Research reveals that 55% of UK employers offer career development tools, however less than half of employees make use of them (Business Leader, 2022). Surprisingly, 81% of UK employees have no written career plan in place with their employer.
As an employer we have a responsibility to ensure that every member of the team has the support, training and mentoring to meet their personal career goals. From new starters to VG veterans, we work together with our team to understand where their strengths and goals match with the business’s needs and work with each employee to create training and development plans which contribute to both organisational growth and individual fulfilment and progression.
Beating the first day nerves
Joining a new company is always met with a combination of excitement and nerves! Before a new starter’s first day in the office, we invite them to meet with their immediate team members for a coffee and a chat so that they know a few faces when they join.
Our bespoke induction programme gives joiners the opportunity to meet with each team lead who will explain their role and how it integrates into VG’s strategy, core values and goals. Not only does this help new joiners understand each teams’ function and how it interacts with their own role, but it also helps to promote the VG’s core values, specifically partnership.
Our buddy system partners a new joiner with a longstanding VG employee; the aim is to build strong, supportive relationships between colleagues and provide a friendly face for general day-to-day questions. Not only does the system help new joiners settle in and provide access to someone who is familiar with our culture, attitude and expectations of VG, it provides our existing team the opportunity to develop their own soft and mentoring skills.
Working alongside you to develop your career
We believe that employee appraisal should be a continuous process throughout the year and not limited to a few meetings throughout the year; we’re developing the appraisal process to allow employees to take charge of their development at VG with goals using digital real-time platforms which will allow them to track and manage their own progress and ensure that they are meeting regularly with their line manager to meet and exceed those goals.
To ensure that our team is agile and up to date with the latest trends and regulation we offer a suite of “Lunch and Learn” sessions are delivered by external parties and our own experts within the business to aid our team’s continued professional development.
We believe that VG is truly only as great as the people who embody the mission of your organisation, those who go above and beyond to see the company succeed and to make our customers happy. We encourage and support individuals our team to undertake professional qualifications and training relevant to their role. Alongside financial support and study leave, we leverage our team of professionally qualified individuals, across a broad spectrum of areas, to provide students with mentoring throughout their studies, whether it be seeking clarification or struggling to pass challenging papers; our team are always willing to lend a supportive hand and give up some of their time to assist. Collaboration is key at VG!