School Based Traineeships – A Roaring Success at The Lion Richlands

One of our key training partners The Lion Richlands has been offering a school-based program for over 10 years now!  It’s not only been a rewarding experience for the venue, but also the students, their respective schools and the broader local community.  They also have plans in place to take advantage of the Federal Government’s latest BAC funding initiative which will provide many of their team members with the opportunity to undertake training in a Diploma of Hospitality.  All in all, you could say that it’s a roaring success story in the making.

We caught up with Human Resources Manager, Jacinta Spence recently to talk about all things training. 

What inspired you to hire trainees at The Lion Richlands?

As part of our community strategy, we have been very involved with our local schools in a number of ways over the past decade. With our Junior Football programs through to our School Based Traineeships, we have been connected to many of our local families that either play or visit our club. With this in mind, giving our local schools and their students the opportunity to get work experience and life skills before graduating high school.
 
What schools have you partnered with/are you partnered with?


We’ve been partnering with a number of schools including Springfield Central SHS, Glenala SHS, Park Ridge SHS, Rochedale State High School, Centenary SHS, and St Peter Claver College.
 
How many trainees do you currently have? 


We currently have 12 active school based trainees in our team and a further 26 previous trainees that are still employed at the club. 
 
What areas do your trainees work in/what processes do your trainees undertake? 

Trainees work across all front-of-house departments (Reception, Catering, Beverage, Gaming).  They complete two months of training in each department and are buddied up with senior staff members on their release day.
 
Students undertake the induction and training processes the same as any of our employees would – giving them the opportunity to develop and grow into independent workers.
 
What is the most rewarding aspect of hiring trainees? 


What we love most is seeing young individuals really come out of their shells and grow and develop. 
 
How do you think your trainees would describe your traineeship program?  


The success of the results from our School Based Traineeship program speaks for itself with the amount of students who continue working with us. The schools are more than happy to sign up each year to assist students into our program here at the Club.
 
What makes an excellent trainee? 

Smiley, bubbly, and outgoing personalities who are willing to learn. 
 
Describe one of your favourite traineeship success stories. 

Elastus has completed two traineeships with The Lion starting from Year 10 through to Year 12. He’s just graduated from Year 12 and is now working as a casual employee in the Catering department.  We are so proud of how far he has come during that time! 
 
What do you see in your traineeship program’s future? 

Our program just goes from strength to strength, so we definitely see the continuation of the school based Certificate III in Hospitality and Business program well into the future. 
 
We are excited to be taking our training program to the next level now and offering current employees who are keen to develop their skills and knowledge in the industry the opportunity to study higher level qualifications including a Certificate IV and Diploma of Hospitality.  Thanks to the Federal Government’s current BAC wage subsidy initiative, we’ve just signed up 8 of our team into a Diploma qualification. 
 
Through the strong partnership with CTA Training, this is a great way for us to invest in our employees and continue to strengthen their skillsets and personal growth as part of our overall training and development strategy. 
 
Keen to discuss a training strategy for your venue and see how Government funding can help?  Contact our team at CTA Training Specialists today.

Jason McIlroy, Business Development Manager | [email protected] | 0448 222 123

Aaron Bray, General Manager | [email protected] | 0447 464 333