Skills Support for the Workforce
Chloe worked as a Marketing Officer at Fisher Solicitors and is responsible for all marketing activities. With a previous qualification in Marketing, Chloe’s goal was to grow and become a more rounded employee with an understanding of management and leadership qualities.
To meet her goal, Chloe completed the Team Leading NVQ Level 2 Diploma, which was delivered by Siamo Training, one of the expert training providers chosen to carry out the Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) programme. As SSW is co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Education and Skills Funding Agency, Chloe was able to access the training at no cost to herself or her employer.
As part of her training, Chloe wanted to understand how to manage herself and staff to ensure higher productivity and develop relationships with other departments to positively affect output. An aim of the course was to increase confidence in the style of managing and awareness in how others work.
Since completing the qualification, Chloe has been promoted to Marketing Manager with the course having directly impacted the achievement. It has also enabled Chloe to think about different aspects of the wider business and gain a greater understanding of different leadership styles to adapt accordingly. Chloe has more confidence as she better understands her role and the business, which provides her with a platform to continue progressing.
Chloe has ambitions to progress and complete further Leadership and Management training. She is currently discussing undertaking Level 5 and Level 7 Senior Management apprenticeships with her employer.
Not having paid employment for six years and with no qualifications behind her, Louise* was finding searching for a job daunting. But her biggest concern was her anxiety, which she worried could spiral quickly and affect her mental health.
Michael*, a mature individual who had been a bus driver in Handsworth for 18 years, was made redundant during the pandemic. With a stable job unexpectedly lost later in life his confidence suffered; something that was compounded by uncertainty in how to find a job in today’s online world.
Morgan wasn’t expecting to be made redundant during the pandemic from her call centre role she’d held for three years, and her confidence took a knock. Initially, she’d tried a change in career direction back to childcare, her dream role which she held qualifications in. However, her mental health deteriorated each time she was rejected for a role due to lack of recent experience, and she no longer felt she could successfully apply for these vacancies.
With ambitious expansion plans, Birmingham’s popular tram network, West Midlands Metro has teamed up with Serco to recruit various roles within its Engineering, Customer Services and Maintenance teams. The joint approach allowed the company to access recruitment and post-employment support from Serco’s Restart Scheme (progression into work) and Skills Support for the Workforce (in work career progression) for no cost whilst tripling in size and doubling the tram fleet.
