Hornsby Nissan helps accelerate automotive careers

|  18 February 2016  |

Hornsby Nissan is helping to drive opportunities for young people interested in the automotive sector, and is honoured for supporting NISSMAP – Nissan Mentored Apprenticeship Program.

The NSW Nissan dealership recently attended WPC Group’s awards night at Parliament House in Sydney where they were recognised for their ongoing commitment to supporting NISSMAP, a program designed by Nissan Aust. and WPC Group.

The Hon. Minister Anthony Roberts MP handed Glenn Kennaway, Dealership Principal from Hornsby Nissan the award, as a thank you for their dedication to helping WPC Group, through NISSMAP, address the skills shortage in the automotive industry by offering young people a chance to get their foot in the door.

Rob Gell, who sits on the WPC Group board and who acted as MC for the evening, said: “WPC Group works with employers to design skills programs. One program we are very proud of is called NISSMAP.”

Rob thanked Glenn for Hornsby Nissan’s participation in the program, telling attendees, “Glenn and his team in Hornsby understand the importance of investing in skills and young people, and for that we offer this award in appreciation of all the hard-work his dealership is doing and for their commitment to giving young people the right skills they need to succeed in the industry.”

With Glenn’s help and the help of many other Nissan dealerships, the NISSMAP program, which works closely with specified TAFES in Victoria, NSW and QLD, is offering young apprentices the best chance of becoming qualified and job-ready, fast.

“This industry thrives on youth,” Glenn said. “WPC Group have been extremely beneficial in that they are able to attract top quality applicants and their administration of the apprentice throughout their contract.”

Having started in July 2012, more than 60 apprentices are now taking part in the three-year NISSMAP program, which includes dedicated Nissan trade school classes, one-on-one mentoring and hands-on experience. The program offers a competency-based accelerated apprenticeship qualification that can be completed in 2.8 years and is delivered in state-of-the-art training facilities in conjunction with the Nissan Learning Academy.

Ultimately the program gives apprentices the option to fast-track their qualification and get them into the workplace quicker which also gives Nissan dealerships an almost immediate return on their investment in hiring apprentices.

“To have a specific Nissan Mentored Program enables us to have Nissan expert technicians much quicker and with the intense disciplined training. All in all it allows us to have a far better calibre apprentice that becomes a fantastic tradesperson,” Glenn said.

Over 35 Nissan dealerships are now involved in the program, from Bairnsdale to Kingaroy in Victoria, to Hornsby and Macarthur in NSW with more and more signing on as the benefits gained by participating dealerships becomes clear.

“Thanks to the Nissan team at Hornsby we can be assured the NISSMAP initiative will continue to thrive whilst offering customers the best possible service,” WPC Group General Manager Andrew Sezonov.