At Cygnet, we recognise the enthusiasm of individuals eager to enter the care industry and the crucial need for junior talent to facilitate our growth and expansion.
However, identifying individuals with the necessary values and skills to provide effective care poses a challenge. Additionally, we often experience high turnover rates among junior employees and have concerns about their on-the-job performance, which complicates the hiring process for promising early-career applicants.
Despite a heightened focus on recruiting junior talent in recent years, we continue to struggle with hiring at scale in a diverse and socially mobile way. But it is essential to bring more individuals into care with the right skills, especially since numerous people are eager to work with us but lack the opportunities.
When we couldn’t find candidates with the right values and skills for our entry-level positions, we turned to Generation UK to help bridge the skills gap quickly and effectively. We chose to collaborate with Generation because they offer proven solutions for the challenges of closing the skills gap in care. Our partnership with Generation UK allows us to implement a more diverse and varied recruitment strategy in the care sector. Their approach adds significant value, lowers costs associated with grassroots hiring, and ensures that diversity and inclusion are central to our recruitment efforts.
As Generation says…
“There is widespread need in the UK. There are over 1 million unemployed people. But this challenge is not spread equally – some groups face distinctly more barriers to employment. At the same time, the cost of living is soaring and social mobility has stagnated for years.’’
Social impact through hiring.
Generation UK’s mission, to help individuals facing barriers to employment secure life-changing careers – works through a unique model of profession-specific boot camp training and extensive wrap-around support.
Since its launch in 2019, Generation UK has become the leading charity in this field, supporting over 3,500 people. As part of a global network, Generation has assisted more than 100,000 individuals, creating substantial social impact.
At Cygnet, we understand that hiring at the entry level can be time-consuming and costly. That’s why we proactively recruit exceptional junior talent from communities we might not typically reach by partnering with Generation, thus creating true social value for our organisation.
‘’Supporting underrepresented individuals from low socioeconomic backgrounds into life-changing careers that would otherwise be inaccessible.’’
Generation UK has successfully placed over 1,200 individuals in skilled positions across the UK, collaborating with more than 600 employers to meet their need for junior talent. They have demonstrated the effectiveness of their work by helping boot camp participants secure roles in industry-leading companies like ours.
The results speak for themselves: 66% of Generation candidates come from ethnic minority backgrounds, over 40% are women, and 42% live in areas classified in the bottom two deciles of the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). Additionally, 84% of employers report that Generation candidates outperform their peers on the job, with a 95% retention rate after six months and a 90% retention rate after one year in their roles.
While entry-level hiring can indeed be challenging, it doesn’t have to be. There can be a cost-effective solution for acquiring the skills you need in a competitive market while also driving positive change.
Here at Cygnet, we intend to continue our relationship with Generation UK and look forward to strengthening our partnership with them.
