Training for Professionals Creating A Better Future for Young Professionals
As many professionals grapple with the significant fallout as a result of the ongoing pandemic, thousands have enthusiastically taken the opportunity to upskill and reskill themselves by enrolling in the Flow Foundation’s Training for Professionals Programme currently being executed in partnership with One on One Educational Services.
Given the rapid transition to the digital space, most professionals hold the view that upskilling and reskilling are critical steps to securing their future as it will provide them with the tools that will facilitate their ability to access better career opportunities in the digital space as well as allow them to contribute to, and participate in, the digital economy.
Georgiann Samuels is a 34-year-old mother who wants to be able to effectively lead, persuade and influence people. In her words, “Leadership training promotes innovative and creative thinking, improves communication skills and helps to develop emotional intelligence.” This desire, along with wanting to be a good role model and motivator, provided the impetus for her to register in the programme.
Since commencing the training just a little over a month ago, she has rapidly made great strides completing a total of 114 courses including Leadership/Management, Healthcare, Social Media, Web Development, Work/Life Management and Workplace Safety.
Speaking on her hopes and aspirations, Samuels shared, “In the future, I want to be a Principal because it provides a greater opportunity to lead and to guide the teaching and learning process. Emotional intelligence is one of the main personality traits that makes for a great leader. Successful leaders have a clear, sound vision of where they want to go.” She further stated, “I welcome courses like this and I thank the Flow Foundation for giving me the opportunity to be a part of this cohort. The training gives me the chance to step back from my daily responsibilities, to examine myself, prepare my mind, upgrade my skills and to think about how the future may unfold.”
Vanissa Brown is determined to have a positive impact on her interactions with her students. It is for this reason that she enrolled in the programme to pursue the Leadership course. She believes that leadership training will help to improve her ability to manage her classes and nurture her students.
Having a keen interest in ensuring her mental and physical wellbeing as well as that of the persons with whom she interacts, she has already completed 110 courses aligned with her interest area. These include Stress Management, Workplace Safety, Exercise & Fitness, Mindful Mediation and several others inclusive of her initial subject selection of Leadership.
Brown shared that this training fits perfectly with her future goals. “My initial intention was to improve my leadership skills to better allow me to carry out my functions as a teacher. I debated whether I should pursue this training or to take on more responsibility in my organization. For greater responsibility, leadership skills are an integral part of the skillset I need to cultivate. However, after exploring the variety of courses being offered, I realized that there was also a wealth of knowledge to be gained in the area of mental and physical wellbeing. I have a passion for helping others and plan to do so much more. These courses just seemed to fit extremely well with my goals,” she said.
Similarly, Toni Anne McLeary sought to hone her leadership and management skills as she looks ahead to what options are available as she considers the path she could take to further her career, especially as a young mother.
A young small-business owner, McLeary has completed 66 courses across 7 modules – Hospitality, Sales, Leadership/Management as well as several Microsoft courses.
“As an employee, I believe it is important to be well-rounded. It is even more critical as a small business owner. I am excited about the future of my business as the skills I have gained from the various courses will help to me to grow and develop my business especially in the area of Sales,” she stated.
The proud mother of two boys, aged 9 and 2 years respectively, Samantha Martin-Dwyer signed up for the programme to reskill and upskill herself in the technology field. Aspiring to gain more knowledge in computer science and Microsoft, she shared that this was the factor that drove her subject selection.
Notwithstanding her stated interest in technology, since registering for the programme, she has completed 55 courses from the Healthcare, Leadership/Management, Human Resources and Microsoft modules.
Martin-Dwyer said, “I have learnt a lot from the courses I have completed. There is a lot of benefit in learning new skills and improving on those you already have. I believe that this training will provide me with opportunities for growth in my professional life and open up doors that may have been closed because I did not have the skills. I would encourage the members of my cohort to take advantage of the many courses that are available in this programme. I started out being interested in technology but have since explored new subject areas. Additionally, I will become better at handling certain other situations as they arise.”
Professionals enrolled in the Training for Professionals Programme have already collectively completed over 4000 courses and 700 modules as the Flow Foundation continues to drive digital inclusion to enable the progress of all Jamaicans. The other initiative under the organization’s Digital Education pillar - Skills for the Future Programme – which is administered through the Caribbean School of Data at the Mona School of Business & Management, currently has over 4000 persons registered.
