Winners and finalists : MERU

Company background

MERU is a charity that designs and manufactures equipment for children with disabilities. The placement scheme is well established and has been running for over ten years and students are treated as extra members of staff.

Total number of employees     

There are nine full-time equivalent members of staff.

Operational countries  

UK

Challenge                                          

As a company MERU’s main challenge is to help the maximum number of disabled children on a limited budget. This provides the perfect opportunity to invite young students with fresh ideas, who can relate well with the young people we produce equipment for. We are unlike most design and manufacturing companies in that one engineer takes responsibility for each project from visiting and assessing the initial need, through design, manufacture and testing to the delivery of the finished project. Initially students work alongside engineers on their project then after about six months they begin to take on their own projects. This helps the students gain a level of experience that may take much longer to gain in industry where they are likely to work on a small aspect/stage in the process.

Name of work experience scheme                                 

Placement scheme – 44 weeks.

Name of person responsible for scheme                     

Susan Brumpton, Chief Executive and Graham Race.

Steps to implementation               

The scheme was implemented by one of the previous chief executives. The charity has always had historical links with universities, particularly South Bank. The placement scheme is thought to have been driven through this close collaboration between MERU and higher education.

Benefits

• Help to change the lives of more children by producing more equipment as our products we make do not come from any other source. The custom-made solutions can really help to change the lives of a disabled child.
• The placement students bring in more funding through educational charities that would not otherwise come into the company. 
• Having young designers and engineers involved in the process helps us communicate and interact better with younger disabled people.

Results

• The students complete two or three projects over the course of the year and so have a significant impact on business results by increase the number of products we produce.
• The programme helps MERU to link back into the university and carry out fund raising activities, build relationships with higher education and carry out lectures/presentation/projects.
• Returning students gain valuable experience and act as brand ambassadors for the company when back on campus.

Lessons learnt

Treat all students as real employees from the start of their placement. For example, although we are aware of the specific skills they learn on manufacturing degrees, the students will not be hired unless these are detailed on their applications, to ensure that they are treated in the same way as other employees. 

The work carried out by the student is monitored in several ways. There is a weighty monitoring process in place to ensure that projects are compliant. We offer an open door policy to the personal development of the students as they are treated as part of the team. They receive a formal appraisal once a year with all of the other staff which includes involvement from the chief executive. The appraisal involves discussing career objectives and carrying out the presentation that they are required to complete for university, to the whole company.

Future plans                                                            

We may consider taking students on from other courses such as marketing in the future. There is always a question of funding. We are unable to take on any more engineering students at present as supervision would be an issue. However, we are planning for the charity to grow and if this happens we would consider increasing the number of engineering students that we take on.

Key tips

• Advertise as early and as widely as possible.
• Treat the students like an employee. Treat students and interview them at the same level as any other employee as people will live up to that level.