Congratulations to Manoj Vadher, Head of Engineering Reliability and Knowledge at Royal Mail, who’s been named as the winner in the Degree Apprentice of the Year category, at the West Midlands regional National Apprenticeship Awards 2020.

Manoj, is currently in his final year of his Master’s Level 7 Degree Apprenticeship as part of the WMG Senior Leader Degree Apprenticeship programme.

Manoj explains: “I am also the functional lead in engineering for the Royal Mail development programme. I have been working with the communities, colleges and the universities to develop apprenticeship programmes. As a result, Engineering at Royal Mail now has the benchmark development programme all through the apprenticeship schemes.

“I have also applied the learning from my apprenticeship to deliver solutions that had the major positive impact on the ways of working bringing significant financial savings. I delivered engineering maintenance strategies, robotic process automation and machine learning initiatives.”

He adds: “Balancing work and study can be challenging, especially if you are in a demanding role. The programme is delivered using the block delivery model, making it easier to balance your time. The key benefit of studying through apprenticeships is that it allows you to integrate study with your day-to-day role. For me, both areas grew in parallel. You quickly start to understand and manage the priorities in your personal and professional life. My personal productivity improved. I don’t think I will ever go back and waste valuable time on the some of the activities at both work and home.”

WMG Senior Leader Course Leader, Trudy Spencer, explains: “The teaching team at WMG thoroughly enjoy working with the Royal Mail delegates to deliver the Senior Leader Degree Apprenticeship Programme. It is particularly satisfying to see the programme learning being applied in the workplace and having a positive impact on both the Royal Mail business and the delegates’ personal development.

“Manoj has been an advocate for our programme from the launch and has taken every opportunity to apply and share his learning back at work. We are delighted to see his achievements being recognised through this award.”

James Baker, Chief Engineer and Fleet Director at Royal Mail group said: “I am delighted Manoj’s hard work and dedication has been recognised at the West Midlands regional National Apprenticeship Awards. He has used his learning to develop himself and to grow the capabilities of the wider business team. A great personal achievement and demonstrates the positive impact continual development can have.”

Manoj adds: “If anyone is thinking about doing an apprenticeship, I would say it is the best choice you can make for yourself. Find the right course with the relevant apprenticeship standards for you and go for it.”

Manoj went on to the final of the National Apprenticeship Awards on 25^th November where he was Highly Commended.

Find out more about the WMG Senior Leader Programme here.