When I joined Workplus a year ago, I naively thought it was about apprenticeship recruitment. As I spent time with the team, it didn’t take me long to realise it was so much more.
The mission to have a better–connected skills system drives each member of the team and everything we are involved in day–to–day. I realised that within my role, I had the freedom to see what my involvement in this mission looked like and how I could do the same.
Following numerous discussions with businesses, it became evident that apprenticeships were not the sole solution they sought to address their skills gaps. Many expressed a desire for a more inclusive workforce, recognised the existence of untapped talent pools, and voiced frustrations about how to locate them. Some had specific demographics they aimed to engage, driven by social mandates related to public procurement contracts, and turned to us for assistance in identifying the right employability organisations to connect with.
Having worked in the charity sector for many years, I also knew that the desire for better connections with businesses went both ways. I wanted to explore this further to identify if there were common barriers for employability organisations and the appetite to address them.
After many conversations over the summer, the resounding theme was ‘time is precious – we want to speak to the right person in the right organisation’. Employability organisations have heavy workloads, often with one person wearing many hats, and they are expected, on top of everything else, to reach out to businesses to secure employment/placement opportunities. The desire is there, but to achieve it, it needs to be in a way that’s efficient, that doesn’t add to their workload and take them away from the amazing work they are doing with individuals.
At Workplus I knew that we were facilitating connections on an adhoc basis already. Having a vast network, we were in a privileged position being able to easily point companies to the right employability organisation when they came to us for help.
However, we felt we could do more, instead of being reactive with connections, we decided to be proactive. To be intentional about introducing employability organisations to our network, and so we decided to extend our membership beyond businesses.
Employability organisations/charities/community groups can now join the Workplus membership at a special charity rate. This membership will give them access to our exclusive membership events, a profile on our new website (look out for this in January!), and be introduced to our network with a focus on how they can support businesses as well as work alongside us to better connect the skills system.
I was delighted to welcome NIACRO, Disability Action, Specialisterne and The Cedar Foundation to their first membership event on 15th November. It was great to see the conversations around the table about inclusive apprenticeships and social value. These organisations can enrich our membership by bringing their experience with the labour market and tailored support they can give to employers.
November 6th marked my one–year anniversary with Workplus, and this membership beautifully reflects all that I’ve learned during my time here. I’m part of an amazing organisation that genuinely welcomes new ideas— anything that helps overcome barriers for our members and strengthens connections within the skills system.
Collaboration and connection truly lie at the core of everything we do.