Griffith College Dublin

You may not be employable today with your current qualifications and/or experience, But like Isaac Newton when the apple fell on his head...........

Do you think you could recognize a business opportunity and make it work?

This course is suitable for persons from many backgrounds, so for example, it you are a plasterer, or a designer, or a solicitor etc, and the current jobs market looks bleak for you,
this practical course will assist you to identify opportunities, and help you take positive action so as that you can gain sustainable employment
Griffith College are committed to enabling you to gain sustainable employment upon completion of this course.

The programme aims to develop skills in the areas of SME Management and is specifically directed at unemployed people from a variety of backgrounds including, but not limited to, construction, hospitality and the manufacturing industry. It is an ideal course for a person who may have been self employed, and wishes to pursue a new entrepreneurial project, or someone who wishes to gain employment in an established small to medium sized company. The programme has been developed in consultation a variety of businesses and the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (ISME). This programme is valued at 10 credits on the National Framework of qualifications at level 7. Any student who successfully completes the programme will be given every assistance from the College to gain suitable employment.

On successful completion of the Certificate in SME Management programme the participant should be able to: 1. Carry out a reliable analysis of a SME. 2. Motivate and manage the human resources of a SME through the use of appropriate leadership skills, management tools and techniques. 3. Identify key financial performance indicators for an organisation and the factors that influence their behaviour. 4. Identify employment legislation and particular human resource issues related to a company. 5. Identify areas of waste or inefficiencies within the operations of a company. 6. Recognise marketing tools and techniques that can support the development of a marketing plan 7. Prepare and present a development plan 8. Utilise a range of best practice techniques to improve the performance of a compan

The programme has been designed to meet the management development needs of owner managers and senior managers of small and medium enterprises(SMEs). The programme is a Special Purpose Award containing one module, SME management. This module has been divided into a number of different units in order to give students an awareness of different management topics. Feedback from ISME members in relation to training and development requirements, indicate the need for managers to develop a wide range of general skills such as communication skills, supervisory skills, reporting, planning, health and safety management, time and stress management.
In addition to the development of general management skills, SME managers may also have responsibility for a number of distinct functional roles including

• Management Practices and Principles
• Human Resource Management
• Information Technology
• Operations Management
• Marketing
• Financial management
• Strategic Analysis
• Strategic Planning

Managers also have particular training and development needs, whereby having set up the company they may find that the company needs a more structured approach to facilitate its further growth and development, and that their own practice and hands-on approach of being involved in all operational aspects may not be appropriate in the longer term.
It is proposed that the management development needs of this group will be advanced by the Special Purpose Certificate in SME Management. The programme has benefitted from the feedback provided by ISME from over 80 owner managers who attended previous management development training programmes since 2006/7.