Apprenticeships Opinion Productivity magic
Dr Ross Moloney, CEO of Skills for Logistics, says there has never been a better tome for hiring an apprentice.
One-quarter of the respondents to Skills for Logistics’ recent Logistics Employers
“The average apprenticeship
increases business productivity by £214 per week
”
survey highlighted offering apprenticeships as the solution to recruiting staff with the correct level of skills or experience. Yet just 4% of businesses use apprentices in the logistics sector. There has never been a better time to employ an apprentice, or to start an apprenticeship. In addition to boosting productivity through growing their skills base, hiring an apprentice can help a business to develop its own talent and create a motivated, skilled and qualifi ed workforce. Young people can earn a wage while training in a real job, gaining a real qualifi cation and laying the foundations for a successful future. Our industry has a real need for recruits – moreover we need to raise the level of our skills base. We can look to apprenticeships to help achieve this and to develop a motivated, skilled and qualifi ed workforce. The key to apprenticeships is providing high-quality training. This will not only benefi t both apprentices and employers but will also help to ‘future-proof’ the business and, ultimately, the logistics sector. Pre Employment Training and
Traineeships, as I mentioned in last month’s column, are important precursors, which now in place in the logistics sector to help individuals meet the grade required to become an apprentice, thus addressing a major concern of logistics businesses. But what of apprenticeships themselves?
Some of the facts may surprise you. Did you know that, across all sectors, 72% of businesses report improved productivity when they took on an apprentice? The average apprenticeship increases business productivity by £214 per week, which will lead to increased profi ts, lower prices and better products.
DEVELOPMENT There are intermediate, advanced and higher level apprenticeships, covering more than 170 industries – including logistics. They are not limited to new recruits; they are available to current members of staff for development programmes - as long as there is signifi cant new learning. Depending on the business, they will take between one and four years to complete. All have set content, though extra business-specifi c content can be added. Most apprenticeships are delivered in partnership with a training organisation such as a college or training provider. In general, apprentices work for at least 30 hours a week. However, the number of hours an apprentice works each week can be reduced if the length of the apprenticeship programme is also extended. The apprenticeship wage rises from £2.68 to £2.73 from 1st October and training costs are covered for many. Businesses that employ up to 1,000 employees may even get a £1,500 grant to help cover the cost of starting a new apprentice aged 16 to 24 years old. Almost 19,000 young people have been able to start an apprenticeship
www.shdlogistics.com thanks to this grant.
SEMLEP (South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership) listed some interesting research-referenced benefi ts of apprenticeships in its fi rst logistics report issued last year. For example: how apprenticeships improve business performance including organisational competitiveness, productivity, and quality of its services and products (Bashford, 2006; Hogarth & Hasluck, 2003); how over 80% of employers who employ apprentices agree that they help increase productivity in their workplace (Populus, 2009); that 81% of consumers say they would favour a company that employs apprentices (Warwick, 2008); and that 80% of employers who take on apprentices rely on them to provide skilled workers for the future (Populus, 2009). Employers can crunch fi gures themselves to make an informed decision on apprenticeships by using the Skills Calculator - www.
skillscalculator.org. This was created by Skills for Logistics to help employers understand the Return on Investment (RoI) of employing an apprentice on any Logistics Framework. More than 100,000 employers, in over 160,000 workplaces across the UK economy, currently use apprenticeships to attract new talent, re-skill existing staff and tackle skill shortages. However, two million more apprenticeships are needed. We certainly need more in the logistics sector. ■
www.skillsforlogistics.org September 2014 77
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