Workers in the finance sector have been expressing an interest in building their skills, with a high demand for training and upskilling in Excel. This need is something that the Aegis trade union has been working hard to support.

Julie Thompson, Learn with Aegis Project Worker, said: 

Love it, or hate it, most of us need Excel in our day to day work.  Whether it is updating a spreadsheet that already exists, creating a new one from scratch or automating a manual process through better excel use.”

Following a learner survey late 2016, Aegis found that Excel was one of the top areas of learning that would help workers in their day to day roles.  It was also identified that better knowledge in this area, would also open more opportunities for job movement or promotion for those learners.

Through working collaboratively within the organisations that Aegis is based, the union arranged 360 bitesize half day classroom based courses, sourcing a local specialist training provider in IT, SmartStyle Training, to deliver the courses. 

There were three different courses available covering differing levels of ability (basic, intermediate and advanced), so the appropriate course could be cherry-picked by learners to choose a level that was right for them. 

The finance sector finds itself shrinking due to increase use of technology, something that Aegis has recognised.  These courses came at the right time to help learners upskill and enhance their CV.  It also supports for government’s agenda of skills for life and IT becoming priority for outcomes.

Julie explained:

We were overwhelmed with the demand for this type of training, with all places being fully booked within 10 minutes of making them available.  The post course feedback was also very impressive with 74% of delegates rating them as excellent and 26% good.”

Delegates were very positive, and anonymous comments on the feedback forms recieved following the courses said: 

This was the most useful course I have been on in years

My colleagues now want to attend too after hearing me say how good it was, so they’ll have to keep an eye out for future courses!

Thanks for arranging this course, it was really useful and I’m glad that you have put a wide range of excel courses on so that people with all abilities have the chance to learn.

Aegis will be running more Excel, along with other training courses, for members throughout the year.