One of the more positive traits of the printing industry is that a lack of formal qualifications is not a barrier to success, albeit it is more difficult now than a generation ago. At the same time many youngsters can fall through the net of formal education. Lee Bennett wants to provide a second chance to these and Ignite is the programme to do this.
Bennett has personal experience of needing a second chance. As a teenager he keenly wanted to become a PE teacher and was at college preparing to follow this dream. There he agreed to help out with the triple jump (as it would look good on the CV). This became a hop, a skip and a snap as his cruciate ligaments gave way and with the injury any hope of becoming a PE teacher.
“I had no idea of any direction for my life,” he says. “No idea of what to do.” At this point a friend suggested he came in to work in the warehouse of his business just to see if it suited. Bennett recalls: “It was quite enjoyable and gave me an opportunity to think about what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go.”
Now as learning and development business partner for Paragon Customer Communications he is trying to give other youngsters the same opportunity. This has gelled into Paragon’s Ignite apprenticeship scheme. Youngsters are taken into the company’s Dagenham site and provided with ten weeks’ experience around the business – a kind of (paid) internship for manufacturing staff.
“Most companies will want to employ people with some experience, but unless someone gives you the chance how are you doing to get that experience?” Bennett says. “That’s where Ignite comes from.”
The applicants to date have come from sources such as the Department of Work & Pensions, local charities and even a Facebook page for West Ham supporters. “I put a notice on the Hammers4work Facebook group and that led to inviting a couple of individuals in to meet us. There are lots of people out there looking for a role that most other companies tend to overlook. I believe you should give people a chance. You never know when someone might surprise you.”
The youngsters, 18 years old and above, are invited to an assessment day. This is an entirely informal session – no CVs, no sit down interviews. It is about trying to identify an attitude, whether the prospects are ready to commit to working hard, whether they can hold a conversation. Bennett says: “We can teach them about the technology and pieces of machinery. We can’t teach the will to work. These can be the bits that schools forget because of the focus on teaching the curriculum.”
The assessment day will lead to offers of placements for around 16 individuals who then embark on the ten-week rotation programme giving them experience across the production departments. The opportunity is there to impress the managers they work under and the team they work with, leading to an offer of an apprenticeship for successful candidates.
A cohort of eight started on this process on the Monday which was followed by shut down Tuesday. Bennett says. “Three are now working with us full time on different apprenticeships. These include print technicians, facilities management and engineering.”
All are youngsters that might otherwise not have had an opportunity for a career. “You can’t just stand someone at the end of a machine, you have to put the time and effort into these people, and we are fully committed to giving them the opportunity. And they become fully committed to Paragon,” he says.
The preparations are being laid for the next assessment day. The result is likely to be slightly different in the post Covid period. In the last 18 months of lockdown and with limited interactions, many will have lost the motivation to work, meaning that instead of a 75% offer rate, Paragon is anticipating that only 50% will show the necessary desire.
The preparations are being made too to extend the Ignite programme to other Paragon Customer Communications sites. The difficulties around travel and face to face meetings have slowed the wider adoption across the group during the last 18 months. Now those meetings can take place. “We are having the conversations about how we can give those sites the support they need to get to where they need to be,” says Bennett.
Nor is Paragon all about youngsters and apprenticeships. Training is endemic to the company culture. It has people on Level 5 apprenticeships, it has people with degrees, studying for Masters qualifications and MBAs. This is important. “The market is not going to recover fully for a little while, so those people that might have bounced around jobs for a while might now stay with a company a little longer. So if we can offer training and the opportunity for them to further their careers. It might be the difference between them staying and going.”
From the training section in the Sep/Oct 2021 magazine
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