About
Our Vision
Companies enlist the expertise of Upskill, who provide complete training solutions in the areas of communication, business skills, customer service and financial management.
Our Mission
Our mission is empowering excellence within your organisation by bringing professional knowledge and expert business skills to you.
Our Values
We believe in the power that creating awareness, building skills and on the job training can have to complete the cycle of lasting behavior change in employees.
We believe that organizations, which invest time and money in their workforce, reap lasting benefits including improved internal communications, increased customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
When corporations such as yours want engaged and competent employees who understand and live the values of your organization, they enlist the expertize of Upskill. At Upskill we understand the benchmarks needed to run an efficient and effective business and we have designed our training modules to fit the local market and produce the desired outcomes.
Due to a turbulent recent history in Sierra Leone, there has been a gap in education and training for many people. Upskill is invested in bridging this gap and we have created tailored training programs aimed at addressing the competencies and values that need attention, according to our clients needs.
Our Services
Business Training
Our experienced local and international trainers design and implement training programmes in the following areas. All trainings are custom designed based on tried and tested approaches. Customer Service Business...Read MoreFacilitation
Our consultants are seasoned in facilitating seminars, workshops and all day meetings for both internal and multi-stakeholder groups. Team Building Strategic Planning Conflict ResolutionRead MoreFinancial Management
Our financial training ranges from basic Microsoft Office Excel training to much more advanced policy design and technical financial administrative courses. We have a team of experienced consultants available to...Read More
Our Approach
At Upskill we firmly believe that each organization is different and our team is dedicated to building a unique training solution, based on well-established training methodology, for each organization we work with. Our approach is designed to get to the heart of what your organization needs.
The Process
We believe that adult learning is most effective when presented in a tangible and relevant context so the skills and strategies learned can be applied directly on the job. We use a combination of role-plays, on the job training with real-time feedback and facilitator led trainings to ensure participants improve in their day-to-day tasks and to promote behaviour change.
Our ‘Train the Trainer’ approach builds and empowers experts and ambassadors, within your organization, to ensure lasting results.
Coaching
Coaching is a catalyst for enhanced performance for the individual and the teams they lead. One-on-one professional coaching gives you the opportunity to work with an experienced coach on your own strengths and weaknesses in order to fulfill your true potential.
Benefits of professional coaching
For the leader or senior executive:
- fast-track leadership development
- improved leadership and strategic planning skills
- better decision-making
- enhanced goal setting
- ability to inspire and motivate teams, including across geographically dispersed locations
- confident communication
- improved working relationships
For the organization:
- enhanced leadership and management
- more creativity, empowerment and ownership unleashed in the business
- underpinning effective implementation of organizational change through supporting teams and individuals
- greater commitment from recipients of the coaching
- higher retention of key people who feel valued
Team
Our Team
Nina DeVriesTrainerNina deVries grew up in Montreal, Canada and has a degree in English Literature from Concordia University in Montreal. Soon after receiving her degree Nina started training with the language school Bouchereau Lingua International in Montreal. Nina has always enjoyed writing and that led her to receive a second degree in Journalism from Ryerson University in Toronto several years later. From there, she worked as a TV and radio reporter across Canada, including with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Nina is passionate about Sierra Leone and came to the country for the first time in 2008. She worked as a journalism trainer with the Non Governmental Organization Journalists for Human Rights. Nina came back again in 2012 to do more training and has gained a great deal of experience in creating lasting behaviour change with her clients. Nina is excited to bring her training expertise to enhance the private sector of Sierra Leone.
Eimer PetersFounder & Senior TrainerEimer was born in Ireland and has spent most of her professional career working in Germany. She has over 10 years experience in customer service. Eimer also has extensive experience training business English skills and coaching at a wide variety of companies in Bavaria including O2, Conde Nast and BMW. After graduating from Globe Business College, Munich with first class honors Eimer began consulting and managing global Human Resource projects with Kenexa (recently acquired by IBM). She has worked closely with clients such as Volvo, DHL, Deloitte and Zurich. Her field of expertise is Employee Engagement and creating organizations that foster a highly committed workforce that is willing to go the extra mile for their company. Eimer has been working in Sierra Leone since 2011, her focus has been training and organizational development. Upskill was inspired by a passion to bring the structured, critical approach and soft skills embraced in Europe and other parts of the world to West Africa.
David WalshSenior ConsultantDavid has over twenty years experience of working, training, coaching and facilitating in both the public and private sectors in Ireland, Europe and Asia. He has facilitated international business and managing diversity programs for senior executives in organizations such as Northern Trust Bank, AOL, Diageo, Northern Trust Bank, BNP Paribank Johnson and Johnson, PepsiCo, Microsoft, AWAS, Symantec, Paypal, Facebook, Danone, Tesco, Dell, Unilever, Neilson, Novartis, IBM, Kerry Group, Vodafone as well as a range of others. David is a certified coach and is a licensed Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic programming. He is a former board member of SIETAR Europa (Society for Intercultural Education, Training and Research) and is a faculty member of the Globe Business College in Munich, Germany where he lectures on cross cultural business management, Human Resource Management and Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Akinyemi Scott-BoyleTrainerAkinyemi Scott-Boyle has been at the forefront of providing business development support to start-up businesses and SMEs in the private sector in Sierra Leone since 2010. Akinyemi has a post-graduate degree (Masters) in Economic Development from the University of Glasgow and an Undergraduate Degree (BA/BSc) in Business Economics with Information Systems (Joint Honours) from the University of Hertfordshire. Professionally, Akinyemi has been project leader and has implemented capacity building programmes in Sierra Leone and has shown admirable leadership qualities and training skills. Akinyemi has experience in module development, training, coaching and mentoring. He has worked closely with a diverse array of people, ranging from SMEs in light-manufacturing sector, small-holder farmers, youth and women groups and also university graduates. His passions lie in building capacity in the private sector of Sierra Leone and using his international experience and education to create behaviour change in organisations.
Our Partners
Securiport SL Ltd.
“Upskill is currently a key partner in empowering our personnel, both personally and professionally, to succeed in their goals achievement, which translates into successful business for our company. The transformative effect can be seen not only in the way they communicate, which is Upskill’s main area of concern, but also in their appearance and confident attitude obtained as side effects of being able to properly express themselves. That, together with the improved efficiency that comes from a team working with solid and clear communication, allows us to confidently count on Upskill as a reliable partner.”
Careers
At Upskill we are always looking to expand our team of experts. If you believe your experience could be an added value to the team at Upskill please send your CV and a cover letter to info@upskill.sl