Talented Futures in New Zealand Textiles

MEDIA RELEASE
APPAREL AND TEXTILES INDUSTRY TRAINING ORGANISATION (ATITO)

Web www.atito.org.nz

31 MAY 2011, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Talented Futures in New Zealand Textiles

A Hawkes Bay textiles production manager is the delighted recipient of the Talented Future Scholarship. John Williams of Cavalier Bremworth in Napier has received the scholarship to enable him to undertake an intensive management training course at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney during July.

The importance of developing management skills in the New Zealand textiles industry is one of the key purposes of the Talented Future Scholarship, awarded by the Apparel and Textiles Industry Training Organisation (ATITO). The $11,500 scholarship will meet the costs of John attending the highly regarded Foundations of General Management course.

“This is a fantastic opportunity, I’m really looking forward to it,” said John Williams, who is currently Production Manager at the Cavalier Bremworth Napier Spinning Plant. “My goal is to become a plant manager, so the course will be good for that. But in the short-term I hope I will be able to offer more strategic input to the Cavalier Bremworth senior management team.

According to Craig Woolford, General Manager Manufacturing at Cavalier Bremworth, “John will be a candidate for a plant manager role in coming years, so the Macquarie course is a natural step in his development."

Craig completed the Macquarie course himself about five years ago. He recommended it to John as providing a good grounding for functional managers looking to move into senior management. Craig said that the networking with other students was especially valuable.

“You get to meet people who are on management career paths and often when a scenario comes up in class someone says, ‘Yeah, that actually happened to me.’ It’s very valuable,” said Craig.

A desire to develop talent and introduce leading technical skills and management principles to apparel and textile industry companies is behind ATITO’s Talented Future Scholarship. Mike Gorinski, CEO at ATITO, said that John’s training will benefit the wider industry.

“The development of talent is fundamental to the future of companies in the apparel and textiles industry,” said Mike. “Every manager like John who chooses to lift their performance through training is adding to the pool of talent in New Zealand’s apparel and textiles companies."

ATITO see the Talented Future Scholarship as both an enabler and a symbol of the ITO’s commitment to developing talent.

“Along with our focus on competitive manufacturing, skills training ensures that our companies can gain the strategic advantages that they need to compete in global markets,” said Mike.

John’s current Production Manager role sees him responsible for maximising productivity and quality at Cavalier Bremworth’s Napier Spinning Mill. With responsibility for 150 staff, John is dealing with very different issues from when he entered the industry as a dyeing cadet in 1990.

“Management tends to come up from the floor at Cavalier Bremworth. So I’ve had a good grounding in technical skills. But leadership skills, an understanding of the business environment, and legislation are all issues I have had to come to grips with,” said John.

John says that he has learned that communication is important as a manager.

“People like to know why they are doing something. Having the ‘why’ makes the ‘how’ easier,” said John.

Mike Gorinski agrees, “Knowledge empowers people and empowered people are good for companies. In the companies we work with we see significant improvements in productivity and employee engagement when the awareness and the tools are made available. It’s about being part of an industry that thrives in the world through being quicker and smarter."

ENDS

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