Stuart Britton, CEO of RDL (far left), Dan Prince, Managing Director of SEC Recruitment (5th from right) with the SEC Apprentices November 2011.
Traditionally, SEC has hired recruitment consultants with expertise within the recruitment industry or from within their areas of industry. In 2009, we were finding that the consultants we were hiring did not match up to the standard of previous years or to our current staff. They had not been well trained nor did they seem to have the right work ethic for our organisation.
In addition, given the dire state of the general job market in London in 2009, we decided to implement a policy that would not only find us suitable staff, it would also provide an opportunity for talented and hard-working young Londoners who were struggling to find their first job – effectively a hands-on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) program.
The Apprenticeship programme has enabled SEC to grow during tough economic times and given us the opportunity to diversify into new sectors of business and open up trade with large established global brands.
Benefit for the UK Recruitment Industry
As a result of implementing the Apprenticeship Programme more than 50 recruitment organisations have copied our model and several hundred recruitment companies will be using apprenticeships during 2012, introducing thousands of new recruits into the industry.
Without our innovation, which has been used in extensive publicity by the National Apprenticeship service, the industry may not have as readily adopted this strategy which not only provides cost savings for the recruitment company, it provides opportunities for keen young people to join our vibrant industry.
Award Winning Programme
On the back of launching our Apprenticeship Programme, SEC won the London Regional Medium Employer of the Year 2011 category of the National Apprenticeship Awards and went on to be highly commended in the same category of the National awards for 2011.
The latest win was the prestigious Innovator of the Year Award for Excellence, presented by APSCo (The Association of Professional Staffing Companies) in November. This was presented for being the first UK recruitment company to implement the Government’s Apprenticeship Programme to recruit and train new consultants for their business.
In addition SEC were included in the inaugural Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers list launched in 2011. Supported by the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) and City & Guilds, the UK’s leading vocational education organisation, this is designed to recognise excellence and outstanding achievement for businesses who employer apprentices. After a rigorous selection process the most outstanding Apprenticeship employers from all four National Apprenticeship Awards employer categories went forward to feature in the list.
Find out more about our Awards. Find out more about becoming an SEC Apprentice.
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