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Investing in our people: employee upskilling through academic HVAC training
Fundamentals matter: basic HVAC training
At Purmo Group we think it’s important to keep up with the latest innovations and developments that facilitate the creation of sustainable indoor climate comfort. To this end, we established the PG Academy, a global project in which we partner with academic institutions to create HVAC trainings. For example, since last year we have been working with Burgenland University in Austria, who have helped us set up a basic HVAC training in a first phase.
This training focuses, among other things, on the theoretic principles of the HVAC system and looks at what indoor climate comfort really means. Last year, a group of 30 German and Austrian colleagues participated in the HVAC course, covering a total of 24 e-learning modules as well as face-to-face sessions with a tutor. This June, 30 colleagues from our UK branch started the basic HVAC training, which will be completed by the end of October. The level of knowledge possessed by each participant is assessed at the outset and tested at the end.
Upskilling with advanced HVAC training
Following the basic HVAC training, we have started a pilot for an advanced HVAC training module. This was also designed and set up in collaboration with Burgenland University and elaborates on topics such as heat pumps, water distribution systems and emitters. “Currently 15 employees are following a number of online theory sessions, after which they will travel to Austria, where they can do advanced practical studies with a tutor as well as their final examination in the Burgenland University laboratory. Upon successful completion of the course, the participants will receive an official certificate from the university”, explains Lesia Gibbons, Head of Customer & Commercial Excellence at Purmo Group.
The first participants are very enthusiastic about the new HVAC trainings. Neil Atkins, Divisional Sales Manager at Myson UK, says: “This training has given me a scientific foundation to further develop my knowledge and understanding of products and systems that we talk to customers about every day. This gives me more confidence to talk about how these products work within the system that they operate in and enables me to better promote the value of purchasing a system designed and manufactured in one place.”
PG Academy
Once the pilot of the new training has been completed, we will continue to work with the university to design additional advanced training modules so that we can offer appropriate HVAC trainings for an increasing number of team members, ranging from new starters to experienced hands.
Lesia adds: “On top of that, we are in the process of launching partnerships with other academic institutions to create various HVAC trainings that will support our own employees as well as potentially HVAC professionals worldwide in their daily job. By combining our internal expert knowledge with the modern, holistic approach of these educational institutions, we are convinced that we can offer future-proof trainings and give our employees and customers that extra edge.”
To learn more about our commitments to our people and communities or get a better understanding of our approach to sustainability, we invite you to visit our dedicated pages.