Well, this week I have seen three examples of outstanding engagement between employers and our students on work placement, starting with Tony who has been at David Lloyd Gym for two weeks. At David Lloyd, Tony is on a three week rota – one week in the gym with the personal trainers, one week in reception and one week in the restaurant. This week I visited David Lloyd and saw Tony in action in the restaurant..

Tony looked very smart in his uniform and he was extremely busy serving customers. Tony was really engaging with the customers too, providing fantastic customer service..

His manager says,

We have never had anyone like Tony here on work placement, he is better than many of my staff and, if we had known, I would have had one less staff member in as he does an equal amount or more work than the paid staff.

We are really proud of you, Tony! With new placements we always want to make a good impression and it is clear that you were the right man for the job – well done!

Now to Heather who has been working at The Atrium all week. Heather has struggled at times to stay motivated on placements but this week she really has proven to us that she is a hardworking and polite member of the team and has really taken a lead on taking orders and using the iPad till. Well done, Heather!

Finally to David, one of our Future Finders students who is two weeks into his placement as a customer services assistant at First Choice Homes. David is on the front line over at First Place. When customers come in with queries about housing, David greets all the customers and goes through a customer satisfaction questionnaire with them when they leave the building. His manager has taken the time to email me this week to say that David is outstanding and has really hit the ground running with his placement. He is polite to customers, can adapt to different situations and is already carrying out all of his duties independently. Well done, David!

So with three superstars this week, it is only fair that I award three ‘Worker of the Week’ certificates! Congratulations to you all!

Now over to one of our more established placement providers, The Premier Inn, who continue to support students on both our Pre Internship pathway and our Future Finders course. Over to Zoheb, one of our Future Finders, for this week’s ‘A day in the life of….’

A day in the life of Zoheb

The Premier Inn, Oldham Central

9.30am: I arrive at work and sign in..

Once I have signed in, I collect my work trolley and buddy up with a member of staff..

 

I arrive at my first room and knock on the door to make sure nobody is in..

..before entering and opening the window ready to start..

In the room I am learning the ‘Gold Route’ – this is a guideline for cleaning rooms to brand standards. My first job is to clean the bathroom..

Once the bathroom is clean, I move on to the next job of stripping the bed ready for fresh linen..

Next I check the consumables, crockery and glasses to see what needs to be replaced..

My final job to help the housekeeping team is to dust the room..

I complete these tasks with a member of staff throughout the day until I am confident of completing them independently. When I have learnt the ‘Gold Route’, I will attempt the other routes that are used for cleaning to brand standards.

I finish my placement between 2pm and 2:30pm and then return to Medtia ready to go home.

All in a day’s work!

On Friday afternoon, we held our assessment day for September’s new intake on our Future Finders course. The young people participated in a number of assessment tasks as well as a group interview and found out more about what the course will entail..

We will be sending out letters in the next week or so to let students know if they will be offered a place.

That’s everything from me this week. Just another reminder that our open evening for Bridging the Gap and our Pre Internship pathway is on Tuesday 30th January at 5.30pm at Medtia – we look forward to seeing some of you there!

Have a good weekend,

Daniel
Director of Employment & Co Head of Site at Medtia Square

You can view our previous blog entries here

Click here for this week’s news from Graham