This guide has been created for employers who wish to apply for and use Kickstart Scheme to grow their business and support young people in their careers.

1. Kickstart Scheme
Applications and
Implementation for
Businesses

2. This guide has been created for employers who wish to apply for and use Kickstart
Scheme to grow their business and support young people in their careers.
The Kickstart Scheme job placements created with Kickstart Scheme funding
must be new jobs and they must not:
• replace existing or planned vacancies
• cause existing employees, apprentices, or contractors to lose work or reduce
their working hours
The Kickstart placement needs to be meaningful with defined duties &
responsibilities and above all have a clear “goal for the role”.
The Kickstart placement will not have been able to exist without this funding; the
placement is very clearly different from existing roles and/or above existing head
count.
Kickstart Scheme

3. Does your
Kickstart Scheme
job placements
meet the criteria?

4. The Kickstart Scheme job placements must be:
• 6 months
• at least 25 hours per week
• paying at least the National Minimum Wage (or the National Living Wage depending
on the age of the participant) through PAYE
• paying the statutory employer duties for the health, safety and welfare for young
people, National Insurance, and pension contributions
• including support for young people to help them get work after they finish their
Kickstart Scheme job
• be funded by the Kickstart Scheme grant and would not exist without this funding
• be paid from the grant money for the 25 hours per week on National Minimum Wage
(employers can pay a higher wage and pay for more hours)
• not replace existing or planned jobs
• not cause existing employees or contractors to lose or reduce their employment
Does your Kickstart Scheme job
placements meet the criteria?

5. Does your Kickstart Scheme job
placements meet the criteria?
An example response might be:
• The Kickstart Scheme provides us with an opportunity (via the funding) to create additional roles that
would not have been possible otherwise.

6. Does your Kickstart Scheme job
placements meet the criteria?
We would like to offer two types of job placements as follows:
Customer Experience Assistant (circa XX roles) - this is a completely new concept
for XXXXX and wouldn't be possible without the Kickstart funding.
The scheme provides an opportunity to trial the concept and potentially introduce
the role to our structure if we are able to evidence improved performance (e.g.
increase in sales or a positive impact on our customer experience metrics).
We have previously found it difficult to include roles in our structures at an entry
point that would be suitable for the target age population of the Kickstart
scheme.
Yet we believe the Kickstart scheme could enable the concept to be proven. This
role is over and above our existing headcount in our stores, we do not intend it to
replace any existing members of staff or reduce their hours – we want it to
enhance the customer shopping experience.

7. Warehouse Assistant (circa XX roles, based in XXXXX) - this position does not
exist within our current Warehouse & Distribution Centre structure.
We are keen for participants on this type of placement to see as much of the
different aspects of the warehouse operation as possible over the course of the 6
months.
This is not something that would not ordinarily be possible within our standard
headcount structure, because warehouse operatives are normally hired into a
specific role rather than on this type of trainee rotational basis.
This role is over and above our existing headcount in the Warehouse &
Distribution Centre and we do not intend it to replace any existing members of
staff or reduce their hours – we want it to allow us to pilot the introduction of a
traineeship scheme.
Does your Kickstart Scheme job
placements meet the criteria?

8. Does your Kickstart Scheme job
placements meet the criteria?
For both of these placement schemes, we will:
• Pay the participants through PAYE at the national minimum wage or national
living wage, (as appropriate)
• Engage participants for 25 hours a week work on a 6-month contract
• Pay their wages from the grant money
• Use the grant money to make the other necessary employer contributions (e.g.
National Insurance, pension contributions) for these individuals, along with the
health, safety and welfare commitments for young people
• Enhance their scheme to include employability skills training, ensuring they are
best equipped to get a permanent role with us or another employer after their
placement ends

9. “What does a
“good” Kickstart
placement look like?

10. “What does a “good” Kickstart
placement look like?
Customer Experience Assistant Placement:
The Customer Experience Assistant role is a completely new concept for XXXXX .
Participants will have an explicit job description detailing a clear list of duties and
responsibilities focused on enhancing the customer’s experience in our store. The
main focus of their role will be to greet and engage customers upon entry to the
store, direct customers to the relevant area of the store or member of staff and keep
the shop entrance area looking presentable. As their placement progresses,
participants will develop some product knowledge and under supervision, will assist
customers.
The goal for the role is that at the end of the 6-month period is that we will have
proven the concept and be in a position to add the new role to the structure
permanently or if this does not prove to be the case that participants are ready to
apply for one of our store roles; Customer Advisor. We generally have around 60-80
Customer Advisor roles available at any one time and when recruiting for this role,
look for candidates that are able to demonstrate exceptional customer service skills.
The Customer Experience Assistant role would give participants the opportunity to
learn, develop and demonstrate these skills. This means that participants would be
well placed to secure a permanent position with us or with another organisation that
values customer service skills.

11. Warehouse Assistant Placement
The proposed Warehouse Assistant position doesn’t exist within the current
Warehouse & Distribution Centre structure. Participants will have an explicit job
description detailing a clear list of duties and responsibilities for each section of
their rotation across each different area of the operation; picking, packing,
samples).
The goal for the role is that following the placement, participants will be able to
identify the specific part of a warehouse operation in which they are interested in
pursuing a longer-term career. We can then help them to understand the long-
term career prospects a warehouse operation can offer and help steer them in the
right direction to apply for specific warehouse related roles either at XXXXX or
at any other warehouse operation, once the scheme has finished.
“What does a “good” Kickstart
placement look like?

