Temp training reaps benefits for everyone

03-February-2010

Everyone is a winner, according to recruiters who have added a string to their bow by training their candidates. Recruiters receive an additional and welcome revenue stream, the workers gain essential skills, and clients benefit from a more highly skilled workforce.

The reputation of the recruitment industry is also given a welcome boost, confounding its critics, who argue that agency workers are second class citizens vis à vis their permanent colleagues.

A secsLife survey (2007/08) by office recruiter Gordon Yates found that 41% of temps received some form of induction training and 43% were offered informal help from an existing staff member. By comparison, according to the secsLife 2009/10 survey, 82% of employers provide training for their permanent support staff.

Lack of training was one reason why construction recruiter Contract Scotland first began to train its contractors in 2004. “We began to notice that only those contractors out of work had the time to access these training courses [SMSTS – site management training five-day certificates and first aid courses], meaning those in work could be at a disadvantage when their contracts came to an end. We wanted to provide increased access to training courses for everyone,” says Carolyn Murray, Contract Scotland’s training & development manager.

Social care and healthcare recruiter Amicus Recruit first ran training for its part-qualified agency social workers in 2002. In 2009 it started to put on training for part-qualified and senior practitioners and team managers in conjunction with Bournemouth University. “It’s part of our company policy of managing your own career,” says Paul Argile, the company’s owner and managing director.

It also runs a ’manage your career’ programme as well as a mentoring programme, where junior social workers are mentored by more experienced staff.

Argile says that in total it has trained 20% of its agency workforce. Although workers pay an initial deposit of £150, this is refunded once they complete the programme.

Heather Slade, head of training at technical recruiter Advanced Resource Managers (ARM), says the company first began training its candidates five or six years ago in response to demand from both clients and candidates. She says one of the most popular training the company offers is Prince2 – a project management qualification. “Candidates might need a particular qualification to get to the next stage of their career, and we help them achieve that,” she says. “They are obviously increasing their skills so that their CVs are stronger and the number of opportunities open to them is wider, so it’s a career builder, really.”

Clients tend to ask for training in management development, IT or engineering, she adds. Most training courses last around five days, though some are held in the evening, and others are available through e-learning. The company trains between 3,000 and 4,000 people a year, often alongside the permanent staff of its clients.

Other recruiters are required to ensure that their agency workers have certain certificates in order to work, says Phil Addison, a trainer at Osmosis Training, which trains healthcare workers on behalf of recruiters.

According to Addison, the growth of regulation has played an important part in expanding this market. For example, the Buying Solutions framework agreement stipulates that many workers must have completed training in subjects such as manual handling (moving patients) and health & safety. Other requirements, for example food hygiene certificates are often a requirement of a local service level agreement, he adds.

Office recruiter Tate is about to launch a new webinar training and development programme for its temporary staff (which it actually

employs). Charlotte Woodward, Tate’s brand values manager, says the programme will concentrate on soft skills and personal development. “Temps tend to have access to software training without too much difficulty – most agencies offer that, but they don’t tend to have access to personal development because the firms they work for don’t extend this to their temporary workers, so we see it as our responsibility,” says Woodward. Clients benefit because they get a more accomplished worker, she adds.

Contract Scotland’s Murray agrees: “We have a complete understanding of our clients needs, and we can supply them with a worker who is fully trained, meaning they do not have to incur the cost to this training themselves. They see us as providing a solution to the problems of improving health & safety, and recognise we work in partnership with the Scottish construction industry.”

However, the agency itself also reaps the rewards of its investment, adds Woodward. “It’s to do with candidate engagement because a temp who receives this personal development is more likely to be loyal to the agency, and to be retained by the customer.”

In September, Drivers Direct was recognised by the government as a centre for training drivers in the Certificate of Professional Competence for vocational Next Issue: How web services can help your business drivers – an EU qualification that requires drivers to receive 35 hours’ training over five years.

So far the company has trained 50 drivers, with a further 100 signed up, according to Gethin Roberts Drivers Direct’s managing director.

The course covers health & safety, fuel efficiency and better driving. “It’s a point of difference between ourselves and other recruiters because if they have done the course they become better drivers to place out,” says Roberts. Drivers Direct has also put 250 drivers through NVQ driver training.

Roberts says that this additional string to the company’s bow is particularly attractive to smaller companies not large enough to run their own training.

Iain Kennedy, who as a director of people and innovation at Reliance Security introduced an applicant tracking system, agrees that agencies who provide trained workers, or at least those with an awareness of subjects such as health & safety, have a distinct advantage over those who don’t. “If agencies can supply people who are to an extent familiar with rules and regulations that is a great help, and I would always plump for someone who can do that; it saves us a load of hassle,” he says.

Richard Grace, managing director of office recruiter Gordon Yates, says that offering their temporary secretarial workers training in the latest software fits in with the company credo, “by making sense to its ’Three Cs’ – candidates, clients and colleagues”.

But above and beyond this the recruitment industry receives a much needed boost, he argues. “We do have a positive impact on the world, but I don’t know how many people realise that.”