Ross' Journey From An Academy Candidate to KDS Employee

In January of this year, KDS Training undertook an intensive 16 week Youth Academy, which transformed the lives of eight young people who were without a positive destination. Throughout the course, the change in the youths was clear to everyone: they were building their confidence, their maturity was growing and all became much more motivated to succeed in life. Through our dynamic approach, KDS encouraged the young people to explore their characters, which resulted in them recognising and developing skills they didn’t even know they had! One young person who is still on a journey with KDS is 17 year old Ross, who initially lacked direction in life, though it soon became apparent that he had great potential to be unlocked, with the right support and guidance – this is where KDS fitted in...

Ross played the role of the motivator within the Youth Academy, often displaying leadership qualities throughout the tasks. The employability modules were very popular amongst the youths, from which they learned about communication, personal demeanour and professional conduct, for example. During employer visits, Ross often left a strong impression on the employers, showing that he had been taking everything on board. Ross had expressed an interest in coaching, thus KDS arranged for him to undertake work experience with the SFA. However, when KDS offered Ross the chance to spend time with the KDS staff in the Head Offices, we discovered that he thrived on the busyness of the organisation and the need to adapt to change. Ross expressed a real interest in all aspects of the business and by the end of his placement was offering to provide further help!

Throughout the process, KDS itself was growing and developing, and with the expansion of our new KDS Works courses, a role within the Administration team soon became available. Unlike some other organisations, KDS choose to invest in the youth of today wherever possible and encourage their development, rather than immediately recruiting work-ready individuals. We invited Ross back to the organisation for a two-week work trial, during which he excelled. Stevie invested much time into mentoring Ross, and the team were happy to ensure Ross was fully supported during tasks, though we made sure he was being challenged in order to reach his full potential.

Almost one month later, Ross has now accepted a full time position within the organisation. His role, which KDS tailored as appropriate, includes essential administration duties and assisting with the co-ordination of the KDS Works courses, in particular. This tests a diverse range of skills such as meeting tight deadlines, ensuring very high levels of communication both internally and externally - and being very organised is a must when dealing with such large numbers of participants. Ross has only just joined the team though the transformation is huge and he sees this himself,

“I feel I have matured and learned so much from being in the KDS world, like the meaning of professionalism”

The KDS culture ensures that everyone is a valued member of the team and support is available as required. Our staff are skilled in recognising potential in individuals on our courses and matching them to their ideal vocation; Ross’ success so far is a prime example of this, and we look forward to watching him grow and learn as he progresses with KDS.

Posted by Sarahjane Sarkosh on 21 June 2011 in : KDS Training, KDS Youth Training, Personal Enhancement, Training corporate, Training employability

5 Comments

Posted by rob clemence EEO on 25 June 2011

Just wanted to add that Ross is a terrific young man having worked with him during the ''employer engagement'' phase of the KDS youth academy (prior to securing his new role with KDS)...we marketed Ross into the likes of SFA / ACTIVE SCHOOLS because of his passion for sports (football especially) and every organisation we had met with saw the potential in him too and we had mapped out a clear path for him to develop in both of those organisations. Fortunately KDS have also seen this huge potential and with the ILA division growing by the week there is a real opportunity for Ross to grow within that area of the business - the role he plays at the moment is vitally important to the success of the WORKS courses but there is a real opportunity for Ross to progress into other exciting roles within that division too, but also in a relatively short space of time. Keep up the excellent work Ross - really pleased to have you on board :)

Posted by Roger on 22 June 2011

Outstanding approach to develop an an outstanding potential.

Posted by katie on 21 June 2011

What a journey Ross has been on and it is so great to see him continue to mature, learn and develop within KDS!! Big congratulations, am very proud to have been a part of your journey from January! K

Posted by Christine Ovens on 21 June 2011

Well done Ross the difference in you from the first day you walked into the youth academey until today is fantastic....and the journey has just begun. You have now jumped on the KDS rollercoaster of learning, growing and succeeding enjoy the ride!!! Be proud of what you have achieved so far.

Posted by tommy on 21 June 2011

Hi Ross Fantastic blog Ross telling of a fantastic journey...No doubt you will continue to grow each day. Only one area of improvement "Go Karting."

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