More and more businesses are seeing the benefits of Apprenticeships and engaging with the Apprenticeship programme. Recent reports have shown an increase in the number of employers that would prefer to hire candidates who have completed an Apprenticeship over those with a university degree. However, if you and your colleagues are still not convinced that Apprenticeships are the right fit for your company, here are ten unquestionable benefits Apprentices will bring to your business.
Close the skills gap
Is your management team looking for skills gaps or areas for expansion requiring new skills? If not, then your business will be the one to lose out. Knowing how to highlight a skills gap within your team can help your business plan for staff CPD and upskilling or even the recruiting of an Apprentice.
Knowing how to engage with your management team on skills gaps is crucial, so is knowing how to analyse, identify, measure and plan for a skills gap. Apprenticeships are one way to match available talent with the specific skills they need. It enables your business to grow your talent pipeline for the future.
Apprentices can also help to boost the appeal of the industry among their peers and colleagues. This, in turn, helps business recognise the fact that some knowledgeable individuals that choose not to go to university and look towards a more practical route into the workplace.
Diverse workforce
It is now more realised across all sectors that often the only way to really eliminate large-scale skills shortages is to open up industries to a broader pool of talent – be that based on gender, age, ethnicity, social background or previous experience.
Gone are the times when Apprenticeships were stereotyped as only being for young talent. With companies like Barclays, The Co-operative Group and Boots all recruiting for mature employees and publicly pledging their commitment to a more diverse workforce.
Companies can’t afford to not tap into this talent pool.
Benefit from fresh thinking
Inquisitive and curious minds enable you as a business to progress, develop and innovate, Apprentices will be able to complete some quite complex projects within months of starting that push not only their newly acquired skills but also encourage their ability to problem solve.
Fresh thinking comes from Apprentices. They often offer ideas and are keen to do so, and they will typically have access to the most up to date industry regulations and training materials. The biggest thing to highlight is that an Apprentice will join your business with fresh eyes, and will pick out issues and resolutions that might have eluded your team.
Apprentices make a real difference to our working environments bringing new perspective you can get through the normal recruitment process. They want to become immersed in your industry, and as they learn and develop with their qualification, we have seen them bring in a wealth of pioneering ideas and trends – so your whole team will end up learning something new.
Increase retention – and staff commitment
Apprenticeship data show that businesses that have an Apprenticeship programme running have higher staff retention rates and staff commitment levels. Apprentices infuse new energy into teams and help create a more approachable environment.
Successful Apprentices regularly become loyal, long-standing members of staff rising through the ranks of the firm with little disruption to operations. National Apprenticeship Service data shows 80% of companies who invest in Apprentices have reported a significant increase in employee retention. Meanwhile, more than half (57%) of employers report a high proportion of their Apprentices going on to management positions.
Improve productivity
More than three-quarters (76%) of employers who employ Apprentices agree they make their workplace more productive, according to data compiled by the National Apprenticeship Service. A typical Apprentice delivers productivity gains of over £10,000 annually.
Develop your staff across all levels of your business
Apprenticeships are also an effective way to upskill your existing workforce. Enrolling your employees on to relevant Apprenticeships such as Business Administration, Customer Service, Management and Team leadership and other sector-specific Apprenticeships will enable them to gain accredited qualifications and develop role-related skills and knowledge relevant to your organisation.
This can only help to boost performance in their roles and progress into other higher roles within your business. According to the NAS survey, 72% of businesses report improved productivity as a result of Apprenticeships, and 77% of businesses agree that Apprenticeships make their workplace more productive.
Futureproof your business
Unlike closing a skills gap, future proofing your workforce by setting out a long-term business plan and KPI’s surrounding your training and development plans. Doing so will mean that skills gaps will become a thing of the past as your business will have in place processes to highlight, investigate and improve for new areas of skills required.
Boost your reputation
Brand image is essential, especially if your business is customer facing, it can make the difference between a customer picking to use your supply or going to one of your competitors.
From a reputational point of view, being seen to take on local talent and help boost youth employment in the area can help to raise the profile of the business, while also contributing in a tangible way to the local economy.
Use it, don’t lose
If you have a payroll of £3m or more, you will be making levy payments via your digital account. Employers have been given 18 months to spend each payment, before losing those funds – and the opportunity for the 10 per cent government top-up too.
If you are an employer with fewer than 50 employees, the Government will pay the full cost of training Apprentices aged 16 – 18. Apprenticeships. Find out more about Apprenticeship funding for non-levy paying employers.
For non-levy paying businesses (those with a pay bill of under £3 million per annum), 95% of training costs for Apprentices are Government funded via co-investment.
For more information on how your organisation can benefit from Apprenticeships, please contact us today on 0151 236 1748.
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