Training Programmes

The Evolution of our Work Experience and Training Model

In the early days, we had a basic offering to new training staff – the opportunity to get back into the routine of work, update workplace skills, access some formal training and acquire a recent work reference. Important by-products were improved confidence and self esteem. Resources at the time prevented consistent delivery, but it provided a solid foundation for what was to follow.

Our strategy in recent years has been to focus on improving quality across our commercial business and also in our training offering through our Consumer Journey Framework model. Our capacity to deliver on this strategy is through the collaborations we now forge and resources we leverage from Industry, Philanthropy, State and Community.

Using insights into how long term unemployed consumers are thinking and feeling, we identified and mapped the key stages of our consumers’ journey from unemployment to securing a job and greater financial independence. This Consumer Journey Framework identifies the elements that lead to better and more successful outcomes for training staff when completed.

The Framework starts with a recruitment process that informs potential training staff of what to expect from working and training in the Company. This allows them make an informed decision and us to determine if they are a good fit for the opportunity we offer. Once recruited and over the following four weeks, we ensure new training staff feel welcome and we put in place supports to help them settle in.

The Company offers Work Placement Programmes and Work Training Programmes. Work Placement Programmes include the following: Community Employment; TÚS and a National Traineeship. Training staff can access a variety of Work Training Programmes on Work Placement Programmes. The level and extent of training offered is dependant on the Work Placement Programme and also on any supplementary resources the Company can secure through Philanthropic, Corporate investment or from within its own reserves.

Successful job seeking requires a unique set of skills, knowledge and confidence. The Career Planning stage includes career-interest assessment, psychometric testing, job seeking skills and motivational training. We use a cognitive behavioural approach to create sustainable changes in cognition, behaviour and affect about becoming financially independent through employment.

We engage with local industry to identify their talent needs, align our training programmes to reflect their requirements and build a pipeline of opportunities for our training staff.

At the end of their journey, our ambition is for Training Staff to have found the right job and feel so positive about their experience that they would ‘recommend us to a friend’.

We use a number of different feedback and evaluation tools, including our Employability & Distance Travelled System to ensure that what we offer is relevant and fit for purpose to meet our mission.

Work Placement Programmes

Active Labour Market Policies are Government policy interventions aimed at improving participant’s prospects of finding gainful employment or increasing their earning potential. The Company supports two Government programmes called Community Employment and TÚS that are supported under this heading.

Community Employment

The Company contracts annually with the Dept. of Employment & Social Protection (DEASP) to operate a Community Employment (CE) Scheme. The CE Scheme provides for training allowances for 37 places and a contribution to supervision costs, materials and training. The DEASP sets the eligibility criteria for the programme. All eligible participants are allowed a minimum of one year on the Programme which can be extended subject to DEASP rules. As Speedpak’s CE Scheme is eligible for renewal in June, two programmes operate within each financial year ending 31 December. The Programmes training and development activity and finances are audited annually by the DEASP.

TÚS

The TÚS Programme is also a community work placement programme. The Company is contracted by the Northside Partnership, the local Managing Agent for the TÚS Programme, to provide commercial work experience placements. We offer up to a maximum of 20 work experience opportunities at any one time. Participants are contracted for periods of one year only. Speedpak receives no Supervision or Training grants for this programme.

A traineeship is a programme of structured training which combines learning in an education and training setting and in the workplace.

Our Traineeship in Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Customer Service Logistics, was a 30 week National Traineeship programme co-produced and developed by Speedpak Group with Coláiste Dhúlaigh College of Further Education (CDCFE) and industry partners – Allergan PLC., Butlers Chocolates, Bewleys Ltd., IKEA and Real time Technologies.

Training allowances and trainers were funded by CDCFE.

The programme was delivered onsite in Speedpak’s Learning Centre. Our role as lead industry partner also involved supporting programme co-ordination, industry engagement and providing professional coaching to participants.

Speedpak’s role in developing and supporting the Traineeship was financed with grant support from both The Ireland Funds Flagship Grant and Social Innovation Fund Ireland’s Education Fund. We also received grant funding from The Allergan International Foundation to upgrade our Learning Centre which enable us house the Traineeship alongside other programme training.

