Medium Employer of the Year

Winner: Probuild (NT) Pty Ltd

Probuild (NT) Pty Ltd is civil and commercial construction company with offices in Darwin and Alice Springs. The company was established as a family business in Alice Springs 23 years ago and has grown significantly.

Of its 57 employees, around 9% are actively engaged in training. Apprentices spend about 190 hours per month in training. Company policy is to employ at least two additional apprentices each year while supporting existing apprentices. In the past three years, the company has taken on eight apprentices in carpentry and civil operations, six of whom are still employed full-time.

Training at Probuild (NT) Pty Ltd is tailored and delivers long-term benefits to all involved. For example, the company recently provided training on remote communities that enabled participants to achieve units of competency against a Certificate III in Civil Plant Operations, which helped them sustain permanent jobs in the community after the project.

Runner-up: Hastings Deering (Australia) Ltd

Hastings Deering (Australia) Ltd is the exclusive distributor for the sale of Caterpillar equipment, technology solutions, parts and service support across 23 business service centres in Australia and overseas. The company was established in Alice Springs in 1948 and today has business centres in Darwin, Alice Springs and Nhulunbuy.

The company employs some 3,000 people in Australia. There are 113 in the NT, including nine full-time apprentices. Hastings Deering has established its own registered training organisation (RTO) in Brisbane that supports apprenticeship training in Certificate IV programs.

When selecting an apprentice, the company looks beyond the apprenticeship period to an ongoing career, resulting in a high retention rate. By training its own fitters, the business benefits with a future workforce that is highly skilled in its products.

Due to continual improvement and training, Hastings Deering’s customer satisfaction levels are climbing, with customer loyalty up by 20% in the last 12 months.