Recognised Training Company

Mentor

Johan Venus has worked in the maritime sector his entire life. At LBR, he passes on his knowledge to the new generation. Johan is a mechanic of the old school. He learned everything in his father's shipbuilding company. As a fifteen-year-old, he was already doing bench fitting and milling work there. After the night fishermen had unloaded in the morning, they would go aboard to carry out repairs. Even back then, he learned that you must always be customer-friendly. "For example, we come to a cutter where the fifth generation is now working in the family business. Then you have to conduct yourself well. That ship is their livelihood; you mustn't make a mess of it." There Johan hits the nail on the head. Craftsmanship is everything. "When you go abroad, you have to fix a fault within a couple of days. I love that tension and am always proud when it works out again. But you have to be able to work under that pressure. There are forty men on a ship like that waiting for you. They watch you, they have an opinion. You have to take responsibility for what you do; you can't make mistakes out of nerves."

Passing on knowledge

He helps the trainee mechanics grow into that role. He shows them how it works and lets them do more and more independently, step by step. "At a certain point you have to let them go, because they learn fastest when they do it themselves. Although I do check the work, of course. When I bring along a new trainee, clients sometimes raise their eyebrows. Robbie, for example, was fourteen when he came here. They always asked whether he was my son. And you can see them thinking: such a young lad? I put a quick stop to that. 'Don't say anything,' I always say, 'and judge once we're finished.' Now clients sometimes ask specifically for Robbie. See, that's when you've delivered good work."