The Progress Group has helped 8 young people secure employment across the Group through the Government’s Kickstart Scheme. The scheme provides funding to employers to help create jobs for people aged 16 – 24, who access Universal Credit and are at risk of long-term unemployment.
Through a group-wide initiative, the education and training specialists set a goal of helping young people access employment through the scheme. They enlisted the help of Liverpool-based marketing agency, Jayne Moore Media who advertised 8 vacancies across the group with Job Centre Plus (JCP). Work coaches at the JCP then signposted learners onto industry-led training provided by one of The Progress Group’s subsidiaries, Innovative Alliance (IA).
Initially, learners attended an attraction day before completing a two-week customer service training course with one of IA’s expert trainers. During the second week of the industry-led training, learners were offered the opportunity to interview for one of the roles available across the Group.
Through industry-specific training, Innovative Alliance work in partnership with employers and the JCP to identify individuals who best meet the needs of employers. IA handles all the pre-employment training and helps prepare learners for their interview at the end of the course. Innovative Alliance CEO, Ian Green said;
‘’Our industry-led training programmes allow us to provide effective recruitment solutions for employers, ensuring individuals support the needs of the business. In this case, we acted as the employer and the training provider, which helped us to ensure the training provided to individuals placed them in the best possible position to secure employment.
“I am delighted to welcome on board three new starters for Innovative Alliance, and one for Complete Training Solutions, along with the additional candidates across the Group. I look forward to seeing what they can achieve during their time with us.’’
Following on from the success of the initiative, The Progress Group has applied for a further three kickstart positions to work across the Group. CEO of The Progress Group, Jayne Worthington said;
‘’I am thrilled with the success of the initiative to date, and am delighted to welcome eight new additions to The Progress Group family.
The Kickstart Scheme is the perfect opportunity for us as employers to help support young people in accessing quality employment opportunities during this difficult time. The scheme epitomises what we are all about, which is to change lives through the power of education and training.’’
All eight individuals who secured employment as part of the scheme have already begun working across the Group. Roles include a Junior Data Analyst, Call Centre Advisers, Junior Graphic Designer and Administrative Assistants.
