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Think about how you integrate apprenticeships into your workforce planning before you offer a placement. Recruiting apprentices should not be a short term fix but a long term way to grow your workforce. Align your apprenticeship programme with your departmental needs and School strategy. Target your apprenticeship at areas where you have clearly identified skills gaps and shortages or future areas of growth. |
View apprentices as cheap, short term labour. Apprenticeship schemes are long term programmes to develop your employees and grow the skills your department needs. |
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To ensure success of your programme, get buy-in from senior leaders and engage with the wider workforce in your department You need to make sure that the training matches your department’s needs and is both job-specific and transferrable. |
Throw them in the deep end. Providing the right practical support and guidance to an apprentice will help them settle in well. Provide them with a mentor or ‘buddy’ so that they can report on how they are getting on. Hold regular meetings to discuss how they are coping with their role. |
| Make sure that your apprenticeships offer a training route to a skilled role. High quality apprenticeships offer the most value to both the individual and the employer. The minimum for an apprenticeship is 12 months; however most high-quality apprenticeships take longer to complete, sometimes up to 4 years. | Look to rebadge existing training provision as apprenticeships unless it is appropriate to do so and adds value. Apprenticeships fulfil a very specific role in developing the skills you need for your department. |
| Widen the net. Apprenticeships can help you access a wider pool of talent and contribute to departmental success, particularly where traditional routes of recruitment may have been difficult. Plan a recruitment strategy to maximise the equality and diversity in your apprenticeship programme. |