A new Liverpool business, headed up by some of the UK’s top training talent, has pledged to provide firms in the region with £500,000 worth of free customer service staff in the next 12 months.
The creation of the Synapse Academy, based at Exchange Flags in the City Centre, is also great news for the region’s unemployed. The company is geared up to train, provide paid employment and offer industry leading qualifications to more than 300 people this year, and ultimately help them get into work.
Aimed primarily at 16-24 year old jobseekers, Synapse is a new concept in employment training. It is the brain child of HR guru Bill Tolmie, who’s spearheaded innovative HR and training schemes at major blue chip firms including BMW, Vodafone, and the Caudwell Group.
Bill explained: “Synapse is a win-win for both employees and employers and offers a great solution to an ongoing problem faced by the customer service industry.
“The idea for Synapse really came to me when I was continually faced with people entering work for the first time who were unable to perform in the work environment. In addition to the huge cost and resource issue, there was continual disruption to the business.
“Synapse bridges the gap between education and employment that’s just not being addressed effectively any where else. This is a tried and tested model that’s now available to SMEs and large corporates in the Liverpool area.”
Bill added: “Customer Services is at the heart of most industries and offers a range of opportunities in almost every sector in a variety of roles. There is a massive opportunity to improve employee’s entry into the work place to help not only the individual but the industry.”
Synapse aims to employ and transform a specific section of the UK’s 16-24 year old population by progressing them towards being tomorrow’s qualified workforce, equipped with appropriate vocational qualifications, underpinned with a range of life skills. It will also assist them to seek, secure and develop lifetime career opportunities.
It achieves this in partnership with public and private employers across the UK, with the support of National and European funding partners including the Learning Skills Council National Apprenticeship Service, Job Centre Plus, Connexions and OfSted, as well as local organisations including Liverpool Vision, to find candidates and businesses to benefit from the scheme.
Academy Manager at Synapse in Liverpool, Rachel Spellman said: “Synapse provides qualifications in a ‘real-life’ corporate setting, not a college environment. As a result, we believe people who come through the Synapse process are far more work-ready and experienced than college students with the same qualifications.
“This not only gives our candidates a head start, but enables us to provide local businesses with more capable, professional customer service staff – many of whom are eventually offered permanent work with the firms they get placements with.
Rachel added: “The staff being offered for placements are no raw beginners. They have undergone rigorous selection and been put through their paces in a business environment by highly experienced training coaches.
“As well as gaining paid employment and work experience, after three months they not only leave us with industry recognised qualifications, but are motivated to take on the challenge of working in a customer service environment.”
Following 13 weeks of intensive training at the Synapse Academy, 60 work-ready employees are now available to local customer service-based businesses for secondments. 26 have been placed in a wide range of businesses so far, including Pontins which has signed up to take on 12 employees.
Synapse employees include 18 year old Joseph Butler from Halewood. He said: “Before joining Synapse I was unemployed and so the opportunity to learn and earn at the same time was too good an opportunity to miss. I am now at phase two of the apprenticeship, having completed the contact centre qualification, so am now gong on work placement. From this, I am well on my way to gaining full-time employment.”
Robert Guthrie, age 20, from Bebington who was also unemployed before joining Synapse said: “I am now on phase two of the apprenticeship. I have gained lots of experience in how the systems work, talking to customers and experiencing how to deal with customer complaints. I personally think that I have changed as a person for the better and have gained a lot more confidence in myself. I think I’m much more employable now than three months ago.”
Any businesses interested in taking on Synapse learners in a customer service role should visit www.synapselearning.co.uk
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