Attention all Job Seekers

Free training places are available on an 18 Week Certificate Course in Retail Management Practice.

This course, certified by the University of Ulster and IBEC, includes a work placement with a local retailer and will not affect your social welfare payments.

Eligilbility Criteria is detailed at www.skillnets.ie/job-seekers/eligibility-criteria. 

Topics include:

• Communication in Retail
• Health & Safety
• Customer Care
• Learning and Development
• Human Resource Management
• Employment Legislation
• Visual Merchandising
• New Trends in Retailing
• Dealing with Difficult Employees
• Retail Location Theory
• Store Design, Layout and Atmospherics
• Staffing in Retail / Training in Retail
• Presentation Skills
• Interview Techniques

The next course starts in Dungloe on 17th August.

Places are limited so contact IBEC Retail Skillnet now on 074 97 22474.

Stacks team stock up on retail skills

STAFF from a well-known pharmacy group have successfully completed a skills training course through IBEC’s Retail Skillnets programme. The workers from Stacks Pharmacy Group, an Irish family-owned business, were presented with their certificates at an awards ceremony at the Crowne Plaza in Santry.

The staff received their Level 5 Retail Operations Certificate, which is awarded by FETAC to candidates who have successfully completed a range of eight prescribed retail-based modules. Employing over 80 staff, they have 12 stores across the North Dublin area, including Skerries, Lusk Bettystown, Ratoath, Laytown, Donaghmede, Kilbarrack and Darndale.

Over the years their staff have embarked on and successfully completed a range of modules, which IBEC Retail Skillnet offer and support, at FETAC Level 5 on subjects such as customer service and health and safety.

‘Our staff are key to our future so investment in staff is the best investment for our company. We want our staff to know that we encourage a job for life and therefore we need a training programme that develops on a year by year basis and is practical and work based. Skillnets encompasses all these principles,’

said proprietor Adrienne Stack. She congratulated the staff on their achievements and thanked them for their time and effort in developing themselves and helping to secure the company’s future.

Speaking at the ceremony, Sean Carlin, IBEC Retail Skillnet National Co-ordinator, praised the efforts of the assessors responsible for the delivery of the programme in Stacks. He explained to the staff that they had been part of a first-time experience for Skillnets, in that so many staff from one pharmacy group had achieved the full award in Retail Operations in a work-based education programme.

Read full article available at Fingal Independent

Minister Ciarán Cannon launches evaluation report on pilot Skillnets Job-seekers Support Programme (JSSP)

“One in five trainees secured employment within 4-8 weeks of completing the Skillnets Job-seekers Support Programme (JSSP)”

An evaluation report launched today by Mr. Ciarán Cannon T.D., Minister for Training and Skills, on a pilot programme run by Skillnets at the end of 2010 for 279 job-seekers, reported that one in five trainee’s secured employment within 4-8 weeks of completing the Job-seekers Support Programme (JSSP). This programme was aimed solely at unemployed people and key features were the provision of skills which are in demand by industry combined with direct access to employers through meaningful work placements.

At the launch of the report today, Minister Cannon said

“The unique advantage Skillnets has is the ability for network companies to group together and source the training actually needed. Skillnets has recognised early on the role they can play in adapting their successful training model to cater for the unemployed as well as the employed.  The pilot Job-seekers Support Programme (JSSP) blended training with workplace experience and gave unemployed trainees greater access to potential employers.  A core strength of the programme was its ability to draw on the excellent relationships built up over time that network managers have with their member companies and which enables them to organise high quality work placements for the trainees”.

Left to right > Alan Nuzum, CEO Skillnets; Domhnall Mac Domhnaill, Skillnets Chairman; Kirsty McLaughlin, Candidate in Jobseeker programme; Sean Carlin, IBEC Retail Skillnet.Of the other trainees who progressed since completing the programme, 23% moved into further training, 28% secured an interview in a related role and 2% established their own business.  In total 4,226 training days were delivered and on average, each trainee benefitted from 15 full days of training.  Over half of these trainees were young unemployed (i.e. aged under 35) and were long-term unemployed, having been out of work for over a year. There was a strong emphasis on accredited training in order to boost trainees’ employability and 80% of the training programmes were either certified by industry or accredited by FETAC.

