Apprenticeships are government-recognised training schemes in which a participant can study for a qualification, train on the job for their preferred career, and earn a wage at the same time. They represent a fantastic opportunity for both the participants and the employers involved.
Apprenticeships are traditionally associated with trade careers such as plumbing, electrics, and construction, but they are now also available in a huge range of industries and job roles including catering, hair and beauty, business administration, marketing, and many more. Anyone aged 16+ can do an apprenticeship, and they can last anywhere from one to four years.
In this article, we will tell you ten great reasons to consider leveraging apprenticeships to help your organisation build up a workforce of skilled young people.
Train someone the right way
“If you want something done properly, do it yourself,” so the saying goes. This can also apply to training up a new employee.
An apprenticeship allows you to provide comprehensive, in-depth training on best practices and the ways that things are done in your company. It gives you a focused period of time of at least a year to harness young talent and grow an employee into a productive and highly skilled member of your team. In other words, it’s a great way to grow your own talent in-house.
Diversify your team
Apprenticeships open up your organisation to a more diverse array of prospective employees. This can help to avoid homogenous teams and allow you to increase diversity, equality and inclusion across your organisation.
Diversity benefits an entire organisation and everyone within it. It encourages creativity and fresh ideas, enables stronger decision-making, improves teamwork and team cohesion, and boosts morale, employee satisfaction, and employee engagement.
Reach young people from non-traditional educational backgrounds
Apprenticeships can be an attractive alternative to A-Levels, universities, and other forms of higher academic education for students whose skills are more practical and vocational in nature. Many students worry that they will be excluded from employment opportunities as more and more entry-level jobs require a degree.
Apprenticeships open up alternative routes to gaining a qualification and allow you to reach young people who have not followed a traditional academic educational path.
Address skills shortages
Apprentices can help to close skills gaps and address skills shortages in your company. With apprenticeships available in a wide range of areas, you can prioritise hiring apprentices and providing training to address the most pressing skills gaps facing your company and your industry. This gives your apprentice a skills edge in their future career and helps your company to remain competitive.
Access government financial support
The government is keen to support organisations in hiring and training apprentices and offers financial support accordingly. The government may pay up to 95% of the costs of training and assessing your apprentice. In some circumstances, up to £1000 of additional funding is also available.
Learn more about government funding for “Employing an Apprentice”.
Bring in fresh perspectives and ideas
Apprentices are typically highly motivated and driven young people and can inject valuable fresh perspectives and new ideas into your organisation. While your job is to teach your apprentice while they are with you, don’t forget that you can also learn from them. Take the time to listen to your apprentices and ask for their input–you might be surprised by what you hear and learn.
Boost productivity
Many employers that take on an apprentice report that overall workplace productivity increased. Over the course of a year, even a small increase in overall productivity can make a tremendous difference to morale, company culture, and your organisation’s bottom line.
Increase your employee retention rate
For employers, retaining the best employees is just as much of a concern as recruiting those individuals in the first place. Creating great opportunities and providing quality training is a great way to increase employee satisfaction and encourage employee loyalty over the long term.
A 2022 Department of Education report found that over 60% of apprentices stay with the company that trained them after completing their apprenticeships.
Don’t forget about training existing employees up as apprentices, too. According to the same report, 76% of employers who did so reported that this practice boosted retention.
Future-proof your organisation
Young, talented and motivated young people are the future of your organisation and investing in them is essential if you want to keep your company healthy and competitive for years to come. Their skills and confidence will grow and they will rise through the ranks of your organisation, becoming the leaders and trainers of tomorrow. In other words, today’s apprentices are an investment in tomorrow.
Improve your reputation as a great youth employer
Today’s young people are demanding more from their employers. They want stable and secure jobs, the opportunity to grow their skills and build a career, and diverse workplaces that will take care of them. Apprenticeships allow you to provide all of this and more. Over time, this will help to grow your company’s reputation as a quality employer of young people and a desirable place to work. This strong reputation will increase your talent pool in the long run.
Learn more about hiring apprentices
Ready to learn more about hiring an apprentice and making the most of the opportunity? When you join Youth Employment UK as a member, you will have access to hundreds of exclusive resources including detailed articles on all aspects of running a successful apprenticeship programme.
Looking for more? Discover how to run an apprenticeship programme.
