Making a neat and tidy job of it

Construction company director Richard Gibb has one word for Christchurch building firms looking to employ a female apprentice: "Don't! Then we can pick them up." 

 

Annette Maitland is the first female Modern Apprentice that HRS Construction has employed. When she approached the company for a job, Richard (then a site manager with the company) had reason to hope she might be good. He had already seen the work of another woman apprentice. In his opinion she was one of the top five apprentices during the year he spent as a carpentry tutor. That woman had "outstanding trade skills", he says. 

 

"Annette is very much like her. I had Annette on my site at Papanui High School when she'd just started...doing architraves and skirting.  It didn't take long to realise that she knew what she was doing. She was making a very neat and tidy job. She was no different to some of the carpenters we had undertaking the same tasks. Annette has natural practical ability."

 

Annette came to HRS having already completed her pre-trade training, "which was an obvious benefit to us", Richard says. "But she's also taken on extra study that we offer to our staff. I believe she'll carry on hopefully and complete her Diploma in Quantity Surveying." There haven't been any problems with having Annette as an apprentice, and he doesn't anticipate any in the future, he says. The company has a history of being very pro-active about training. Richard says that philosophy comes from the directors of HRS Construction. They have a desire to keep the company and industry at large moving forward by "ensuring that supervision roles are catered for in the future". 

 

The industry's biggest shortfall is in the area of site managers, he says. Richard is currently finishing diplomas in construction management and quantity surveying himself. "During the company's history we have supported our site managers and junior quantity surveyors through these courses.

 

"Trainees don't always stay with the company that trains them but at the end of the day someone has to undertake staff training. We believe that trainees add value to our operation by way of innovative ideas and youthful enthusiasm."

 

HRS Construction employs around 30 people, and usually has five or six apprentices. Richard says the company does not have any gender bias when it comes to choosing apprentices. It just has to be somebody with the right skills and the right mental attitude and aptitude, he says. "That just happened to be a girl."