Enhancing our employee development programme to foster long-term growth

Our structured career pathways framework is at the heart of these new programmes. It outlines the roles and responsibilities team members can expect, including the necessary skills and behaviours required for career advancement. By clearly defining these pathways, we can ensure that every employee understands what is needed to progress in their careers.

Global mentoring scheme

One of the standout initiatives is the global mentoring scheme, which creates 12-month partnerships across our offices in England, Northern Ireland, Australia, and India. This programme connects employees with diverse skill sets, fostering career development and shared learning.

Nishant Sharma, team manager and mentee on the programme, said: “In the first conversation I had with my mentor he said, ‘let’s go for it’. From this point onwards, we had a strong connection, and it was clear that I had been presented with a great opportunity. Now a few months on, not only has the programme provided me with valuable knowledge and expertise, but it has also connected me to a supportive global community that shares a passion for continuous learning and development.”

Boost programme

The Boost programme has also launched to accelerate personal growth and career development. Boost helps everyone to understand the attitudes and behaviours that contribute to a productive, positive and collaborative workplace. It champions career confidence through a series of learning modules designed to empower team members. These modules focus on skills such as networking, resilience, acting on feedback, and self-reflection, enabling employees to own their success and develop holistically.

Echoship scheme

Apprenticeships are also becoming increasingly integral to our business model, and we have just welcomed six new customer service apprentices this month! Under the new Echoship scheme, the recruits will complete a customer service level two apprenticeship and gain practical experience within a contact centre. This aims to introduce people to a career in customer service and provide them with the foundational skills and experience needed to succeed.

Hannah Cook, lead HR Business Partner said: “It’s high time we changed the perception of customer service as just a summer job or a ‘stop gap’. It’s time we started discussing how it can be a rewarding and exciting career that offers opportunities for development and long-term job satisfaction.

“We already had some great initiatives in place including ACE, our management development programme, to Advance Capability in Echo. This programme is designed to give middle managers, and aspiring leaders the skills and confidence to become Echo’s senior leaders of the future. But supporting employees is a continuous process and we need to regularly review our offering to ensure we continue to build employee engagement, particularly as we prepare to welcome more apprentices.

“With these new initiatives, I am confident we are in a better position to create an environment where people, regardless of experience and background can thrive. In the contact centre industry, we have battled with the misconception that it’s not a long-term career option. However, through all of our ongoing initiatives, we want to develop leaders of the future within the industry. With greater support, learning opportunities and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing, I look forward to seeing some real success stories.”

To find out more about our employee development programme and current vacancies, visit here.