers who want to stay in a job – as businesses act to ensure products and services remain relevant, it is far more efficient to use existing staff rather than starting from scratch with new employees. This is particularly important as senior members of staff retire, taking with them a wealth of experience.
Companies that want to keep pace need to ensure that employees take part in personal development activities that are relevant to their roles and the challenges they face. That could include programmes on general topics such as confidence management, or more reactive and specific courses that explore the evolving industry and the key technologies underpinning it.
Systems training, with real examples of the work environment, offers a hands-on approach to learning, says Amarquaye. “It’s really important that some of it is outside the business as well… understanding the bigger picture and understanding where you fit into the whole system is quite important. Conferences, networking opportunities, and understanding advances in technology from a wider angle.”
Serious CPD
In a way, Amarquaye says she is essentially advocating “taking CPD seriously”. Professionally registered engineers face a "light touch" approach when it comes to CPD auditing, she says, as they do not necessarily need to demonstrate the type of continuous professional development work that they are doing, only declare that they have done some.
Employers must stress the importance of CPD, she says, ensuring that workers can reach the peak of their abilities. This could include an annual CPD goal for each engineer.
Organisations also have a responsibility to ensure that staff receive relevant training. This is particularly important as engineers make the transition to management, a change that often brings a radical shift in responsibilities and a much stronger focus on leading and motivating.
“One of the things that I’ve experienced, and a lot of people want to talk about, is some engineers are just promoted into management positions,” says Amarquaye. “How do businesses make sure that these people are actually given the right skills so they can lead a team?”
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.