Feature: Apprenticeships, Skills & Training
Staff issues? Apprentices could be the answer
By Jill Cooper (pictured), Business Development Director at DN Colleges Group
organisation plan for the future with an ageing workforce? What does an organisation do if it is struggling to recruit the skills it needs locally? How do you upskill existing managers and staff to improve your skills base? Apprenticeships could be the solution. Apprenticeships offer individuals from the
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age of 16 the opportunity to learn new skills, gain experience and achieve an apprenticeship relevant to specific job roles with an employer. Whether part-time or full-time roles, apprenticeships can offer an invaluable route to employing new talent or developing existing employees. Apprenticeships offer a substantive route to
ow do employers ensure they have the skills, knowledge and experience required in their workforce for today and the future? How does an
‘Employers
may be surprised by the range of
apprenticeships they can consider’
enable organisations to support managers and staff to change roles, develop their skills and knowledge further, and progress within their career. Employers can find an apprenticeship route a way to combine external training with a focus on business improvement to ensure that the development has an impact in the workplace. The majority of employers with apprentices report
positive benefits including improved productivity, improved skills base, staff retention, loyalty and commitment. Training providers can offer employers a range of
services as well as delivering the training, assessment and support of an apprenticeship including: • Helping employers identify if a job role is suitable for an apprenticeship
• Tailoring the provision to meet an employer’s needs • Promotion of a vacancy – National Apprenticeship Service, social media, websites, etc.
• Managing the selection process including sifting applications
• Contracting and funding support.
Breadth and depth of provision With over 700 Apprenticeship Standards available nationally, employers may be surprised by the range of apprenticeships they can consider. The Institute for Apprenticeships website provides details on all the new standards and details of the content and assessment methods for each standard. It’s easy to search and is a great place to start if you are unsure, and obviously your local training provider will help you identify specific apprenticeships suitable against job roles within your business. An apprenticeship is a real job with real training and
development to ensure that an individual develops skills, knowledge and behaviours to a specific standard. An employer must be prepared that during the apprenticeship they must release the individual to engage in their learning
for at least 20% of their time. This does not have to be a day a week; for example, the provision by the training provider could be block release, day release, short blocks of days or weeks
across a year, or blended learning with some distance or online learning as well. But the
employer must be prepared for the apprentice to be able to study and learn during the apprentices working hours in order to meet regulation requirements. It can sound more onerous than it is in practice and your provider should be able to help plan this with you, and it ensures that an apprenticeship really is focused on developing real tangible skills and knowledge that should have a longer-term benefit to your organisation.
Funding Apprenticeships usually offer good value for money and the cost of the apprenticeship is generally spread over the duration of the apprenticeship. For employers large enough to be paying the
Apprenticeship Levy, they will pay the full price of the apprenticeship from their levy or five per cent if they have no funds left in their levy. If they pay five per cent then the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) pay the rest. For small-to-medium-sized (SME) businesses usually an
apprentice will cost five per cent of the price of the apprenticeship and the ESFA pays the balance. If the five per cent is very small you may pay that price up front or in a few small payments. For an employer with less than 50 staff and employing an apprentice under age 18 years then usually there is no fee to pay at all. For SMEs, there is an ESFA trial with training providers
January-March, enabling SMEs to set up and use a digital account to manage their apprenticeship provision and access to funding. Your provider will advise if you are to use this route and it looks as though longer term this may be rolled out to all employers.
So what are you waiting for? Contact your local training provider to find out more about apprenticeships and see how your business could benefit.
Winter 2020 CHAMBERconnect 61
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