| These are unnerving times and we recognise our customers will be trying to understand the impacts on their business and support their employees and their families. One question that’s arisen is whether our customers can use their teams’ isolation time to progress their training or get new teams into training. The answer is yes. The Connexis team is all set up at home – and we’ll be making gentle contact with our customers over the coming days to enquire if the time is right to keep training moving and offer our support. Our purpose remains to provide our customers and their employees with industry training opportunities and continued support and guidance: including during isolation. This will now look a little different and will all be managed online. We won’t be using couriers and will not be sending any physical assessments or certificates out – they can be addressed when isolation is passed. Any current trainees who would like to progress training during isolation can receive theory assessments via email. Our customers’ local Customer Service Account Managers (CSAMs) will be able to coordinate this, so please do contact them. If our customers or their employees are not currently training and would like to take this opportunity to enrol into a qualification, please also call our local CSAM or email us on askus@connexis.org.nz. We understand that some trainees will not be in a situation to receive assessments via email or complete them while in isolation. That is not a problem and they will not be penalised for this. WHAT ELSE HAS CHANGED? Water Block Courses – we have cancelled all pre-July Utilities Maintenance/Pipeline Construction and Maintenance and Water Treatment L4 block courses. Water Treatment Diploma – this will go ahead, however, the first block course (4 May) will be via the online platform across a number of weeks. Assessor forums – have been postponed with the possibility of been run in 2nd half of 2020 – communication regarding this was sent last week to assessors. Girls with Hi-Vis® (GWHV) – has been postponed to September 2020 and registered companies and schools advised. We are investigating options for Virtual GWHV which would involve virtual site visits and interviews with female ambassadors. Feel free to contact us if you are interested in being the first to run a virtual event. Annual Connection – we are continuing to plan for this event. We are talking to key industry stakeholders and will communicate out soon to provide some certainty to competitors, sponsors and suppliers that should we postpone we will provide plenty of warning to minimise the cost. Gateway Students – we will be able to provide students, currently enrolled in a gateway programme, assessments to work through from home. If you have any questions, or there’s anything at all our team can help with, please send those through to us on askus@connexis.org.nz or call me (027 486 2427) With best wishes in troubling times, Toby Beaglehole Connexis CE |
