Aspiration Training has been Youth Employment UK’s pilot flagship provider who have been testing the use of our young professional programme in their traineeship offer.
Youth Employment UK’s CEO, Laura-Jane Rawlings, and our Head of Education & Youth Voice, Pete Thorpe, interviewed Kara, Dawn, David, Heather and Hannah from Aspiration Training. This conversation is about how that experience has been, what the learning has been and what we can take forward with other providers so they can benefit from Aspiration Training’s learning and experience.
Read the transcript of the interview below. You can easily find Aspiration Training’s positive learning experiences, highlighted below in pink text.
Laura-Jane: Hello and welcome to this session on the young professional programme, where today we are joined by colleagues from training provider Aspiration training.
My name is Laura-Jane Rawlings, I am CEO of Youth Employment UK and I am joined by our Head of Education and Youth Voice, Pete Thorpe and colleagues from across the aspirations training network, so Kara Tuckey? Who is the Head of operations, John Lucas , the employability manager for their Gloucester branch, David who is the Employability coach for Gloucester, Heather who is traineeship coach in Birmingham and Hannah who is doing her traineeship in Birmingham as a learner.
Welcome everyone and thank you for joining us today. Aspiration has been our pilot flagship provider who have been testing the use of the young professional programme in their traineeship offer. This conversation is about how that experience has been, what the learning has been and what we can take forward with other providers so they can benefit from your learning.
So I will start with you Kara,
What made you first choose the young professional programme and do this pilot with us?
Kara: For us it was that enrichment piece for our learners. It was about them being able to build their skills and confidence and actually look into themselves. Who are they, what are their strengths, what are their weaknesses. Even doing s.w.o.t analysis. And all the things they need going into the workplace, it’s to help them better prepare for that. There are things we can teach in the classroom, but this can be more self-study. But it’s adding that wide and broader piece so that they can get to know themselves and know what they want to do. It is a fabulous online, easy access system and we found it quite easy to embed within our delivery model and learner journey. It’s been quite an organic growth.
Laura-Jane: That’s great to hear, talk about embedding it, this is really interesting for us. So many providers, all very individual organisations with different services and cohorts.
What approach did you take to decide how to embed it? It’s quite a big programme, There’s eight modules, sixteen hours of learning. What decisions did you make, who did you bring in to make that happen?
Kara: We already had our learner journey, although it was fairly new we had developed that and we had our units. The things we were looking to develop, such as their CV writing, applying for jobs, pulling out application forms, health and safety etc, it was Dave and Dawn that had a look in depth at those further modules and they fitted in quite nicely into the programme. Dave can expand on that.
David: Essentially it was very easy to reinforce and introduce topics and take it to a broader audience than just the specifics of CV writing, why do we write a CV, who are going to work for, why are you going to work for them? It just made it a bit more holistic, that just specifically employability related. A lot of clients have no idea about what it’s like to go to work, what’s involved, what they should be thinking about and this programme fits in so nicely. We sequenced the various modules to go along with the teaching we were doing and try to enhance what we are doing.
Kara: And it is very flexible. Speaking to other coaches, they might do one thing on a Tuesday and actually the conversation and discussion moves towards one of the Young professional modules. Right, let’s move onto that, it’s so flexible. You can adapt it, tweak it, you can sequence it as you want. It is really quite a holistic programme to follow.
Pete:
In terms of embedding it and supporting coaching, how has the group management benefitted you?
Dawn: Heather’s group was the first group to launch the programme that we had. Initially her group was the first group to launch with the programme, and we had a few hiccups along the way but we learnt very quickly of what we needed to do and change. I took ownership of using the group management and supporting the coaches. We have really good communication process where they recruit new learners. They give me all the information, I get them on to the system within 24 hours and they can actually start working with them.
What we were keen to do was to not have the Youth Employment UK introduced 2 or 3 days later, we wanted it to run parallel with their main programme so it was holistic rather than an add on programme. We make sure it’s up and running straight away and then the coaches who are initially I would do the introduction to the learners, until then coaches then become comfortable with how we operate and what it looks like. So after four or five weeks, the coaches then become comfortable about delivery to learners. My role is still to set it up for them but then also do the reporting. I use the reports to track the learners every 2 weeks and then flag to the coaches where their learners are, and while they are still tracking it is just another pair of eyes and if there are any blips or problems, they come to me so there is a central person who can look at any concerns and then we can communicate with Pete to solve any issues, previous it was Susan and Kim who were brilliant. The support has been brilliant from all of you.
Laura-Jane: Excellent to hear.
What do you think you’ve seen to be the real benefits of using the young professional to other systems you would have?
David: I find that the learners can dip in and out as they feel comfortable, what we had used before felt very regimented, you must do this at this time. They can explore as much as they like on this system and that helps me a lot in the classroom because they have an idea of what they’re talking about often when we are discussing relevant topics. Their confidence, their work, their experiences in life, their education. They have something they can talk about and feel as they know more about having gone through the system.
Heather: I guess I got the confidence as they said. It’s a really a great way to understand their own ability, so whilst we teach them stuff around CVs and interview prep, that programme specifically looks at things like confidence and and emotions and they can figure out their own strengths and weaknesses, improvements they can make, what they need to do to succeed by overcoming those barriers and then we can discuss that in the sessions we have. It blends the two programmes together quite nicely. I know the modules cover careers plans, and taking charge of your own career, which is great because they can feed back into the sessions. So when looking at specific areas they want to go into like dental or health and social care, they can look at things on the website such as health care assistant roles and get a better understanding of what they want to get into for their work placement. It’s a nice way for them to have some independent study, so we are not giving them everything they need to know but they can do the programme and do the research in their own time, learn some more skills that they can bring to the session and talk about.
