Public & Private Worlds Come Together

The photo above shows Camilla in the centre – part of Growing Talent with the amazing Portico team based on one of their prestigious corporate accounts.  On the left is Anna Matthews and right Jo Gadian from the district management of JobCentre Plus(JCP) for London & the Home Counties.

Taken just before a presentation ahead of Growing Talent 6 commenced with 40+ district managers from JCP!  Packs comprising a crib sheet, schedule, information sheet for applicants and registration form were handed out to all.  A presentation showing the history and benefits to all stakeholders of Growing Talent was shown along with a video case study on Anthony Byrne from Growing Talent 2!

Reece from Mitie Total Document Management on the current Growing Talent programme, joined Camilla to share his journey and thoughts on Growing Talent.  I’m very pleased to say both endorsed it!

Jo Gadian, who has been the lead from JobCentre Plus since the pilot programme back in February 2014, then spoke about JCP processes – which are really confusing in view of all the different programmes they are involved with!

In the audience was the Legend that is Kam from Croydon JobCentrePlus.  Kam was named the ‘Legend’, on film as well, by Anthony Byrne from Growing Talent 2.  Anthony, seen below collecting his award from Jon Barnes, Head of Building & Technical Services at PwC, joined Red Personnal on completing and then secured his dream role in media with one of their clients – the Mathematical Society!  Since then Kam and the team at Croydon have submitted multiple successful Growing Talent Associates – thanks Kam!

There was lots of interest and interaction.  Whilst some still grappled with the idea of Growing Talent being a ‘confidence polishing’ programme not ‘supportive employment’ nor right for ex-offenders, the outcome seemed positive with many managers confirming afterwards they already had potential applicants in mind.  Some even had employers who could be interested in recruiting through Growing Talent.

It just shows businesses can work together even when from different cultures.  Two worlds coming together doesn’t necessarily have to result in a collision!