Early careers in enforcement

In this weeks Leading the Way blog, we hear from Jeanette Clure, Group HR Business Partner, on how Bristow & Sutor is promoting shared experience and knowledge for the benefit of new talent joining the enforcement industry.

Over to Jeanette…

At Bristow & Sutor, as well as hiring experienced professionals, we take great pride in introducing fresh talent to the industry and train recruits to succeed from day one. We recognise the importance of continuous development, by mentoring and sharing our experience and knowledge we aim to invest in our people to create career pathways and opportunities.

Since the pandemic, more and more young people are looking for careers that offer transferable skills, freedom and flexibility. The stable environment, various types of roles and potential for growth in enforcement is an attractive proposition. Consequently, Bristow & Sutor and the wider Bristow & Sutor Group is working hard to enhance and develop early career opportunities, utilising the breadth of channels available such as traineeships, internships and apprenticeships. Different circumstances make different opportunities more suitable or viable, but we are looking to follow a model of Kickstart Trainee programs as a 6month introduction, before progressing young people on to apprenticeship qualifications, working towards a full-time job offer within 2 years.

Standing out from the crowd

The Government-led Kickstart Scheme provides funding to create new jobs for 16- to 24-year-olds who are on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment. These programs can last up to one year, but many businesses are still not utilising them. Beyond an ethical and moral obligation to offer opportunities to young people facing challenging work situations, schemes such as this help businesses to diversify their workforce, gaining access to communities with different backgrounds and life experiences. We aim to raise awareness amongst people who never would have considered a role in enforcement or thought an opportunity with a company like Bristow & Sutor could be possible.

The reality is that many of those we aim to engage with are in areas where employment rates are low. By committing to these types of opportunities, we can add social value to our clients’ communities and we are currently working hard to increase our presence at regional career fairs and boost our involvement with education establishments such as colleges and universities in associated areas.  

Wide-reaching benefits

Bristow & Sutor wants to be recognised as an employer of choice for anyone considering a role in enforcement and we are aiming to communicate more about the benefits of working with a company within the B&S Group. For example, we offer all of our employees peer to peer support and coaching, with recent health & safety updates being introduced and giving Line Managers access to significant wellbeing resources. A strategy is being developed to address mental, physical and financial wellbeing requirements and regular welfare check-ins have been introduced for EAs. The Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) team has expanded across the Group and full training is now provided to new MHFAs, along with changes to the H&S Committee to ensure diversity and promotion of different voices and views. This, alongside a comprehensive employee assistance programme, ensures those embarking on early careers with us are prepared to build the resilience they will need to succeed in the industry long-term.

Our primary aim remains to identify and drive talent towards the Bristow & Sutor Group, retaining high performers for long and lucrative careers. But fostering early career development is also an opportunity for our current employees to consolidate and improve their own knowledge, taking stock of what they have learned over their time with the business and thinking up fresh ideas and solutions to the questions posed by younger professionals. Sharing our knowledge and experience with new talent is something we are always very keen to do and we hope to inspire more young people to explore their career options in future. Learning from our experienced staff will provide a great insight which could help build the foundation for a successful future.

The Bristow & Sutor Group wishes to become synonymous with providing structured career growth strategies. We will continue to provide a high level of support, training and opportunities in-house so that climbing the career ladder does not mean having to move elsewhere. Our strong reputation in the enforcement industry so far is because of our people and we are committed to maintaining flexible pathways and development opportunities for all.