Creating meaningful work placements with New partner, Prevista

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

We have recently launched a partnership with Prevista to deliver work experience placements to young people. Prevista supports thousands of learners across London and the South-East creating possibilities within communities by providing skills, employment, youth, and enterprise services, meeting the challenges of today, and seizing the opportunities of tomorrow. Through the partnership, we will create work experience placements that are both meaningful and impactful.

Our first trial of this programme included three local candidates from Slough. Connor, Paulo, and Daniel were all interviewed by Osborne and selected to proceed with the work placements with us.

The three-week placement was structured to ensure our candidates benefitted from the full scope of the work that Osborne delivers.

We developed a hybrid programme that included time with both frontline operatives and back office administrative teams. We wanted trainees to see the variety of works completed by our operatives and additionally the chain of support provided by our office teams.

The three trainees were navigated around the various teams in the office including the call centre, planners, gas, compliance, voids, and social value teams. Spending dedicated time with each of these teams allowed our trainees to experience the customer journey linked through team collaboration. To support their inclusive experience, each candidate was presented with our uniform and gifted safety boots.

To celebrate the success of the placement, we held an end-of-placement presentation. This included a talk by both Sairah Ghalib, our Trainee Social Value Manager, and Steve Wakefield, Account Manager for Slough. We wanted to express gratitude for all the hard work the trainees had completed and to give them certificates and feedback to take away with them. Israel, Traineeship Manager, and Nura, Work Placement Liaison Officer, from Prevista joined in our shared celebration.

Israel Imarni, Traineeship Manager: ‘I loved the way the placement was structured. The timetable was clear from the start. Osborne put a lot of thought into the structure of the work placement which meant that by the time our young people had completed their placement they had a very clear understanding of the whole industry and the processes involved and not just a small part. Because of the variety of the placement, one candidate who entered the programme adamant that he wanted to major in plumbing found, that after trying a range of trades including plumbing, he preferred carpentry. He has found this experience invaluable as he may have invested several years of his life on something he found no enjoyment in.
The due diligence was second to none. It was very reassuring to know that our young people were in safe hands and that every aspect that pertained to their health and safety had been considered.
I have worked with the candidates for a while, and whilst I expected there to be professional growth as a result of this placement, the level of personal growth for them has been amazing to witness.
I can’t fault this placement in any way. My young people are now excited to progress with Osborne which is a credit to your staff and contractors. Working on this with you, I now know that when you say “Welcome to a world of Opportunities! it’s not just a slogan!
Daniel, Trainee: It has been a very good experience of learning and socialising. I very much hope I can stay with Osborne as an Apprentice.
Connor, Trainee: This experience has been an eye-opener on which trade I would be interested in learning more about and going in-depth into. I now want to become skilled at carpentry because I like the idea of being a craftsman and learning how to be technical.