Many Apprenticeships Train Laborers. At ReVision Energy, An Innovative Program Is Training Managers

Registered Apprenticeship programs can cover a wide variety of professions and skills. While they are often used to train trade professions like electricians and carpenters, apprenticeships also encompass areas like HR, customer service, sales, and IT, to name just a few. In fact, there are over 1,000 “apprenticeable” occupations recognized by the U.S. Department of Labor. 

New England-based company ReVision Energy recently launched a one-year apprenticeship program, known as REMAP, that specifically focuses on training managers. Supported by the Maine Department of Labor, the program was born out of the need for talented leadership and the recognition that good management is a skill that can be taught.

“There’s a lot of research that shows when people have good managers they’re more apt to stay at a job,” says Brie O’Malley, Training Center Director at ReVision. 

ReVision is an employee-owned company with offices in Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Their focus is on residential solar installations as well as commercial solar, heat pumps, and electric vehicle charging. The company has long recognized that apprenticeships are an effective way to hire and retain skilled employees: ReVision leads separate programs for electricians, solar design, technical sales, and an upcoming apprenticeship for customer service.

The REMAP apprenticeship focuses on essential management skills such as company culture, time management, financial literacy, and interpersonal skills. Apprentices also become proficient in the operational systems the company uses to stay efficient and follow standard procedures. 

“Folks that get promoted because they are great at their work don’t always have a manager acumen,” O’Malley says. “What’s great about the apprenticeship program is people are learning these higher concepts of people management, of organization management.”

The apprenticeship is tied to the O-NET occupation of Operations Manager, and it is open to employees across the company who are engaged in supervisory roles, including positions in warehouse management, human resources, finance, and other areas. (Crew leads on installation teams are still trained through ReVision’s flagship electrical apprenticeship.) 

“If you’re going to have direct reports, we want you to go through this program. At the end of it you will know whether or not you want to be a people manager or if you want to find a role in the company where you’re an individual contributor,” O’Malley says.

The year-long program includes 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning and 150 hours of related technical instruction (RTI). Apprentices use a portion of their work day to participate in remote coursework and occasional in-person meetings. Under this competency-based program, they receive on-the-job assessments on how they put their new skills into practice. 

O’Malley says the opportunity for on-the-job mentorship is one of the major advantages of an apprenticeship. “If you’re a newer manager and you’re facing a people challenge that you’ve never had before, you don’t have to wing it—you’ll have someone that you can gut check your response with or can talk you through it, and that’s somebody who may be different from your line manager, who has carved out the time to provide that coaching.”

The first round of the apprenticeship program graduated 19 people in 2023, and another 20 are currently enrolled. While some companies choose to partner with group apprenticeship programs, the REMAP apprenticeship and curriculum were developed in-house at ReVision in partnership with Drew Bonfiglio, a learning design specialist. (Learn more about the options for developing an apprenticeship program in our Registered Apprenticeship Toolkit for Clean Energy Employers.)

One of the challenges for ReVision has been to balance the time requirements of the apprenticeship with immediate business needs. “Ultimately, there’s never a down time. We don’t have a non-busy season,” O’Malley says. “You have to be really confident that the short-term, immediate priority can wait so you can invest in long-term growth.”

Overall, the advantages of an apprenticeship show up clearly in what newly trained managers gain from their experiences, O’Malley says. “I love how a light bulb of their capabilities has flicked on.”

Hannah Haskell: From Managing Space to Managing People

Hannah Haskell is a Facilities Manager at the ReVision branch in Montville, Maine, and a recent graduate of the REMAP apprenticeship program for managers. Hannah started at ReVision as a warehouse associate before moving into the management position. She now manages a team of four people, gathering materials from the warehouse to support solar installation teams and other professionals in the field. “This is my first management role, so it has been a learning experience,” Haskell says.

Hannah has worked in the warehouse field for more than a decade and says the nature of the work suits her well. “I am really logistically minded and organizationally minded, so I really like solving those kinds of problems: managing the space and organizing the parts—but managing the people is really rewarding, too.”

Haskell says the apprenticeship has left her on a strong footing to be an effective manager. “I gained experience and skills and tools in things like time management, team management, and communication. One of the things that we talked about a lot was the role of a manager and the different hats we wear, and how to bring those things together into our own management style.”

The apprenticeship program put Hannah alongside fellow employees with the full range of experience levels, allowing her to learn from her colleagues. “The program brings in people from all of our different branches, so I got to meet and spend time with managers that I normally wouldn’t interact with very much.”

Hannah says the apprenticeship was an “awesome” experience that will also help further her career. “This apprenticeship program has been a really good launchpad for potential future opportunities.”

John Petersen: Maximizing Time and Efficiency

John Petersen has worked at ReVision for seven years, starting out as an entry-level warehouse associate, then working as a dispatcher before moving on to his current job as a Facilities Manager in South Portland, Maine. He recently completed the REMAP apprenticeship to support his new management position. 

John says that while he was already comfortable with technical skills (such as how to drive a forklift), the apprenticeship gave him the experience and knowledge to help coordinate with employees and manage a team. The program went over subjects like “how do we manage people, how do we manage budgets, how do we communicate between departments, how do we better utilize our time,” Petersen says. 

In one example, apprentices learned a time management tool that showed how to track time down to 15-minute intervals, and then practiced it on the job. They also studied a tool called the Eisenhower Matrix that helps prioritize between different tasks.

“It’s definitely made me better at communicating with my team,” Petersen says. “In my role I have to deal with basically every single department, because my branch is also the headquarters of the company.”

John says that while he’s happy in his current role, the apprenticeship could help him prepare for future opportunities such as a higher-level management position. “I really enjoy the warehouse world,” Petersen notes. “I personally don’t like just sitting at a desk all day, I like being able to get up and move around and be outside when needed.”

Photos courtesy ReVision Energy.

Learn More!

Explore more apprenticeable occupations in clean energy to find ideas for developing your own apprenticeship program! Apprenticeships are often used to train new hires, but they can also be an effective tool for upskilling, career advancement, and lateral transitions for existing employees.