We are delighted to announce that Envision has become our very first Platinum Excellence Mark holder for their achievements on the Skills Builder Employer Programme. The award is designed to recognise best practice across all three standards of our Excellence Standards. 

Envision’s work has been recognised and showcased in our new Essential Skills in Business feature, which delves into how our partners on an Employer Programme are using the Skills Builder approach and Universal Framework. 

To achieve the Platinum Excellence Mark, Envision has made impressive progress across staff development, outreach and recruitment, achieving over 20 best practice indicators out of a possible 27.

"We are thrilled to have received the Platinum Excellence Mark for our commitment to embedding essential skills in our outreach, recruitment and staff development work. We know that these essential skills go and grow with you throughout your education, employment and life journey and will ultimately lead to better outcomes for our organisation, our staff and our young people" said George Kearney-Bambridge, Director of People and Partnerships at Envision.

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Staff development

To ensure their workforce embodies their values, Envision has mapped their values to the essential skills required to demonstrate these. In job descriptions, responsibilities and requirements across roles specify the required essential skills, which has enabled the creation of a progressive structure across the organisation's role levels. Employees can explore what they need to know to build these skill steps through links to the Universal Framework. Line managers have been trained on a six-step process using the competency framework that enables development discussions, goal setting, and performance reviews throughout the year. 

By integrating this structure into the organisation-wide competency framework, alongside the knowledge and technical skills required for each role, it is helping to support employee’s professional development and growth. This work has seen Envision demonstrate seven best-practice indicators across the Skills Builder Excellence Standards. 

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Recruitment 

Envision has specified the essential skills required for their roles across different levels of their organisation, using the steps of the Framework. This also features in their interview and selection process. All candidates are given feedback on their performance framed by essential skills. 

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Outreach

On Envision’s Impact Level 4 accredited programme, young people build the essential skills and confidence that will help them succeed in later life. Teams of young people work with  trained Envision staff and are paired with a team of mentors from a local business who support their skills development through designing, developing, and delivering an in-school youth social action project. Young people and mentors use that recognised common skills language – and mentors value building their own essential skills in the process.

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About Envision

Envision is a U.K. based charity that empowers young people from less advantaged backgrounds to develop essential skills and confidence through tackling social issues affecting their community.

Read Envision’s Essential Skills in Business Success Story

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