Nicole Cox

Said the following about Siemens Rail Automation Capability Team Siemens Rail Automation Capability Team:

“The Siemens Rail Automation (RA) Capability Team based in Chippenham and Ashby, has a clear focus on having a well-motivated and trained workforce, cultivating valued and confident staff at all levels. Adam and his team, provide quality internal and external training, whilst being committed to developing their Entry Level Talent, consisting of apprentices, interns and graduates. The team consists of just 10 people; it is a very close-knit team that provides a lot of value to the organisation, and the below points are just some of the excellent work they carry out.

Training Delivery & Management

From October 2017 to October 2018, the RA Capability Team have run 667 courses, training 3020 people, including customer training. 100 technical training courses are delivered per year. The team also provide staff with training of soft skills to compliment the technical skills to develop well-rounded individuals.

The Capability Team trainers demonstrate creativity and innovation, particularly shown in the ‘Mind the Gap’ training, a gamification of safeguarding. This is a board game created with the aim to make a typically uncomfortable subject more engaging and improving training experience.

They are also introducing a new training database improving the recording, display and monitoring of staff competence, with the support from various internal stakeholders.

New starters to the business are made to feel welcome from Day 1 and have a well-thought out induction training which is supported by management in different business areas.

The team are not just focused on themselves internally but are open to collaboration to reap the benefits of synergy between other business units such as Rail Electrification and Intelligent Traffic Systems, and also the National Training Academy for Rail, sharing resource, best practice and overall encompassing a more joined up approach to training in rail.

They make a conscious effort to have evolving training material which are updated to meet changes in projects and technology, and to support the digital future of the railway.

Training & Development Team

The RA Capability team recruits and looks after approx. 150 young people in different roles, participating in apprenticeship, intern, and graduate schemes.

Siemens believe apprenticeships provide a clear route in developing staff for future growth of the organisation. The team look after 75 apprentices in mainly Chippenham and Ashby and then Glasgow, Derby, Croydon, Manchester, Birmingham and York; and also recruit International Technical Apprentices who relocate and study in Germany. The apprenticeships offer continuous technical training complimented by relevant academic education at local colleges and provide great opportunities for career development and progression. The team also co-ordinate an ‘Apprenticeship Exchange’ scheme where learners from one rail business unit exchange with learners from another business unit, for example Rail Automation apprentices undertaking an exchange placement with Rail Electrification apprentices. This exposes the learners to new environments and development opportunities, to aid them in becoming more rounded individuals.

The team look after 50 graduates which go through the Graduate Development Programme (GDP). The GDP is implemented as a mean of developing graduates with essential skills set they need in their everyday role and to equip them for a long-term career at Siemens. This consists of 9 modules including team working, customer focus, project management, communication skills, and business writing. The training is hosted at a number of Siemens sites, so graduates get exposure to different parts of Siemens, learn about the business, and network amongst the graduate population. The team co-ordinate different technical placements for the graduates over the 2 years that best reflect their interests and skills sets to help them transition into a full-time role after completion.

Alongside the graduates and apprentices, the team provide support to 20 interns who go through the Intern Development Programme, which gives them exposure to business influencing, habits of successful people, and career planning. The interns enjoy placement rotations to develop a variety of skills in different business areas. There are also 15 3-month summer interns that the team support.

The Business Improvement Project scheme coordinated by the team allows Entry Level Talent to come together and provide their existing skills, innovation and creativity to generate solutions on engaging and upcoming topics that surround digitilisation. It is a fantastic opportunity and collaborative approach to explore existing and emerging technologies.

Diversity & Inclusion

Siemens Rail Automation is passionate about encouraging and implementing equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and won the latest SEMTA Skills ‘Diversity in Engineering’ award. The RA Capability team made an impact in this area through Military2Rail, an initiative specifically for former armed forces personnel, partnered with Help for Heroes.

The first Military2Rail event saw ten former military personnel graduate from Wiltshire College, following six weeks of intensive training as part of the scheme. The group completed a mixture of work-based and college training which was delivered and funded by a partnership between Siemens and Wiltshire College. Siemens worked closely with the Careers Transition Partnership and Help for Heroes in establishing this programme and identifying potential candidates. Having now successfully completed the training program, each of the ten trainees took a permanent position within Siemens, in roles including Design Engineers, Testers and Installation Team Leaders in Telecoms and Signalling.

Susan Turnbull, Head of Career Recovery at Help for Heroes, said: “Through our Career Recovery programmes, we help injured servicemen and women identify a new fulfilling future. We believe the skills of servicemen and women, such as communication, problem solving, leadership and teamwork, make them highly employable and valuable to the civilian workplace. We are extremely grateful to Siemens for offering three of our wounded heroes a new and purposeful career outside of the Armed Forces.”

Rob Hand, Deputy Director at the Wiltshire College’s Chippenham campus said: “The Military2Rail programme has been a fantastic opportunity to introduce service people into a much-needed area where there is a skills shortage. It has enabled the candidates to transfer their skills from the services to a national company and it has been an absolute pleasure to work with them and Siemens.”

STEM & Outreach

The team have also supported local schools for several years and offer support at both yearly events and one-off initiatives, with the support of their own Entry Level Talent. Adam (Training and Development Manager) shows fantastic enthusiasm when attending careers fairs and enthusing young learners about rail, apprenticeships and future career prospects.

This year the Chippenham site provided 8 weeks of work experience to young people. This consisted of several local children visiting the site and were given the opportunity to get hands on with Raspberry Pi’s that replicate a signalling system. The Ashby site also offers 1-2 week work experience placements to young learners, offering them the chance to shadow experienced employees in different departments.

A recent event at the Ashby site was a 2 day STEM event - a ‘Future Makers’ competition for 24 local school kids where they had the opportunity to work in a team to propose a bid for a new tram system, design their own solutions with different technologies, analyse the costs whilst considering project decisions, risks and assumptions, then communication the solution through a pitch to management. A before & after survey shows the event has made a positive impact on them in various areas, with an increase in knowledge of the rail industry, people considering a career in rail & careers in STEM, and it has helped them in developing several skills with increased confidence in problem solving, team-working, presenting and understanding of business.

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All in all, the RA Capability Team provide an inclusive, enjoyable environment which enable employees of all levels to learn, and their employee’s wellbeing and development are at the forefront of their day to day jobs.“