SDG #4: Education and lifelong learning
A solid education increases your chances on the labour market. At WAAK we are strongly committed to employee training. For example, everyone who starts work through WAAK undergoes testing and attends training in our internal training centre. This helps people to discover what they best enjoy doing (metal, cable or plastic assembly, packing …). In small groups and in a protected environment they get a taste of they can do at WAAK. We have found this to be far more effective than just simply sending them straight to the shop floor, which can be very overwhelming.
Our in-house training centre was set up 10 years ago. We noticed that those who underwent this training fared much better than those who didn’t. It has therefore become standard practice in our company. Of course, training doesn’t end with the induction stage. Throughout their WAAK careers, people can continue to take various training courses, from specific vocational training such as safety and ergonomics, welding, etc. to more general courses such as Dutch lessons. Each year, we invest up to 150,000 euros in this. 14% of WAAK employees (+/- 300 people) come from abroad and many of them do not speak Dutch, French or English. If you cannot communicate with each other, it is very hard to work together. We also offer an annual literacy training programme as there are people in our organisation who – for various reasons – are illiterate.
A lack of education and training are often our workers’ major barriers to accessing the labour market. By offering them training courses, we hope to give them better chances, and give them greater confidence in life.