We believe that a vital part of being a responsible business is to support and nurture the upcoming workforce. Enabling them to become successful not just in their time with your organisation but as they progress onward along their desired career path. At one point or another, we have all needed some help and guidance, and we believe that it is our duty to provide that for others when we are presented with the opportunity to do so.
What is the Kickstart programme?
At ThinkShare we are proud to have been a part of the Governments’ Kickstart scheme, taking on two part-time candidates with one now in a full-time role at our company.
The Kickstart Scheme was designed to offer a six-month role for young people aged 16 to 24 years old who are currently claiming Universal Credit and are at risk of long-term unemployment. These are paid positions with the opportunity to learn new transferrable skills and boost their future job prospects.
Our goal in joining the scheme was predominantly to provide candidates with relevant experience & knowledge, that they could utilise and build upon as they continue to pursue their future career. We ended up gaining a lot more.
Increased skills, capabilities and development
Our first candidate Tyler Findlay, joined our technical team. Tyler joined us with existing, self-taught skills in back-end website building, HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Tyler also possessed a deep understanding of online security which he put to good use. Instantly he became a huge asset as he strengthened our website security and increased the speed of our website.
As well as working on internal ThinkShare projects, Tyler was tasked with client work. During his time with us Tyler has assisted in the development of Power Platform solutions and bespoke intranets for our clients.
Tyler developed apps and business automation flows using low-code tools such as Microsoft PowerApps with PowerFx and Power Automate. Tyler also liaised with the project leads to make sure development aligned with client requirements, expectations and brand guidelines. Tyler’s ability to communicate with different departments and members within them has improved tenfold.
Since starting at ThinkShare, Tyler has grown in confidence and is able to take on more complex tasks, which he can complete with minimal support. His ability and desire to learn new skills has made him an integral member of the team, so much so that in January he became a permanent, full-time employee at ThinkShare.
On his experience with ThinkShare, Tyler said:
“I have really enjoyed my time working at ThinkShare and was ecstatic to be offered a permanent role with the company. I have learnt so many new products, how they work and seeing the end result of what that product can look like. I have gained new skills and knowledge through the Kickstart scheme and am grateful for the opportunity it has given me.
The people at ThinkShare have been a great help at both teaching and raising my confidence, thanks to them I believe I have come further than I thought I could have before working here. I am excited about my future with ThinkShare and where my career will take me.”
Pioneering new medium and creating new content
In addition to Tyler, we also had Tommy Mackay join our Marketing Team. Again, our goal was to provide him with transferrable skills, knowledge of all areas of Marketing as well as experience of working in a professional environment. We knew Tommy was a wordsmith and could write engaging, yet technical articles so that is where he started.
Tommy was able to interpret our brands tone of voice, understand who our audience were and learn about our products and services to create engaging and insightful articles for our audience. He had a key role in our content strategy, created an EBook, a new buyer persona and was a Lead Contributor to our first Whitepaper document: 2022 Work Trends.
As well as completing tasks set out for him, he also brought fresh new ideas to the company such as a weekly social listening report and pioneered video creation – a new format for ThinkShare.
During his time, Tommy has increased his knowledge of Marketing, learned new skills and worked on new platforms. His contributions to the website, insight article library and overall content library are all pieces of work he can and should be proud of.
Reflecting on his time with ThinkShare, Tommy said: “The Kickstart Scheme was created to provide young people with the training and support necessary to facilitate long-term employment. Now, as my time at ThinkShare wraps up, I can safely say that this goal was not only achieved but entirely exceeded. The team imparted not only technical and professional skills that will serve me for the rest of my career, but also interpersonal skills that have transformed how I feel about the workplace and my ability to thrive in a team environment.
This opportunity has given me self-assurance and clarity on my career ambitions going forwards. I’m very grateful to the team for all their support, and I wish them continued success for all they do in the future.”
Nurturing talent to drive success
We are incredibly grateful to the Kickstart programme and the clearly tangible benefits these two candidates have brought to the company. From increased capabilities, new skills and fresh ideas, we have gained as much as the candidates have from the scheme.
“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.” Napoleon Hill
Nurturing new talent takes time but without the fresh perspective, as a business you risk falling behind and getting stuck in old, less effective habits. As a responsible business, it is important you are giving back to the workforce and helping those who may not have had the same opportunities or experiences as others.
We all have value, we just need someone to recognise it.