During the past few months I have uncovered a great deal of uncertainty around what an Apprentice is and what is expected of them. Certainly the beloved BBC programme does little to shed much light with its demands for candidates who have done nothing less than set up a million pound turnover business by the age of 17. At the other extreme, there are examples of organisations looking to jump on the apprentice bandwagon but who have done little to erase the common prejudice among line managers, expected to manage and train them, that all 16 year olds are capable of little more than Facebook profile management.
For many, apprenticeships are the building blocks to a career
Announcements over the past year that the government would provide extra funding for businesses willing to createmore apprenticeships has, in these tough economic times, seen a surge in interest and calls from the boardroom to create them. With the aftermath of university education too looking so bleak, there is also increased interest from young people in alternatives to a degree and more vocational training.
There are many industries which have successfully run inspiring apprenticeship programmes for years. The engineering, manufacturing and utilities sector in particular have programmes which have a clear recruitment policy and direction, ensure excellent training and result in relevant qualifications for those taking part. Indeed for these organisations the apprentice programme is a vital means of getting future talent into the business.
For those thinking about creating an apprentice scheme it is essential to consider the basic facts. The volume of applications to any programme will be enormous and so a consistent and efficient response management solution is essential. The reputation of many apprentice programmes can be severely damaged by media savvy youngsters happy to publicise the lack of response or failure to acknowledge. Unlike Lord Sugar’s prodigies, most young people have limited work and life experience and so while a screening process is essential, it is important to tailor it correctly and to ensure any hiring managers understand this before interview. While making fantastically good television I am not sure most young people would survive his recruitment process in the real world and the fall out could be badly damaging to the employer brand.
However, perhaps most importantly organisations need to ensure that the HR and learning & development teams have a clear training strategy in place. An apprentice is ‘one who is learning a trade or occupation’ (Oxford English Dictionary) – in other words they do not know it all at the beginning and should not be expected to, but neither are they incapable of rising to a challenge and contributing a huge amount to business. If it isn’t possible to properly train and guide your apprentices then should you really be recruiting them – no matter how tempting the offer from Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg?
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Excellent summary Amy.
Too often these days, Apprenticeships are seen as a Government scheme that companies support.
In reality an Apprenticeship should be the other way round. An Apprentice is someone who is employed by a company, undertaking on-the-job training supported by an experienced worker and being released for some kind of formal training. The employer / employee part is the crucial thing.
Comment by Scott Upton, Sandwell College — January 11, 2012 @ 12:31 pm
Thanks for your comments Scott. The main issues seem to lie with businesses who have not previously run apprentice programmes. If you are aware of organisations who might be interested in assistance please do let me know.
Comment by Amy Johnson (@amyljohn) — January 11, 2012 @ 2:30 pm
Amy. Having spent this last year in an enforced break from work due to both the withdrawal of T2G funding and family health issues, I have lost the thread on current funding initiatives.
Is there any apprenticeship funding for the over 25′s and any non appreticeship funding for all age groups?
Following enquiries from potential clients, my primary interest is in Management training at level 2 (Team Leading)and level 3 to meet enquiries who “want their staff trained into Management rather than assessed after the event”. Therefore, I want to develop / deliver bespoke programmes using the Nationally accredited criteria for certification and inject a strong learning / training process the needs for which are derived from a detailed intial Training Needs Analysis
Are you able to update me?
Terry Kelly at T-Kass Resources
Comment by Terence A. G. Kelly — January 12, 2012 @ 5:11 pm
Hello Terry, apologies for the late reply. Funnily enough I was with a contact today who was talking about Apprenticeships for ‘non 16-18 year olds’ and the short answer is that the funding outside of this age group is limited / non existent! However, there is call to address this, certainly from the care sector, who receive a lot of interest in apprenticeships from people outside of this age group. For now government policy is firmly in the camp of youth employment although I do not profess to be an expert and you may find some further information on funding from specific government websites. I’d be interested in understanding how the government expects organisations to manage the advertising, attraction and response to candidates though. In order to receive funding organisations will only want to attract 16-18 year olds and I am not sure how well this sits with the with Age Discrimination legislation.
Comment by Amy Johnson (@amyljohn) — January 13, 2012 @ 5:00 pm