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.
Talented baker, Sandra, has a dream to open a café in South Wales. But with no formal qualifications, and being unemployed with a family to support, she considered it to be nothing more than a pipedream. Sandra’s Job Coach is determined to help her achieve her dream and to do this, Sandra needs some formal qualifications to support her CV.
Darren was candid with his Job Coach when he joined the Restart Scheme. Depression, alcoholism, mounting debt, and a terminally ill father seemed all-encompassing. Given the breadth of his barriers, his Job Coach decided a whole team approach underpinning his pre-employability work was appropriate. Every member of the team was involved to provide holistic support.
Due to dependency, Dave* was unable to attend meetings with his Job Coach, Sam, ultimately leading to mandation to attend. But Sam was determined for this to not set the tone for their future meetings. He worked hard to create a neutral, non-judgemental environment where Dave could feel safe to openly share about his struggles and explore suitable work that met his needs.
The digital skills gap is prevalent across West Central England where Serco delivers the Restart Scheme. As the Deputy Principal of The Recovery College explains, “Feeling inadequate or under-skilled when everything in our lives today is on a digital platform can be devastating for an individual’s wellbeing.”
