As many of you already know I’m a huge fan of tv show The Apprentice, with us all getting into the swing of 2016, now is a fantastic opportunity to talk all things apprentice!
Recently on of my site managers advised me that they wanted to double the amount of apprentices that we have throughout the business from our existing eight. As you can imagine, I was overjoyed to hear this, given that investing in tomorrow’s talent is something I champion!
There are a whole host of benefits to recruiting apprentices into your business and every need is different so the reasons for our approach with apprentices is to bridge the skills gap that we will have in future years. Having a loyal workforce (some of which are celebrating 40 years in their roles this year!) we would lose a substantial amount of knowledge along with their skills if they were to leave the business and with them being in specialised roles, it is important that they pass on their knowledge to future employees so that there is a smooth transition when they leave.
Apprentices are not just for larger businesses but they also build smaller businesses. There are options to gain a grant through the government and they learn whilst they are in their role with their company. The combination of work and education is invaluable experience for the apprentice and whilst working alongside experienced professionals, they are able to identify the differences between school and the working environment, these are skills that they learn from the people they work for, this is something that education cannot teach them so it is up to us as professionals to encourage more businesses to hire apprentices.
Big corporate schemes or small businesses hiring an apprentice all helps to invest in future talent and who knows, you could be hiring the next Alan Sugar or Michelle Mone!
To find out more about how to hire an apprentice please visit: https://www.gov.uk/topic/further-education-skills/apprenticeships
Natalie Ellis HR 