Training supports career progression
It is a well-known fact that if you train your staff, they are more likely to stay working at your business. Company owners argue that some of their trained staff could leave to work for a competitor, for a higher wage. This is a possibility, but what are the costs to your business if you have an untrained workforce?
The job market is incredibly competitive with many vacancies available. Businesses need to attract the best candidate but also need to create a good first impression. Since the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, there has been a steady rise in people swapping their employer. This reinforces the need to look after both your existing employees and new starters. Wages are a key factor in attracting new employees, but factors like flexible hours, job progression and staff training also affect long-term loyalty.
Staff recruitment, development and retention are key components for any business, from small independent establishments to large corporations. The Feeding Workforce Skills initiative produced by the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership contains excellent guidance on these topics.
In 2021, Aron Brown, left his job in the motor trade and joined Prime Processors in Hull, East Yorkshire. Aron’s first position there was quality control. As well as completing in-house induction training, Aron successfully completed the following Seafish training programmes in the first six months of his employment:
- Elementary Food Hygiene
- Principles of Fish Quality Assessment
- Introduction to HACCP
- Elementary Health & Safety.
We fully funded both Elementary programmes which are self-study and allowed Aron to study at a place, pace and time convenient to him. The other two training programmes, which we provided 50% funding for, were delivered remotely via Zoom. This enabled Aron to complete both training courses without having to travel to a training venue. A win-win, good for Aron’s time and good for the environment!
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Later in 2021, Prime Processors could see further potential in Aron, so invested more time and money in him. This resulted in Aron being awarded with the Elementary HACCP qualification, which we funded, and offer via the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS).
Fast forward to this year and Aron is now the Technical Manager at Prime Processors, having completed the Intermediate Food Hygiene qualification, awarded by REHIS.
Aron says:
Joining the UK seafood industry has allowed me to prosper and develop my career. However, changing to a new industry after 25 years to take up an opportunity at Prime Processers was quite daunting. Having no experience in the seafood industry I was keen to learn and progress.
Aron continues:
Seafish offered ideal training programmes starting with essential basic courses then progressing to more advanced ones. Each course gave me a better understanding and knowledge, which was useful for gaining SALSA and MSC accreditations. I’m thriving at Prime Processors. Indeed, in September, I’m attending the Food Authenticity and Integrity Verification training course offered by Seafish. Learning is a continuous journey.
If you’ve been inspired by Aron’s career progression and would like to find out more about our funded onshore training courses, either for your staff or yourself, please email onshore@seafish.co.uk .