March 2011
Thinking Big at our Care Academy Open Day
Twenty three individuals came together today for our Care Academy Open Day. Our presentation theme was to ‘Think Big’ put across in such a way by our Managing Director Stevie Kidd, that the audience feedback was buzzing. One candidate was grateful to have came along to share in Stevie’s experience of business and learning from his business mind and strategies. Other candidates left feeling uplifted and motivated.
The candidates got a glimpse into our past Care Academy in Motherwell and were presented with another key player in the KDS Group, Edmund McKay who is our Head of Care. Edmund is a crucial member in the group also with over 30 years experience in the care sector.
All in all, a successful day for all attendees and the 14 successful candidates will being the change on Monday 4th April.
Posted by Michelle Lockard on 29 March 2011 in : KDS Training, KDS Youth Training, Personal Enhancement, Training corporate, Training employability
Time To Become A Man
Stephen: Day 14 - Time to Become a Man!
I arrived at KDS at 7.36am this morning.
The reason that I come in at this time is to start my one to one mentoring with Stevie. He is very busy and this is the best time to catch him.
Today we started by looking through my folder. This is something that Stevie asked me to do as it documents my journey as I progress through my time at KDS. When I started Stevie made it very clear that he would expect me to keep this folder up to the high standards adhered to by everyone at KDS. We spoke about consistency and expectations.
Another thing we looked at was the amount of time Stevie is investing in me; he goes above and beyond what would be expected to help me to achieve my goals. I am going to adopt this way of thinking when it comes to my folder as there are always ways that this can be improved.
We also talked about best practice strategies and role models. By this Stevie meant that I should compare myself to someone that I respect and who does the best job and look at the areas where I need to develop. To make his point Stevie told me a story about his son Ryan at training where the grown men were impressed by him but he said it is not good enough – the reason for this is that he compares himself to Bruce Lee.
Stevie also spoke to me about attention to detail which links back to KDS standards because it can be the slightest detail which can make the difference and take my work to the grade above excellence. I also have to set standards for myself because I can set low standards and not make a good impression or I can set high standards and give myself something to measure my work against. Setting standards also links back to being unstoppable and creating a legacy for myself.
Setting high standards shows I am being mature with my work and I need to be mature at KDS so I can make the most out of my time here. The people I have met as a result of this opportunity treated me like a mature adult and I have grown up during my time here.
After Stevie mentored me I had to help Tommy Gray (KDS Trainer) with collecting the paperwork for the new construction academy which started today. I had the responsibility of filing all the paperwork and creating files for each of the new candidates. I enjoyed this task because I was responsible for making sure all the files were stored in the right place with the accurate and correct information, this gave me a chance to put into practice everything I had learnt about attention to detail.
My next task was to help Christine by doing a spreadsheet. I enjoyed this task because I had to ensure all the information was correct and because it was relating to fuel costs which form part of the weekly accounts done by KDS. This was particularly interesting for me because my goal is to become an accountant and I have applied to do an accountancy course at college.
Once this was finished I had to help Lynsey with admin work and this was good because I got to do a wider range of jobs including binding the mandatory work books for the construction academy and also preparing a list of people who are attending the Care Academy open day.
Today has been another successful day and I have learned a lot and I am growing, not just in confidence but also in maturity.
Posted by Lynsey Mackay on 28 March 2011 in : KDS Training, KDS Youth Training, Personal Enhancement, Training employability
Renfrewshire Construction Academy Day1
Today was day 1 of the Renfrewshire Construction Academy, Day 1 is a challenging day mentally as it is the Who Am I day with each individual finding out who they are and diving straight into what their strengths and weaknesses are, what their goals and values are.
First part of the morning is spent going through policies and procedures and the reminder that this is not college this is not your normal training course or their perception of a training course, this is an employability training course where from the outset we are involved in finding out who they are as PEOPLE.....
