Kickstart: effective recruitment and training for tenants and leaseholders
To date 1600 individuals and over 100 organisations have benefited from Synergy’s Kickstart programme. Starting with a scalable and targeted selection process, supported by cost effective training, Kickstart not only directly benefits your own organisation, but also provides regeneration and employment opportunities for the local community.
British wages rose more than expected in the three months to July 2007and the number of people claiming jobless benefits fell to give the lowest unemployment rate in two years. However, many people do not have access to this boom in employment opportunities because they cannot get their foot on the first wrung of the ladder. Kickstart targets individuals who have the right competencies but not necessarily the experience. Through our intensive tailored training we give them the foundation skills to get started in each role and develop quickly within your organisation.
So the Kickstart programme not only releases the potential of the local community, but gives you the skills you need when you need them.
Who is it for?
Kickstart will benefit any organisation which is faced with a high-volume staffing requirement. Using its unique approach to recruitment and training, Synergy will support your organisation’s requirement to increase its pool of committed and dedicated specialist staff. The Kickstart programme allows access to locally sourced, specifically selected, suitably trained and skilled candidates, on a temporary or permanent basis.
How do we get your tenants and leaseholders involved?
Advertising and marketing campaign
Harnessing the capability of your own tenants and leaseholders can be achieved by direct marketing. Our recruitment team approaches tenants and leaseholders by phone from our dedicated contact centre and by using direct mailings. This active approach encourages participation and informs people of all the opportunities available. At the same time our marketing team will run a cost effective campaign using your organisation’s logo. We advertise in your local press and vacancies are also registered with local job centres. Posts are also advertised on-line using our own and other major national recruitment websites. We also search our own database of registered candidates, utilising e-mail and our SMS (text) messaging service to alert potentially suitable individuals.
Telephone pre-screening
We conduct initial pre-screening and qualification of all applicants via telephone. Based on evaluation criteria agreed with you, our resource consultants will assess candidates on their key competencies and attributes, developing a shortlist of candidates who meet the core requirements.
Assessment day
All successfully pre-screened candidates are then invited to an assessment day. This is a highly interactive event, giving you the opportunity to meet all the selected candidates. Synergy will work with you to develop the content for the day, and we will implement a series of proven evaluation and profiling methods and models to assess the candidates’ suitability. Synergy will organise and facilitate the event and also collate and submit to you the post-event assessment and profiling data. Through profiling, group discussions and formal and informal interviews, you get the opportunity to make initial candidate assessments. It also provides those invited with an opportunity to prove themselves as potential candidates for your Kickstart programme. We will support and assist you in your candidate selection process, with a view to eventually creating a shortlist of candidates.
Induction day
Designed in partnership with your organisation, this day is intended to give candidates an honest and accurate understanding of the roles they are taking on. The day focuses on what the candidate can expect on a day-to-day basis and what will be realistically required of them . We also make candidates aware of the career opportunities that will be available to them and the commitment that they will be expected to make to the organisation. To demonstrate your commitment to the candidates we then introduce the training programme, the skills they will learn and their opportunities for future development.
Kickstart Training
We design your Kickstart training programme with your organisational goals in mind. The intensive programme will be developed around the core skills and competencies you require for each role. Our focused learning solution will build awareness, knowledge and understanding of your organisation and its ethos, values and practices. The training, incorporating continuous assessment techniques, will be innovative and flexible, encouraging candidates to develop and enhance their skills and commitment, whilst learning how to apply their knowledge to the context of your business processes.
Courses can cover any number of subjects dependant on the skills required and may include such topics as customer service, handling aggression, health and safety and any other appropriate business skills.
Assessment and interview
Course completion offers the candidates the opportunity to prove their knowledge, skills and understanding during a final formal assessment session. Synergy will evaluate their proficiency against a benchmark of key performance indicators and provide you with a final evaluation report for each candidate. You will then have the opportunity to conduct final interviews and select your candidates.
Temporary or permanent contracts?
The choice is yours. We will help advise on which is more appropriate for your organisation’s needs and based on the costs involved.
Mentoring and support
Synergy can offer a programme of mentoring and support following successful recruitment. This can include the provision of on-site consulting support, mentoring your new recruits, undertaking ongoing reviews and appraisals, or supporting your HR department in conducting a full training-needs
analysis of all new recruits.
A typical Kickstart campaign
Kickstart saves organisations time and money, by filtering hundreds of candidates through a rigorous selection process – and then training the best in the skills they’ll need to succeed in your organisation.