Laura-Jane: That’s really great to hear and for people watching this session, the Youth Employment UK website for young people is about developing skills and careers, telling them about the world of work and career learning. We have a huge and comprehensive website that sits behind and around the young professional. It’s not just about the skills and employability programme, it’s so much more. It’s that Careers mapping, career support, lots of content for the young people around that. We map our careers information to Gatsby and the CDI framework and the skills builder. From that perspective are those things key to aspiration training?
Being able to evidence using our programme against those three systems, what does that look like for you? What are the business impacts of using the Young People?
Kara: From our point of view, we are looking at qualification achievement rates, retention, learner progression, all the three elements that make up the traineeship. It helps prepare them to go into the work placement and essentially that’s what we’re here to do. Get them into work and find more of our learners are ready for that, ready in their confidence, their emotions, in the way that they are adapting to work, and life and what that looks like, the practicalities of that. More of our learners are naturally progressing, more are able to have those conversations within their work placements e.g. – is there a job for me here at the end of this? They have the confidence to ask that question. Which is amazing and the feedback we’re getting from our employers is the level of confidence. They’re young professionals but they’re grown ups. They are really making those first steps in their own careers and owning it! They’re taking ownership and saying right this is what I want to do. The programme in its entirety is helping them on that pathway. The impact has been immense and it’s been fabulous to watch.
Laura-Jane: It’s incredible to hear you talk with such passion about that impact.
We’ve been working together on this programme for a few months, have you noticed an increase in retention of learners so that must be quite tangible for aspiration training?
Kara: Absolutely, how many have started and how many have stayed. Youth Employment UK and The Young Professional programme has definitely helped towards an increase in retention of learners. Easing of lockdown and being able to get learners in has also helped. The programme has changed again and has evolved because we’re doing it more face to face and not just on zoom, so for the coaches and the learners to be in a room talking about these things and having SWOT analysis on the wall and all this fabulous stuff gives it more practical elements to it. So it will have naturally helped as well. The feedback we have received, the learners are getting certificates at every module, it’s fabulous because some of these learners have never had certificates, they have never held a certificate. Now they are. That’s why we do what we do, it’s to help them on their way. To see their reaction to it is brilliant.
Pete:
You’re saying they’ve never had those experiences before, do you think some of the learners have not done some of the reflective stuff that’s at the foundation of the course, looking at their own skills, understanding what it is, What they want to do and why they want to do it. For me that’s a massive part of it, knowing the jobs and understanding that is great, but having a chance to reflect on what you really want, and what you like and what you’d like to carry on doing – you tell me?
Kara: You’re right Pete, that is a massive part of it. Because you get steam rolled, railroad to go on. You’ve done your GCSE now you’re going to do A Levels. What if they don’t want to do that, what if academics is not where their strengths lie. It’s then letting them have that reflective piece, they get to know themselves. How old were we when we realised who we really were and what we wanted out of life. It’s giving them that opportunity early on to get to know themselves.
Laura-Jane:
Let’s talk to a learner who’s really done the programme, I’d like to capture Hannah’s experience. Hannah, does this sound familiar? Do you feel on your traineeship journey and using the Young Professional programme has boosted your confidence?
Hannah: Yeah I found the confidence and emotions modules really helpful and it has really helped me with building confidence and assertiveness skills. I haven’t started my placement yet, but it has boosted my confidence in being able to ask certain questions. Just knowing what my rights are. Not going along with things as I do. I don’t feel able to. It has been really helpful to look into myself and perfect my strengths and weaknesses.
What did you have available to you before Aspirations Training, did you get careers support?
Hannah: I wouldn’t say a huge amount, I would say through school you would sit, being pushed into a levels and pushed through GCSEs. I don’t feel like exams were ever my strong point. I always did well in coursework subjects and that’s where I have the creative side to me. Exams were not my strong point, so I think I lost a lot of confidence within the school and then wanting to build a career I didn’t have that confidence because I’ve been pushed so far down with exams I didn’t feel confident enough to do anything.
How is the traineeship for you, not just the Young Professional – are you finding the whole process, building you back up? Getting you ready? Are you looking forward to what comes next?
Hannah: Yeah for ages before this, I was really like “I don’t know how I’m going to do any of this” I feel too scared to, whereas now I’m looking forward to getting a placement and going into work again.
Laura-Jane:: Amazing! Sometimes those systems around us don’t recognise our individual strengths. I left school after my GCSEs and I dont have higher qualifications but I have this amazing job now because it’s about being a young professional, it’s about those skills you’ve been learning to put to good use. Nobody can stop you from achieving these things?
What’s been your favourite module, you’ve chosen to do more than your cohorts, you’ve been getting those certificates.
Hannah: the confidence and emotions modules have been my favourites but also the skills and work life. I liked that there were links in the skills module such as skill building. It was interesting to tap into that.
Laura-Jane:: Did you do the work experience module?
Hannah: I think so, I found them all really interesting. The confidence and emotions stood out for me the most. Working on learning more skills about what I have to offer.
Laura-Jane: What’s next for you preparing for your placement now?
Hannah: I am in between finding out where I am – within care work.
Laura-Jane: Do you think you’d use the young professional in the future?
Hannah: Yeah I think it’s really handy and there is a lot of useful information within the website and to see what there is to offer and find out more information about certain things that I might not have known about before.
