Mentoring maestro

The 2020 Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) Apprenticeship Awards apprentice finalists were revealed in an online shortlisting event that took place last month.

The BAME Apprenticeship Awards showcase the outstanding work and achievement of apprentices from black and minority ethnic groups and aim to raise the profile of not only exceptional BAME apprentices, but also employers and training providers across the UK, who are championing the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

We are incredibly proud to announce that from over 300 nominations received nationally across a wide range of industry-specific categories for both apprentices and employers, as well as specific awards for learning providers, schools and academies, Royal Mail Group has been shortlisted in the employer finalist Transport and Logistics category.

In addition, maintenance team leader, Dan Kolahi, from Warrington Mail Centre, is one of three colleagues, who have been shortlisted as BAME Apprenticeship Awards finalists.

‘I’m very proud to have made the shortlist for the 2020 BAME Apprenticeship Awards,’ said Dan. ‘I feel that it’s recognition of the great development opportunities Royal Mail gives to us as engineers, as well as a great way to promote the increasing diversity within Royal Mail Engineering and the business as a whole. 

‘When I started working for Royal Mail in September 2011, I was part of the first cohort for the pilot scheme of automation engineering apprentices. During my Level 3 studies, I was awarded the “Training 2000 Apprentice of the Year” award as well as the “Best Hand Fitter of the Year” award.

‘My colleagues and I also collectively led Royal Mail to win the “Best Employer” award at the same ceremony. The Royal Mail engineering senior leadership team and I were proud to receive the awards in what was only the first year of the apprenticeship scheme.

‘Since taking up the role in 2011, I have progressed through three apprentice grades and eight engineering grades. In 2015, I became the maintenance team leader, leading the engineering team at Warrington Mail Centre. I cover the engineering manager role for Warrington, Chester and the North West Hub too.

‘I’ve been part of the Engineering Development Programme Apprenticeship (EDP) since September 2018. This is a scheme aimed towards existing Royal Mail engineers, to enable us to further develop our academic and leadership skills, building the foundations for further career progression. The three-year programme follows an apprenticeship structure and provides us with an HNC and a Level 4 NVQ.

‘The apprenticeship is fantastic. The two qualifications really complement each other. The HNC is classroom-based and gives us the background scientific understanding of automation engineering, while the NVQ work is evidence-based and enables us to document the technical work we complete every day as part of our roles.

‘In 2018, I was part of the Royal Mail pilot BAME mentoring scheme, which was run with the support of BITC (Business in The Community). Since then, I have received mentoring training with BITC. This means that I’m now able to mentor my own BAME mentees through the scheme.

‘The diversity of Royal Mail engineers, who were part of our recruitment promotional team, really made our apprenticeship scheme stand out from some of the other schemes that other companies had to offer. I felt really proud that I was able to show the level of diversity that Royal Mail has.

‘My next step in my engineering career is to finish my current studies and hopefully move to a more senior leadership role within the business. I would also like to carry on with my academic studies, ultimately aiming for an engineering master’s degree. I am extremely grateful for the continuous development opportunities that Royal Mail have given since I started here in 2011.’

Keep reading myroyalmail.com as we’ll be bringing you the individual success stories behind all three of our outstanding finalists.

Click here for the full apprentice finalist shortlist. The winners will be announced on Wednesday 11 November at the 2020 BAME Apprenticeship Awards annual gala dinner in Birmingham. However, due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, it is unknown yet whether such an event will be possible.