Top 5 free courses for businesses affected by Covid-19 from Skills Support for the Workforce

The team at Skills Support for the Workforce (SSW) have seen and heard first-hand the struggles that the pandemic has caused small businesses across York and North Yorkshire. Some businesses have had to close their doors completely, while others have had to furlough staff or reduce working hours. This has not only meant loss of revenue, but in turn has also negatively impacted their team’s mental health.

However, despite these ongoing challenges, there is actually no better time to consider training. This could help you to boost staff morale, increase efficiency and prepare your business for the future. What’s more, the SSW programme allows you to do this at no cost.

With this in mind, this article runs through the top five SSW courses that businesses have accessed during Covid-19. Plus, find out how your business can benefit from the free training on offer.

1. Industrial Environment Awareness

Many business owners are looking to reduce running costs, especially when Covid-19 has meant that you might be suffering from cash flow issues or be struggling to trade at the same level you have been used to.

The Industrial Environment Awareness qualification is designed to help raise awareness of the environment and reduce your business’s carbon footprint. This will help to make the company more environmentally friendly and sustainable – something customers are increasingly on the lookout for – and also to reduce your outgoings.

The qualification is tailored to your business by incorporating your policies, processes and methods into the learning. This means that employees are taught skills relevant to their current role and progression.

2. Digital Promotion and Social Media

The internet has become more important than ever before over the past year. Having to stay home means that we’re even more reliant on it to find the products and services that we are looking for. As well as having to adapt their offering to include e-commerce, many businesses have also had to look at ways that they can promote themselves online, so they can continue to attract new business and keep revenue streams high.

However, it can be really difficult to know where to start when it comes to marketing yourself online, as it’s a very new prospect to many people. This is where courses in Digital Promotion and Social Media come in. These courses cover how to capture your audience’s attention, grow a social media following, promote your business, and establish a loyal customer base online.

3. Leadership and Management

It’s important that employees feel like they have a manager who they can talk to, and who will help them to be the best that they can be, especially when they might be feeling stressed and anxious due to the pandemic.

Similarly, it’s important that employees who have taken on a management position feel confident in their role, so that they can provide the best support for their team. This course is designed to help learners to effectively manage a team, communicate information and improve morale, helping everyone in your business to feel motivated and at-ease.

4. Awareness of Mental Health Problems

The pandemic has meant that many people, including our training providers at Skills Support for the Workforce, have had to adapt to distance learning. This means that supporting staff’s mental health and recognising where measures promoting employee wellbeing need to be put in place is now more important than ever.

This course can be completed entirely online, meaning that you can choose when and where to study. It is designed for anyone who wants to increase their knowledge of mental health and covers the best ways to recognise and help someone in distress. Upon completion, you will also gain a nationally recognised certificate.

4. Business Improvement Techniques

No matter what industry you’re in, it’s important that business processes and day-to-day operating systems are implemented as time and cost-effectively as possible, especially if you’ve had to cut services or staff due to Covid-19.

The Business Improvement Techniques course aims to reduce waste and improve efficiency within the business. Not only can this help staff to feel more productive and motivated, but it can also improve the quality of the products and services that a business offers, helping to rebuild and prepare for any future challenges.

These are just some of the free training courses that you can take advantage of through the Skills Support for the Workforce programme. The courses available provide various business benefits, from cost saving to new revenue streams, but what sits at the heart is that investing in employee’s skills will create a major morale boost and make them feel more confident. This is vital as they play a key role in the success of a business moving beyond the pandemic.

Interested?

There really is no better time to consider training to improve business resilience, making sure that your business comes out of this period with its best foot forward, ready for anything the world throws at it. Click here to find out more about the different online courses that SSW have on offer.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the above courses, or if you would like the SSW team to conduct a skills needs assessment on your business, get in touch via their website to find out how we can help.