Domhnall Mac Domhnaill, Skillnets Chairman, said “In this pilot programme unemployed people have been included in Skillnets training programmes giving the unemployed “real time” access to training and experience.  The benefits that accrue from the use of the Skillnets model to increase the employability of those affected by the downturn is evident with 22% of trainees’ securing employment from the pilot Job-seekers Support programme equating to a cost of approximately €2,795 per job created.  This figure compares very favourably with the annual cost to the Exchequer of supporting an unemployed person (circa. €20,000).  We received excellent feedback from trainees about the quality of training, and the impact the pilot Job-seekers Support Programme (JSSP) had on connecting unemployed people with employers and the workplace. Companies hosting work placements also endorsed the initiative. 91% of the companies surveyed were satisfied/very satisfied with the quality of placements and the benefits to their company”.

The Department of Education and Skills (DES) has approved the mainstreaming of the Job-seekers Support Programme (JSSP) in 2011. Skillnets networks are currently applying for this stream of funding and delivery of training programmes with work placement will commence from June 2011. In the meantime job-seekers can search for free training courses with Skillnets networks in a variety of regions and sectors on http://www.skillnets.ie/job-seekers/find-course.

Skillnets funds and facilitates training through over 50 networks of private sector companies, in a range of sectors and regions. Each network delivers training that is relevant to specific industry and member company needs.

New retail management course piloted at Letterkenny Institute of Technology

A new initiative headed by IBEC Retail Skillnet, the Department of Social and Family Protection and Letterkenny Institute of Technology, is being piloted at present.

The new programme offers an 18 week intensive 3rd level course (Certificate in Retail Management Practice) and company work placements for unemployed people who wish to pursue a career in retail, while allowing participants to retain their unemployment entitlements during the programme. Due to the unique nature of the programme, it is envisaged that a large number of participants on the course will gain employment or go on further and higher education and complete their degree in retail.

The 30 people on this programme are unemployed and with different career backgrounds. They are from all over county Donegal and have work placements secured with local retailers in the Letterkenny area such as Homebase, Tesco, Halfords, Next and McElhinneys.

Tobin's talk about Training

Eddie and Annette Tobin own and manage Tobin’s Service Station and Gala store, located on the Port Road, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal. the business was started on the Port Road by Eddie’s father, Patrick, in 1980. Eddie and Annette built a new convenience store on the original site, offering their customers a fresh and modern shopping experience. 

Tobin’s Service Station and Gala store has received numerous awards including Forecourt Retailer of the Year (C-Store Awards, Shelf Life, 2008) Best Forecourt Facilities (Ireland’s Forecourt and Convenience Retailer, 2008), and the store has also been the recipient of Gala Store of the Year Awards twice in recent times.

Eddie and Annette Tobin recognise the benefits of training their staff in order to meet and exceed their customer’s expectations. Tobin’s staff have been training on the IBEC Retail Skillnet programme and they currently have 14 staff availing of the work based qualifications.

Annette reports that there are many benefits of using the IBEC Retail skillnet programme. She states “Previously we had looked at other training programmes aimed at the retail sector, however these were usually delivered in different areas throughout the country and required staff to be released from the store for a number of days in order to complete the training. It was not feasible for us to release all the staff, who wished to be trained, from the store at the same time. The accredited training programme offered by IBEC Retail skillnet allows the training to take place in-store providing the best of both worlds”.

She continues, “The training provides reinforcement of best practice and allows staff to reacquaint themselves with company policies regarding all aspects of the business, e.g.: Health and Safety policies, Customer complaints policies and so on”.

She also added: “We have found that the training introduces new and beneficial ideas for the business which arise through discussion around the topics and through the assessment methods used in the qualifications”.

Annette also points out that the programme provides benefits for the staff, ” Some of our staff may have been out of education for a long time. The training introduces them back into the world of education and offers them a chance to gain qualifications which allow them to access higher education courses. They also are more involved in the day-to-day operation of the business.”

When asked about the importance of investing in training Annette responded, “In the present economic climate it is essential to have well trained and effective staff. Customer Service is now more important than ever as businesses compete in very difficult trading conditions”.