So two puns (not sorry) to start us off.  One for each of our kickstart employees - welcome aboard Manpreet and Brandon!

It is hard to believe it's been four months since Andrew started working with Steve Ackroyd and the team at The Job Guru to help our clients with finding their Kickstart employees.  And now we have two of our own.

Manpreet joined us 2 weeks ago and is already making a difference.  She has been helping to update our Excel databases and has learned a lot about Excel and the skills she would need working for a reward consultancy.  Recognising that the basic skills are just not enough, she has already started on a training course to gain some of the knowledge she needs.  The best bit is - she gets to practice and use those skills straight away.  Even better, she is carrying out a vitally important task for us, and saving me and Andrew loads of time. 

Brandon joined us this week.  He had a bit of an introduction on his first morning, and then without any time to waste, he was thrown in at the deep end.  His first job was to collate some information we had collected at a client workshop recently.  There's nothing like undertaking a real piece of work on your first day to reinforce why you were chosen for the job.  It gave him the opportunity to learn about some of the acronyms used in HR (and business in general) and also to decypher some other shorthand that typically gets used.  His other tasks this week are to undertake some benefits research and also see what sort of Excel course he needs.

I am already comfortable that we made the right decision in taking on employees through the Kickstart scheme.  Even as we are helping Manpreet and Brandon understand what we do, we are learning ourselves about the assumptions we make in our daily work.  If you ever doubt that you should employ someone without experience, I would just say - go for it!  They will challenge your thinking, force you to be clearer in your explanations, help you work out what your processes should look like, and also breathe much needed fresh air into your business.

I have to say that it probably wont be easy and I am expecting some hiccups along the way.  But I am also very much looking forward to working with these two over the next few months. 

Note to self: they can write the next two blogs!

Keep safe everyone.  And if you need some help and guidance to get your kickstart programme off to a good start then contact us at www.rewardrisk.co.uk.