Really impressed by the team’s commitment and their outlook to life everyone wanting to make massive changes and soaking in all of today’s topics. We entered into the afternoon with a visit from our own M.D Stevie Kidd who took to the floor at 13:00 the team had been looking forward to this all day as they had previously listened to Stevie at the open day and where hooked from the first minute to the last, today did not differ as it came to 15:30 and Stevie had ended.
Tomorrow is Attitudes and Behaviours but first we will reflect and recap on today once the team have had time to digest what was being covered today, this will be a interesting morning as everyone takes from The day 1 Who am I something different and just like the Calgary Tower the foundations are well and truly set.............
Posted by Tommy Gray on 28 March 2011 in : KDS Training
Don't be afraid to ask!
So it’s the end of another successful KDS Academy in Edinburgh – what a journey it has been for the 7 delegates in terms of personal development and also in terms of their prospects for securing sustainable, competitive employment too. It’s been a real pleasure working with every single one of them – they were and still are very employable individuals and I intend to continue the excellent work we have achieved over the past 10 working days on the Academy…I had even thanked each of them for the fact that they have such marketable skills and impressive work history.
Over the past 2 weeks I have offered them additional one-to-one support with their ongoing job searching – this definitely compliments the terrific content delivered by the Trainers during the Academy. This is the role of a KDS EMPLOYMENT ENGAGEMENT OFFICER. Working closely with each person, offering bespoke support which is entirely focused on their individual employment preferences, and being a second pair or ears and eyes is already bearing fruit in terms of jobs.
One valuable lesson we have all learned over the previous fortnight; do not be afraid to pick up the telephone to any prospective employer following an application for a vacancy – every single job interview we have secured in the last two weeks has come off the back of a follow up call to the employer – don’t be afraid to ASK FOR AN INTERVIEW – you will be amazed at the number of times an employer will say ‘let me grab the diary’ to slot you in for a meeting – it truly works.
A lot of the guys on this Academy were simply not getting front of an employer – they literally hadn’t secured an interview in the last 12-months and boy had their confidence dropped. At the end of this Academy we have achieved no less than 9 interviews of which 2 have already turned into job outcomes, and we have a job offer pending too. Next week we have 5 of these interviews to attend – amazing what can happen when you just pick up the phone and talk to an employer.
I am very much looking forward to working with the next Academy group – however, I have also made a commitment to those 7 people on this current Academy that I will continue with the amazing work we have already put in…I have forewarned them that they have certainly not heard the last of me…
Posted by Steven Hunter on 25 March 2011 in : KDS Training, Personal Enhancement, Training employability
Stand and Deliver
This week (week 11) the Youth Academy took the Activities Agreement staff by surprise to say thank you for all their help and support in getting them into training and their continued support while they have been here! They also included a special surprise for one of the staff who was retiring at the end of the month!
Having planned the date, the invites, the gifts, the cards, layout of the room, the visuals, the music and refreshments AND having come in under their set budget! (Using a range of skills that they will use in the workplace) There was a large audience to witness the stunned key worker responses as they had been joined by KDS staff and Stevie Kidd!
There were nerves before the event but you would never have noticed as each of the young people confidently rose to the front of the room to speak and deliver gifts to all the key workers, Stevie Kidd and Andrew Craig! (it’s not often you can manage to get all of these people speechless at the same time but they did manage it today!) Personalised mugs, personalised chocolates for the men and flowers for the ladies, each person left with an anchor that will forever remind them of the big changes they have seen in these young people, and the impact they made on their life!
Brilliant transformation in the 11 weeks and this was recognised by everyone in attendance and by the young people themselves. When asked afterwards if it was as hard as they thought it would be there was a unanimous response of “No it was easy” When pointed out what they did that morning would be harder than any interview situation they realised they had overcome another barrier to their futures!
Standing straighter, glowing with confidence and pride and now very used to interacting with a variety of other people (and receiving compliments!) the guys left buzzing for their very well deserved weekend!
What a team, what an achievement, what a result! (from one very proud Trainer!)
Posted by Kate Sutherland on 25 March 2011 in : KDS Training, KDS Youth Training, Training employability