12. How will you provide
employability with a
lasting impact?

13. How will you provide employability
with a lasting impact?
• Young people need support so that they are in a better position to find work in
the future.
• By creating a Kickstart Scheme job placement, you are helping young people
who are at risk of being unemployed in the long term.
• You need to offer support, so they are employable by you or other
organisations. You can also work with other organisations to provide this
employability support on your behalf.

14. Some examples of suggested responses might be:
Each young person that joins our organisation will receive leadership, guidance
and development from a manager within their respective departments, meaning
that they will learn basic work skills and specific job-related skills as well as
understand workplace behaviours and expectations. They will receive regular
feedback on their work performance and skills development, as would any XXXXX
employee.
We will be utilising additional support via XXXXX and have already had discussions
with them and once we receive approval for the scheme.
How will you provide employability with
a lasting impact?

15. The purpose of the support from the external consultant and also the Training Provider will ole
will be to:
Assist with Hire and onboard scheme participants
Ensure participants receive job related training (knowledge & skills training to perform their
role)
Ensure participants receive soft skills training (provided internally in conjunction with our
learning and Development department) in the following areas:
• Developing confidence
• Customer service skills
• Workplace behaviours
Ensure participants receive mandatory training in the following areas:
• Health and Safety
• Equality and Diversity
• Compliance/regulatory training (relevant to role) e.g. GDPR, Modern Slavery
Ensure participants receive employability skills training - either provided internally in
conjunction with our Learning and Development department and/or we will work with a partner
organisation to provide these.
How will you provide employability with
a lasting impact?

16. How you would provide employability
support to young people with a lasting
impact?
• Jobs boards & Agencies - approach
• LinkedIn – creating a profile/maximising your connections
• How to form useful connections/networking
• Setting yourself up for success – structuring your day/routine/creating a job hunt document
• Jobcentre and accessing services – basic info/links
Module 1: How to Search for a Job
• CV writing
• How to write a cover letter
• Online applications
Module 2: Job Applications
• In real life vs virtual interviews
• How to prepare for an interview
• STAR Approach
• Other Common Questions
• Managing your job applications/follow up in a competitive market
Module 3: Interviews
Our aim is to support the participants in obtaining permanent opportunities in our business following the end of the scheme. If we are unable to offer suitable employment at XXXXX ,
these employability skills developed (alongside the job related knowledge, skills and experience obtained) will equip them to confidently and competently search for employment
elsewhere in a similar role.
Specifically,
Employability
Skills will cover
the following
areas:

17. Additional
information on
job roles and job
specifications

18. Additional info on job
roles and specifications
Customer Experience Assistant (job placement title):
Job placement summary:
• This role will be the first point of contact for all
customers entering our stores and will work closely with
the existing in-store sales team. Participants on the
scheme in this position will welcome customers on arrival
at the store, help customers navigate around the store,
deal with general enquiries and ultimately make sure the
customer is assisted by the sales team. This will provide
participants with the opportunity to develop their
customer service skills, communication skills and also
learn about a retail environment and sales process – key
skills that would be useful in any consumer-based
industry.
Skills, experience and qualifications preferred:
• Ability to build rapport
• Confidence to speak to customers
• Ability to ask questions about the customers reason for
visiting
• Ability to listen carefully to the customers responses and
pass on that information to colleagues
• Ability to follow processes and procedures
• There are no required qualifications
• There is no experience necessary

19. Additional info on job
roles and specifications
Number of hours per week for work and skills development:
• 25 hours per week including approx. 1.5 hour per week
formal skills development.
• Working pattern and contracted hours:
• Shift patterns will be flexible based around store opening
hours (varies dependent on location but predominantly
9:30am-6:00pm) with an expectation shifts will be 5-
hours, 5 days per week
Public transport links:
• Varies depending on store location. We will place all
Kickstart scheme participants in working locations
within reasonable walking distance of public transport so
that they are accessible to as many young people as
possible.
Anticipated start date:
• We would endeavour to start the Kickstart placements as
soon as practicable after receiving approval and having
completed the required interview process in conjunction
with JobCentre Plus. We would be looking to start
groups of Kickstart participants in small cohorts on set
dates, so they feel part of a group and have a community
on the scheme to engage with.

20. Additional info on job
roles and specifications
Warehouse Assistant (job placement title):
Job placement summary:
This role will provide participants with experience across
the entire warehouse and distribution process to work
either within our warehouse in XXXXX. Rotating around
various departments they will gain exposure to the samples
team, store help line (supporting stores colleagues with any
stock queries), goods in, administration, samples, hard
flooring, cutting, despatch and customer orders. Depending
on the applicant’s age, they may also receive the
opportunity to learn to drive a forklift. This opportunity
will provide participants with the opportunity to experience
the inner workings of a complex warehouse operation by
assisting our current Warehouse Operatives. Alongside
knowledge and experience in warehousing operations and
stock management, participants will gain skills in working
as part of a team, which will be transferrable to any other
working environment
Skills, experience and qualifications preferred:
• Ability to follow instructions, processes and procedures
• There are no required qualifications
• There is no experience necessary

21. Additional info on job
roles and specifications
Number of hours per week for work and skills development:
• 25 hours per week including approx. 1 hour per week
skills development
Working pattern and contracted hours:
• For our warehouse positions, the shifts will be 10:00am-
3:00pm Monday-Friday.

22. Thoughts,
Reflections, and
any Questions?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/safaraz/