RideLondon 2024 - Plan Ahead for Road Closures

RideLondon-Essex 2024

Calling all Care Workers! Launch of the Essex Care Worker Survey

Complete the survey

New Safeguarding Portal

Individuals and professionals can now submit adult safeguarding referrals through a new online portal.

Safeguarding Portal
Essex County Council - Provider Hub
Skip to content
Text size:

Employment and Training

Here is an example of partnership working to create better employment opportunities for all residents in Essex.

Here is a list of Essex County Council initiatives that aim to support the develop of skills and employability opportunities for residents across Essex. Please feel free to contact them and explore how you can successfully deliver your Social Value commitments. 

 

Employer Hub supports Essex businesses to attract and develop local talent, as well as promoting their vacancies. Apprenticeship Hub provide you free and impartial advice on apprenticeships. Work Experience: provides a brief overview of the benefits of Work Experience and why it is important. Inclusive Employment provide a downloadable guidance to Apprenticeship, Traineeship, and Internship. 

Adult Community Learning: offering ACL Apprenticeship programs and NVQ courses in a variety of subjects form Level 2 to Level 5. ACL also offers Math and English and many more courses for your staff members. Also provide guidance with Levy Transfer. Email: acl.apprenticeships@essex.gov.uk

Levy Transfer Service: Support for small and medium size businesses in Essex. Known as apprenticeship levy, is when big companies can share some of their funds, with smaller businesses, enabling smaller and medium size businesses to receive financial support to cover the cost of training their apprentices. Email: info@essexalts.co.uk
Next Generation Champion: Supporting employers to engage with Basildon schools and colleges, bringing experience and expertise to local students. Email: skills@basildon.gov.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Generation Champion Basildon: Support for employers to engage with local secondary schools, colleges and sixth forms - bringing lessons and education to life across the borough. Opportunity to get involved with mock interview days, careers fairs, inspirational talks and work experience.

A diverse workforce is an asset for your business, enhancing insight, inclusion and diversity considerations in your design and development of products and services. Benefits for your business could include:

  • Access talent within your local community
  • Improve workforce diversity and provide different perspectives, skills, insight, and values
  • Developing new entrants and your own workforce can be a cost-effective way of growing your workforce
  • Increase community inclusion
  • Boost your reputation as an employer of choice
  • Give existing employees a chance to grow by mentoring / training the young people on Entry to Work schemes

There are a range of government incentives available to businesses to support you to consider participating in entry-level employment programmes.

For SEND (special educational needs and disabilities) jobseekers there is a range of entry-level work opportunities and ways for you, as an employer, to support them on their journey into employment, ensuring their vocational aspirations are heard so they have a bright and ambitious future.

 

 

Essex Inclusive Employer Network

Essex County Council’s Targeted Employment Team is launching an “Essex Inclusive Employment Network”. It is an opportunity for employers who want to make a difference and increase the the opportunities available to the current 5.1% of people with a learning disability and autism in employment. All employers at any stage and all levels of understanding of recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, will gather to:

  • Examine what works and why and the benefits it brings to your organisation
  • Share lessons learnt from employers
  • Introduce you to profiles and talent pools in Essex that have huge potential
  • Provide you with the latest practice in skills-based recruitment and remote assessment techniques
  • Provide you with toolkits and guides to support your organisational development   

If you are interested to find out more, please do email Targetedemployment@essex.gov.uk to find out more or request a list of events coming up both online and at venues across Essex.

Factsheets and further guidance

ECC has developed specific guidance and factsheets to help you design and implement diverse job opportunities, details of these schemes are below:

Employment Schemes for Diverse Workforce and respective ECC TOMs (Themes, Outcomes and Measures)

If you need to recruit the Essex Opportunities Portal is the right partner for showcasing your business and reach Essex residents. The portal is a virtual One Stop Shop for enhancing employment and upskill opportunities.

The Essex Opportunities virtual jobs and career fairs could help you find the right candidates. These events are free for both attendees and employers/exhibitors. To register your interest in setting up a 'virtual stand' please contact the Essex Opportunities Portal team at essex.opportunities@essex.gov.uk .

If you haven't decided yet which scheme your organisation will opt for, we suggest the following steps to design and deliver your entry-level employment opportunities.

Step-by-step guide to entry-level employment

  • Review the supporting schemes available and identify the entry routes your organisation can work with
  • Design & Integrate into existing processes:
    • Determine if your existing policies and processes support the scheme
    • Identify funding and support opportunities
    • Gain sign off for the scheme and number of positions
    • Engage internal and external stakeholders:
      • Engage Recruitment team to determine if processes need to be reviewed
      • Determine if there is any additional training required to support the hiring manager
      • Determine if there is a need for additional internal support from colleagues, to support the hiring manager and to provide mentoring opportunities
      • Determine if there is a need for external support from partners/service providers/training providers
      • Secure work placements
      • Engagement with hiring community and local schools
    • Recruit:
      • Showcase your vacancies in a Job and Career Fair and at Essex Opportunities Portal
      • Candidate attraction/campaigns
      • Matching candidates
      • Selection process
      • Compliance
    • Start Programme:
      • Determine any requirements the individual may have, including any reasonable adjustments, and decide how these will be met before they start
      • Employee support/coaching sessions
    • Evaluate Post Programme:
      • Data review and lessons learnt evaluation (e.g. participant surveys)
      • Next steps into employment (specific cases)
      • Where applicable, determine next cohort and implement lessons learnt for continuous improvement

Additionally, Amazing Apprenticeships have designed a helpful guide on 'How to Recruit Your First Apprentice', which you can find here.

In case you still need initial advice about the different entry-level employment routes, contact the Essex Opportunities Portal Team at essex.opportunities@essex.gov.uk. In a tender situation please raise your queries through Proactis and the Procurement team will feed in the internal teams accordingly to your questions.

You may want to consider the wrap around support outlined below to promote the success of new staff, to help them secure long term, meaningful employment:

  • Induction; Introduce the candidate to your organisation, outline expectations of one another, basics- accessing buildings, where to find facilities, security, health & safety (taking into account necessary Covid adjustments), the basics of employment- IT, professional respect, Equality & Diversity.
  • Being an employee: maintaining performance, how to read your payslip, what to do if you have any concerns.
  • Personal wellbeing: managing your wellbeing whilst working.
  • Support network: opportunities to meet with others on Entry to Work programmes, mentors or 'buddies'.
  • Vocational delivery: which could result in a qualification (food hygiene for example).

Actions focused on short term entry-level placements:

  • Developing a good CV: CV writing session or time for writing and reviewing CV.
  • Preparing for and being successful at Interviews: virtual/ group interviews.

Some entry-level employment programmes are short term placements. Having additional people in the team for a short period with entry level skills can sometimes see as disruptive; it is key to give the managers the tools and confidence in having people in their team, identifying suitable projects or work tasks, understanding what is required of them and putting in place a network and some reassurance for them.  Placements provide a great opportunity to upskill staff with mentoring and leadership skills, that they otherwise might not have had the chance to build.

If you have any questions about ECC social value approach or if you need information on this website in a different format, please email social.value@essex.gov.uk . We’d appreciate your feedback too, let us know how we can make this web page better.

Last updated: 14/03/2023