Further information is available on the Traineeship in Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Customer Service Logistics page of this website.

Community Services Programme

The Community Service Programme (CSP) supports social enterprises to deliver local social, economic and environmental services to tackle disadvantage by providing a co-funding contribution towards the cost of employing staff. Speedpak was successful in its most recent 3 year application to run a Programme from 2018-2020. The Programme is funded by the Dept. of Rural and Community Development and administered by POBAL. CSP supports 6 full-time equivalent positions and 1 manager role in the Company. 70% of positions funded by this programme are filled by long term unemployed people. These posts are central to resourcing both the commercial businesses and supporting the delivery of our social impact. They add significant value to the delivery of training across all our programmes. Much of the work we offer is labour intensive and requires continuous mentoring and supervision to ensure commercial customer needs are met and training staff acquire the necessary industry skills and work behaviours.

Other

The Company offers work experience to other groups including transition year pupils and people on training programmes in the community that require work experience as part of their programme curriculum.

Work Training Programmes

These refer to the formal training in each Work Placement Programmes. The level and amount of training varies between Programmes. Outlined below is the formal training participants are guaranteed on each Programme:

Community Employment

• Induction
• Manual Handling
• Health & Safety in the Workplace
• 2 Standard Operational Procedures
• 2 QQI Awards related to Industry or Employment

TÚS

• Induction
• Manual Handling
• Health & Safety in the Workplace

Traineeship in Manufacturing, Supply Chain & Customer Service Logistics (QQI Level 5 Award)

• Induction
• Manual Handling
• PHEEC First Aid
• Personal Effectiveness
• Safety & Health at Work
• Work Practise
• Customer Service
• Warehousing
• IT Database Methods
• Functional Maths
• Forklift License
• Coaching
• 12 weeks Industry Placement

Community Services Programme

• Manual Handling
• Health & Safety in the Workplace
• Customised training depending on role in the Company

Other

• Manual Handling
• Health & Safety in the Workplace

Employability and Distance Travelled System [EDTS]

Overview

The idea of capturing the ‘Distance Travelled’ by participants towards employability was borne from an idea in Speedpak in 2004. Originally called the Distance Travelled System it has evolved significantly since then.

The purpose of the model is to measure all progress towards employability and not simply getting a job or taking part in training. Even if a person is not job ready, the model takes account of what progress they have made while on a Speedpak Work Placement Programme or a specific Work Training Programme.

Most people who take part in Speedpak Work Placement Programmes are employed by Speedpak on labour market programmes which generally last for no more than 12 months. Contracts however can be renewed. Those on the Work Training Programmes can be drawn from the same Speedpak Work Placement Programmes and also from external organisations. The newly developed Employability & Distance Travelled System (EDTS) captures progress made over a relatively short time horizon for people on both Work Placement and Work Training Programmes.

The EDTS database gathers comprehensive data in relation to fifty one key indicators underpinned by competencies that measure an individual’s progression to employability while working and training in Speedpak Group.

Plans 2019

The new system in currently in test mode and we plan to go live later this year. To achieve this we also need to develop and finalise:

• Best practise in all aspects of the systems implementation, from how we capture the data, provide client feedback and manage the data so that we are meeting the best research standards and complying with GDPR regulations.
• Develop the EDTS Reporting Module to allow us retrieve all data captured, by arena, by competency, by individual indicator, by trainee, by programme amongst others. It would further support performance management of individual trainees to improve outcomes and progression to employment or further education or training. It would give us the intelligence to evaluate the effectiveness of our work experience and training programmes ensuring that we meet both trainee needs and industry requirements. It would also allow us to maximise the use of finite resources in the Company to benefit our long term unemployed consumer.

Our Ambition

We want to scale the EDTS so that it can be used and adapted by other organisations in the public, private, community, voluntary and social enterprise sectors to benefit clients accessing training and/or work experience opportunities.

Social Investment Support

Over the years we have received social investment to support this innovation in our work. The new EDTS database was developed with grant support from The Allergan International Foundation alongside pro-bono technical expertise and advice from Paul Leamy, Perigord. Earlier research and versions were supported with grants from both The Ireland Funds and JP Morgan which we would also like to acknowledge.