There has been a lot of talk about Zitko Talent lately, following its public launch in October 2020. In case missed, Zitko have forged an alliance of major Fire & Security employers, manufacturers, training companies, and trade bodies. The purpose? To attract and develop 1,000 technical entrants to the industry a year, via an intensive 12-month foundation training and paid experience program.
It’s designed to open the door wider - to engineers from other sectors, to college leavers, and to those with raw potential, in order to help solve the looming skills shortage. They can read more about the program here.
A New Model
Zitko will be leveraging its core skills: promoting the industry and its employers
Everyone thinks of Zitko Talent as ‘recruitment plus’. Within the alliance, Zitko will be leveraging its core skills: promoting the industry and its employers; engaging with and assessing talent; and placing outstanding candidates.
Then with their partners, they’re going a step further, by extending the subsequent onboarding process to a full year of structured employment, training, and development. It’s designed to give participants a solid Fire & Security launchpad; and employers a new pipeline of talent prepared to build a career with them, long-term.
The Program In Action
Employers choose from a pool of carefully vetted candidates and employ/supervise them as trainee engineers within engineering divisions, such as installation, service, or commissioning. At the same time, the Zitko Talent team works with trainees and their employers to maintain personalized training plans and schedule the training and education required,
Over the year, the training and education partners, including Tavcom and Skills For Security, deliver around 160 hours of classroom-based and online technical education. Manufacturer partners provide training and certification in up to six systems the trainee is using routinely in their job.
Employers finish the program with productive team members trained specifically for their workplace. Trainees have the world at their feet!
The Recruitment And Selection Process
To uncover that aptitude, they’re using well-known, structured intelligence assessments
Getting the industry and program in front of the right people is a real marketing challenge because of the diversity of the audience. They’re using social media and job boards, but additionally, they’re reaching out to community groups, education charities, the Armed Forces transition partnership, and others who can help them spread the word.
A particular challenge is reaching those who won’t even be thinking of an engineering career for whatever reason, but who have the aptitude to do well. To uncover that aptitude, they’re using well-known, structured intelligence assessments.
This helps them quickly and objectively shortlist people for a highly interactive interview process using the custom video platform. Successful applicants join the trainee pool, which gives participating employers a wonderful choice of carefully assessed employees.
New possibilities for employers
Zitko Talent program is beyond the scope of employers should they wish to go it alone
There’s nothing about the Zitko Talent program that’s beyond the scope of employers should they wish to go it alone, but there are obstacles.
Many they talked to pointed to the time, cost and complication of organizing the necessary training for employees with no industry experience.
Zitko Talent takes care of all of this, not only dealing with training companies and manufacturers on their behalf but also administering training plans end to end. It does so while leveraging considerable economies of scale and providing a free replacement guarantee should the trainee drop out.
A New Intake Every Quarter
First trainees begin their programs in November 2020 and they’ll be welcoming new intakes quarterly as they ramp up to 1,000 trainees per year.
Twelve months from now the first entrants will be productive team members, with the foundation they need to build their skills, and careers, long-term.
