Introduction
Navenio’ s HR Manager, Rebecca Kyte, advocating for the use of apprenticeships to upskill their current workforce applauds OxLEP Skills’ offer to employers: “As a scaleup business, budget constraints can hinder your training needs, so utilising the OxLEP Skills apprenticeship levy transfer scheme has been ideal for us – a process with which OxLEP Skills’ advisors have provided invaluable support. They’ve really taken the time to understand our business requirements and made connections which align well with our values and mission.”
Background
Founded in 2015, Navenio is a scale-up tech company which has exploited innovative research developed by a senior academic from the University of Oxford. They provide AI Deep Tech, predominantly for the healthcare sector, but are looking to expand into other sectors. Their people and asset tracking software utilises existing smartphone devices to improve business efficiency for organisations, such as the NHS, by ensuring the right people, such as porters are in the right place at the right time. Their ultimate goal is to assist the NHS in improving efficiency and as a result improve patient experience.
Navenio employs 55 people across its base in Oxford and two other sites in the US and Greece. Navenio HR Manager, Rebecca Kyte, says the company is looking forward to rapid expansion throughout 2024 as they gain access to new markets. Keeping skills current within the workforce is a recognised challenge within the sector. The ability to access funding through the OxLEP Skills apprenticeship levy transfer scheme has had a transformative effect on the organisation. Rebecca says: “Many of our existing team members will benefit from additional training to fully equip them for the increased volume of work due to business growth.”
The OxLEP Skills apprenticeship levy transfer scheme has helped Navenio to invest in the training they need. Without this fully funded support, Navenio would have had to be more selective in what training they could commit to across the team and training would have been delivered on a slower roll out.
Implementation
As an employer, Navenio fully utilised its apprenticeship levy fund. As the company was in need to further expand its workforce and to help fund seven new apprenticeships, Navenio turned to OxLEP Skills for help to access the levy transfer scheme. The seven apprentices included three Data Analyst Apprentices at level 4 and four Business Analyst Apprentices at level 4.
The impact of upskilling through apprenticeships has had immediate effect, with Rebecca noting that employees are acquiring new knowledge and skills leading to improved performance.
The customer support team has seen the biggest benefit in productivity through being able to quickly provide data analytics to live clients including hospitals, highlighting key risks and less efficient areas of the organisation.
Rebecca says: “As a business one of the Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) that we have been set is to optimise our efficiency to fully support multiple clients on a global scale, this process has enabled the apprentice to meet the needs of the client more quickly and at greater depth.”
Key Findings
Rebecca reflected that: “As a smaller team we wouldn’t have had the capacity to manage the apprenticeship levy scheme ourselves, so having OxLEP Skills as a partner and utilising their expertise has been brilliant, we are most grateful.”
Rebecca also notes that the promise of fully funded training is an added selling point when recruiting and that team members that have completed an apprenticeship are more likely to stay with the company for the duration of the course, and beyond. As part of the ongoing People Strategy at Navenio, the HR team are heavily invested in career development for their employees. A strong appraisal process and Talent Review Process (TRP) means that skills gaps are identified and objectives for progression are documented. Rebecca works closely with each member of the team to understand their aspirations and from that Career Development Plans (CDP) are created. The apprenticeship courses are integral to these discussions as they enable Navenio to map potential growth for staff and discuss their long-term goals with the business, meaning many employees feel they have a strong career path at Navenio and will remain with the business long term.
As Navenio looks to scale its operations, having subject matter experts within the business means that they can work much more efficiently and in turn support a larger number of clients.
Testimonial
“As a business, we are always looking for innovative ways to train our team, upskilling our employees helps with engagement and retention as well as strategically meeting the business goals. As a scale-up, budget constraints can hinder this process and so using the OxLEP Skills apprenticeship levy transfer scheme was ideal for us, OxLEP Skills’ Apprenticeship Advisors have provided invaluable support in the process, having taken time to understand Navenio’ s business requirements and made connections with appropriate apprenticeship levy paying businesses to match with Navenio’s values and mission. Thanks to them we have been able to support the training of seven apprentices who are already demonstrating an impact in their current roles.” Rebecca Kyte, HR Manager at Navenio.
Contact skills@oxfordshirelep.com to find out more about how the OxLEP Skills apprenticeship levy transfer scheme can support skills growth for your business.
Find out more about the apprenticeship support available to employers from OxLEP Skills: