SOLAS Skills to Advance eNewsletter June 2021

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Welcome to the

Skills to Advance

eNewsletter

Issue 5, June 2021

Skills to Advance - latest news

This issue focuses on how Skills to Advance supports small and medium businesses (SMEs) and on the services that ETBs offer for SME recovery post COVID-19. These include Training Needs Analysis; Skills Profiling and tailored training solutions to upskill and reskill employees to build resilience and sustain employment.

SMEs are a vital part of the Irish economy. The latest survey of SMEs by the CSO in 2018 shows they accounted for 99.8% of the total number of enterprises and 67.5% of all people employed. Of these, micro-enterprises accounted for 91% of all enterprises. The OECD’s recent report on Ireland’s SME sector shows SME firms accounted for 56% of manufacturing employment and 74% of services employment.

In 2020, the majority of companies that availed of Skills to Advance training through the ETBs were micro, small and medium sized enterprises. As the cornerstone of Ireland’s economy, Ireland’s SME sector will play a crucial role in driving strong post-pandemic economic recovery. The 16 ETBs are well positioned in the regions around Ireland to serve SMEs, working closely with companies through their industry networks, to upskill employees to contribute to business sustainability and growth.

Strong supports for SMEs

Through the Skills to Advance initiative, Cavan and Monaghan ETB (CMETB) actively engages with local employers, offering certified training that delivers upskilling and reskilling opportunities for employees.

CMETB, through its dedicated Workforce Development Officer, offers support and training solutions to local employers across a wide range of sectors including Engineering, Manufacturing and Hospitality, to ensure their businesses can keep apace in an ever-changing labour environment. It provides access for employers to a suite of high-quality education opportunities through online learning, part-time and evening provision and it also develops flexible bespoke training solutions to meet individual company skills needs.

McAree Engineering is a local 3rd generation family business, employing 160 staff and specialising in sheet metal fabrication.

Peter Richardson, Sales Manager, said: “Our staff have developed their skills through participation in a range of Skills to Advance courses including the ILM Certificate in Leadership & Management and Reception & Office Skills. In addition, the ability to source quite technical courses like HR, Accounting Technician and Solidworks Computer Aided Design is a big advantage and it is a further encouragement to our staff to participate.”

A key feature of Skills to Advance is the collaborative relationship that is built between the local ETB and enterprise. The first engagement with a company is usually the start of a sustained working relationship where the local ETB becomes the first point of contact for staff upskilling and re-training options. Katharine Slowey, HR Manager, added: “CMETB is a great asset to us in helping develop the McAree Engineering team”.

Tour guide training in Tipperary

Following engagement with Tipperary Tourism and local micro-enterprise employers, Tipperary ETB (TETB) launched the QQI Level 6 National Tour Guiding programme, in response to the impact of COVID-19 on the tourism industry.

The programme upskills employees in the sector, enabling them to gain a comprehensive knowledge of Irish culture and heritage, enhance specialist tour management skills and use digital skills to improve the customer experience.

Flexible training was needed to suit the varying needs of employees and TETB responded to the challenge by delivering online evening classes over the 24-week programme, with the most recent group completing training in April 2021.

Participants said the shared experience and knowledge of employees from different parts of the sector were a vital element of this interactive course. On top of the QQI Level 6 Major Award, employees earn the National Tour Guiding Badge.

Speaking highly of her experience, Camillus Croke, from private tour provider Camygo, said: “By obtaining the National Tour Guiding Badge, it will open more doors for me going forward. This nationally-recognised qualification gives me a great sense of achievement and confidence in the knowledge that I will have a qualification to guide tourists around Ireland”.

Tipperary ETB plans to run a similar programme again in late 2021, providing practical support to local SMEs and their employees, to help them recover and grow their businesses.

Watch testimonial video

Supporting care assistants during COVID

Longford and Westmeath ETB (LWETB) responded swiftly to support local SME nursing homes during COVID, providing a staff training programme tailored to meet their specific needs.

Working with local SME nursing homes and Home Instead, LWETB carried out a Training Needs Analysis to identify the upskilling intervention needed, as many care assistants were employed without healthcare qualifications, due to the emergency response required during the pandemic. QQI Level 5 Healthcare Support modules were delivered, with workers being given time off by employers to participate in online training.

As a further support to the sector and recognising that employers wanted to provide employee wellbeing supports in addition to upskilling, LWETB collaborated with a local registered nurse, Mary Rose Jordan, to design a series of online workshops entitled Connecting and Supporting Healthcare Assistants during COVID.

Topics included: Dealing with Anxiety; Staying Well – the Importance of Nutrition and Exercise; Support for Grief; and Feeling Well – Techniques to Deal with Stress.

As the nursing home sector starts to recover from the pandemic, LWETB continues to build the relationship with local SME nursing homes, offering ongoing training to their valued employees.

