New course for Birmingham SMEs to up-skill early starters

Birmingham SMEs are to benefit from a new business skills training course that promises to make graduates and apprentices more effective in the workplace within just one week.

Managers across the UK are increasingly frustrated by the skills deficit they see in their early starters. Whilst young people often bring top academic results, they lack core workplace skills. There are issues with communication, teamwork, adaptability and initiative. Flying Start XP was set up to fix these problems, and they are now delivering their intensive core skills workshops in Birmingham.

James Prior and Alex Webb, Flying Start XP directors, observed in their own business careers that young people need support to understand the demands of a commercial environment. Webb states:

‘Young people enter the world of business not knowing what is expected of them, how they are to behave and where they can add value. Companies teach the technical side of the business but no one is teaching them how to get things done. These skills are learnt within 12 – 18months of being in work but managers can’t wait that long and get frustrated.  Prioritising core skills and business behaviours in early starters accelerates careers and development’.

This increasingly common skills deficit is becoming a significant cost for UK business. McDonalds UK recently published research showing ‘soft skills ‘– such as communication, teamwork and time management – contribute £88 billion to the UK economy, projected to rise to £109 billion by 2020. Three-quarters of business leaders, however, believe there is already a soft skills gap in the UK workforce. Whatever the size of your business, this is not something you can afford to get wrong.

Flying Start XP takes young people out of the office environment and creates a safe, fun environment for intensive work on personal strengths and weaknesses. Participants gain the confidence to put into practice core skills taught by experienced business mentors. Immersive learning methodologies mean the company is able to deliver on its promise to impart a year’s worth of on-the-job learning in just one week. The outcome: proactive, self-aware and confident early starters.

Gemma Morrison, HR Manager at Berendsen, booked a bespoke Flying Start XP course, and states:

‘We asked Flying Start to deliver a week-long programme which would help our trainees to understand themselves better and focus their development on becoming effective future managers. Feedback from both managers and trainees has been remarkable and the positive comments have continued to come in even months later, as the trainees reflect on their learning and apply it to their projects’.

Flying Start XP’s next Birmingham course will take place on 24-28 July at thestudio, Canon Street, Central Birmingham at a cost of £1,450 using code ‘BusDesk’. Book here or get in touch via hello@flyingstartxp.com or 0207 099 6558.