Learning and developing is crucial in the sector we are in. Technology, by its very nature, continues to evolve, but for us, learning is an ongoing activity that we as individuals engage in every single day. It’s part of who we are and something we ensure that our people make time to do too.
Lifelong learners
We were featured in the recent Gatsby report “Breaking the Firewall: The three realities of SME Engagement”. The report, published in June this year, focused on unlocking the SME opportunity in engaging and offering skills training and technical education to help solve the UK’s productivity puzzle. We were identified in the report as small business owners who were ‘Lifelong Learners’ and highlighted for our commitment to encouraging and providing access to learning as part of our business identity.
What does this look like at Olamalu?
The biggest example of technical education and learning at Olamalu is our apprenticeship scheme.
We launched our Software Development Degree Apprenticeship because we are passionate about providing learning opportunities for young people who want to become Software Developers. The technical sector is difficult to break into, and young people from rural communities face the additional barrier of a lack of local opportunities.
Being based in the small market town of Witney in West Oxfordshire, we felt a strong urge to make a difference and build our own apprenticeship programme that would guide, educate and enable young people to be ready for a career in technology.
We are proud to say that 50% of our workforce have come via our apprenticeship scheme, and we’ve been recognised locally, regionally and nationally through apprenticeship awards.
Learning is an ongoing activity
A commitment to consistent learning is key at Olamalu and we learn in two ways:
1. Individually
Learning as individuals grows confidence and brings richness and depth to our team. We learn through tackling new projects, taking on new challenges or looking for ways to improve our own operations.
We also look to learn beyond our own business by reading and sharing articles related to our sector and outside of it. We encourage our people to seek inspiration through attending events, talks, exhibitions and more.
More formally, we regularly review learning and development plans and look for ways to help every team member pursue their interests through on-the-job experience backed up by training where there are gaps. This applies to both technical skills, broader professional and business skills and those so-called “soft skills” that form the foundation for success.
2. As a Team
Learning together is a great way for us to build strong relationships across our team. A lot of that learning happens through daily conversations about the work that we’re doing or the things that we’ve read about or heard about. We talk about new ideas, new technology, what we’ve learned from our customers and from our network. Anything that has piqued our interest and added to our knowledge bank. We also meet regularly with the sole purpose of pooling our ideas and finding new ways to take our business forward. These are lively sessions, and we try to make sure that they’re fun.
We also take on formalised team learning, inviting coaches and specialists to help us grow together.
It’s a culture thing
When we decided to build our own business 16 years ago, we were very clear that learning and development would be a major part of our company’s identity; it’s part of our culture and something that all of us seek out every day. Learning helps us as individuals, but also as a team, to grow, develop, evolve and ultimately thrive.