Empowering the team at Kelly's

In 2020, Waterford and Wexford ETB (WWETB) collaborated with Kelly’s Resort Hotel in Rosslare, Co. Wexford, to implement and accredit a supervisory management programme, empowering its team to deliver the excellent customer experience for which the hotel is widely known.

Renowned as a 4-star fifth generation family business, with a brand that spans over 125 years, the hotel values training as a big part of the company ethos.

Eamonn Dempsey, manager at Kelly’s Resort Hotel said: “Employee satisfaction and retention has always been important to us and we feel the best way to achieve this is through training. With training you not only increase performance, but you also empower your team to make decisions and feel valued within your company. It is the team at the hotel, many of whom have been with us for years, who bring the customers back time and time again. It is for this reason that we give them the training and tools to develop in the future."

The eleven staff who completed the 2020 supervisory management course with WWETB were all very positive about their experience.

David Gaul, an employee who has been promoted to supervisor since completing the course, said: “The trainer was motivating and inspiring. The course offered a way to further my education in a short period of time and I would recommend it to anyone willing to step out of their comfort zone!”.

For the hotel, the training was a great success, not only enhancing staff performance, but also having a positive impact on their confidence, motivation and retention. All eleven staff are returning to work when the hotel re-opens for the 2021 season.

Leadership online for hospice care sector

Dublin and Dun Laoghaire ETB’s (DDLETB) Tallaght Training Centre saw the opportunity during lockdown to expand training for Hospice and Healthcare sector employees, by moving to online delivery.

Mary Kirwan, Head of Human Resources in Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services (OLHCS), acknowledged the training centre’s clear commitment to developing healthcare leaders for the future through the QQI Level 6 Team Leadership programme, despite the constraints of lockdown. “Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Tallaght Training Centre continued to deliver the programmes they promised to deliver,” said Mary. “Our staff received high quality, needs-driven training by subject experts in the fields of healthcare and management.”

The first leadership programme was delivered to 15 employees onsite in Harold’s Cross Hospice. During lockdown, the course moved online. This opened up the opportunity for employees from other health and hospice settings to access this training offer.

A total of 92 employees from workplaces all over the region completed the second leadership programme that Tallaght Training Centre ran under Skills to Advance.

The demand for online Skills to Advance training continues. Tallaght Training Centre is currently delivering Team Leadership modules to another 47 employees in the sector, with a further 50 due to commence QQI Level 6 in Project Management and Train the Trainer courses.

“Tallaght Training Centre deserves praise for helping our staff to develop their knowledge, abilities and competency to be the change they wish to see in their workplace,” affirmed Mary Kirwan, OLHCS.

Innovation through Collaboration

The Call for Applications for the second Innovation through Collaboration Fund, 2021-2023, will issue to ETBs in July 2021.

The Innovation through Collaboration Fund, 2019-2021, was created to embed innovation in the delivery of the Skills to Advance initiative. The selected 10 innovation projects are cultivating strategic alliances across ETBs, industry partners and enterprise stakeholders, to shape innovative approaches to design and delivery, recognition of prior learning (RPL) systems, outreach and enterprise engagement.

Recognition of Prior Learning

In June 2020, Donegal ETB (DETB) embarked on a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) innovation project, to focus on validating the competences of healthcare employees. The partners are Limerick and Clare ETB (LCETB) and Letterkenny Institute of Technology. The objective of the project is to embed RPL as a key process in FET to enable the validation of skills and knowledge gained through work or life experience.

The RPL process supported 92 experienced care sector employees who achieved a range of Level 5 awards in Healthcare Skills and Healthcare Support. A further 21 have engaged with the project and will submit for awards later in the year.

In addition to recognition of their skills, the benefits for the learner include the chance to explore career paths in the sector. This is particularly important for care sector employees who are identified as ‘at risk’ and often lack formal qualifications.

The pandemic has highlighted the value of the interpersonal skills essential to care work and which are also critical in many other occupations. The RPL process offers the opportunity to formally validate these skills acquired through workplace experience, training and mentoring.

A key part of the project is the development of specific training in RPL for ETB staff to enable them to implement the RPL process. By the end of 2020, 30 staff from both LCETB and DETB had participated on a Level 9 Special Purpose award in RPL, delivered online by Letterkenny Institute of Technology.

For employers, the RPL process recognizes all learning, acknowledges existing talent within enterprises and identifies workplaces as active learning environments. This project is building capacity and understanding of the RPL process in the FET sector, developing resources as a guide to future provision of RPL services to employers and employees and supporting social inclusion.

Like to contribute to our eNewsletter?

If your ETB has a story about a Skills to Advance programme and its participants or an event that you would like to see featured in the next issue of this eNewsletter please email [email protected] or [email protected] - the deadline for submissions to be considered for our July issue is Tuesday 13th July.

Contact Information

For Skills to Advance contacts in the ETBs click here.

For queries about Skills to Advance email us at [email protected].

SOLAS
Block 1, Castleforbes House, Castleforbes Road, Dublin 1, D01 A8N0
[email protected]

(01) 533 2500

Find out more at www.skillstoadvance.ie.

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