We’re excited to share a fantastic opportunity unfolding right here in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, and we’d love for you and your business to get involved! We are driving a program where students can spend a week rotating through five different local workplaces, spending one day at each workplace, giving them an insight into the incredible employers and career paths available in the Borough of Broxbourne.
Tell me more about HB Accountants’ Student Experience in the Workplace Program?
Student Experience in the Work-Place Program: The plan is for students to rotate through 5 different businesses during a week, spending 1 day per week at each business.
We’re calling on a diverse range of businesses to join us, offering students the chance to gain a wide variety of experiences in workplaces. By working together, we can inspire more companies to offer placements and make it easier for students to access valuable work experience opportunities.
The program is gaining momentum, and we’ve already surpassed our initial goal of securing 5 businesses, which is a fantastic start. We have the support of our local MP, Lewis Cocking, as well as Herts Futures, and I’m hopeful we’ll bring even more local businesses on board in the coming weeks.
Do Broxbourne Schools Support the Student Experience in the Workplace Program?
To date we have support from local schools The Broxbourne School and The John Warner School;
- Broxbourne School require us to work within their school timetable which translates to their placement week for 2025 commencing 14th – 18th July.
- John Warner are happy for us to find a week that suits a block of 5 businesses and run with that.
How Can My Business Offer A Placement With Limited Space or Rescourses?
Broxbourne Enterprise Centres have indicated that we may be able to utilise their workspace for free, on the occasion when a business has limited space or where the team member who is looking after the student(s) would ordinarily work from home.
We’re looking for a local IT and tech business to join us and support this initiative. Your involvement could include providing laptops for daily use, especially for businesses with limited resources. Could your business be a part of this exciting opportunity? If yes, please get in touch.
What Type of Work Could Students Experience on the Program?
HB Accountants and Herts Futures had a helpful meeting with a team in East Anglia who successfully run a similar scheme, they have given us interesting pointers!! Their scheme works well placing 1-5 students together at each business for each day, with a specific project for them to work on. Ideas could look like;
- Competitor Research & Marketing Ideas: Students research the top 5 competitors of the business and put together a basic plan on how to market the business better, using popular trends like social media or online ads.
- Improving the Customer Experience: Students look at how customers currently interact with the business, from first hearing about it to making a purchase, and suggest ways to make the process easier and more enjoyable.
- Sustainability and Community Impact Ideas: Students research ways the business can be more eco-friendly or give back to the community, such as reducing waste, supporting local causes, or using sustainable materials.
- Creating a Digital Marketing Campaign: Students design a simple marketing campaign for the business, including social media posts, email newsletters, and blog content, aimed at attracting more customers online.
- New Product or Service Idea: Students brainstorm and pitch a new product or service that could help the business grow, including ideas on pricing, advertising, and how to launch it.
These projects give students hands-on experience while helping businesses with fresh ideas. These are purely potential ideas and are not set in stone.
What Are The Benefits of SMEs offering Work Experience?
Hosting a work experience placement is a fantastic way to give back to your community. By offering a young person the chance to kickstart their career, you’ll also bring fresh energy and skills into your workplace. However, it’s important to ensure the experience is mutually beneficial, and that’s where HB Accountants’ Experience in the Workplace program comes in. We’ll help with meaningful projects and offer support with paperwork and other logistics.
Benefits for SMEs: It enhances your business’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) commitments, supports future recruitment efforts, and could introduce fresh ideas to your team. Click here for even more reasons why offering work experience benefits your business.
Call out to Businesses: Join our Program and Offer Students A Diverse Range of Workplaces
It would be fantastic to have a diverse range of businesses sign-up as this will give our local students a wide variety of experiences.
Our goal is to inspire more businesses to offer placements, making it easier for students to secure valuable work experience opportunities.
What to do now:
- Please click this link to select your preferred date for participation. Your response will help us finalise the schedule and enable me to start on a delivery plan
- Even if your business can’t commit one day a year to the program, we encourage you to share this blog with your entire supply chain—both upstream and downstream
Thank you from all the team at HB Accountants. HB Accountants is always on hand to support your business and personal finances, and will share information that will help with your tax planning, growing your business or improving your personal life.
For more information about all the ways HB goes above and beyond for you, your company and our community, contact the team at HB Accountants. We’re here to help.
The information contained above is for general guidance purposes only. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the contents are accurate, please note that each individual has different circumstances and it is essential that you seek appropriate professional advice before you act on any of the information contained herein. HB Accountants can accept no liability for any error
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