SYNETIQ, an IAA company, has introduced their first Leadership and Development Programme to help reduce the growing skills gap.

SYNETIQ, the UK’s leading integrated salvage, dismantling and vehicle recycler, has launched the programme following results from the Department of Education’s Employee Skills Survey which revealed an increasing skills gap within the UK in comparison to previous years (5.7%, up from 4.4% in 2017).

The survey also showed an increase in the number of employers reporting that they had at least one employee who was not fully proficient in their role. There was also a decrease in the number of employers providing training for colleagues and a reduction in investment in colleague training.

Commenting about these results, Natalie Buckley, People Director at SYNETIQ said: “These are worrying statistics, especially at a time where we’re seeing so much change within the industry which naturally creates a skills gap.

“Now is the time to be upskilling and investing in colleagues’ development to help identify training needs and to prevent the skills gap from growing.

“Our first Leadership and Development Programme has been put in place to address this issue internally. Our monthly training modules are designed to give our colleagues the tools, skills and knowledge to do their jobs to the very best of their abilities. This then ensures we’re doing the very best for our clients and customers.”

According to the Department of Education, there is a growing demand for employee development and providing a solid training programme is an essential part for business growth.

Natalie continued; “Our programme brings with it a range of benefits including creating a sense of value amongst colleagues, increasing productivity and performance, boosting morale, creating a uniformity of work processes and it prepares colleagues for higher responsibilities.

“We’re so proud to offer this learning opportunity along with our mentoring and apprenticeship programmes as we continue to support, invest and help them flourish within their roles.”