Apprentices do on-the-job training alongside existing staff, as well as external training with a learning provider, and have the ability to enter the workforce at a young age full of enthusiasm and innovative ideas, yet able to be moulded to a company.
Though the economy gathers momentum, businesses still struggle to grow and many industries are witnessing an ongoing skills gap. By using apprenticeships to upskill the workforce and future-proof your business. Here is how an apprentice can benefit your business:
Increase Productivity
According to the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS), the average apprenticeship increases business productivity by £214 per week, by the end of an apprenticeship through increased profits, lower prices and enhanced products.
Hiring an apprentice can improve a company’s bottom line by boosting productivity and making companies more effective, as well as improving communication throughout the workforce and enforcing more teamwork to help an apprentice learn and grow.
Technical skills
For work places to be productive, they need more skills. With concern that not enough recruitment and development of younger people has been happening, apprenticeships are a great way to help bridge the skills gap in struggling sectors.
Apprenticeships offer technical, interchangeable life and work skills. For businesses finding it tough to recruit people with skills they need to help move their business forward, taking on an apprentice can solve this problem by training enthusiastic new talent up for a specific role.
Developing future leaders
A huge concern for many businesses is an ageing workforce. Apprenticeship training provides opportunity for new, fresh employees to enter the workforce and progress, or for existing staff to be identified as future leaders and progress them through the relative education levels.
Running an apprenticeship scheme helps create a dedicated, loyal workforce. The majority of apprentices (67%) stay with the same employer after completion of their apprenticeship (NAS), and they should have the ability to learn the ways of your business as you help them climb your organisations career ladder.
Fresh ideas
Apprentices bring fresh ideas to a business, alongside their knowledge and expertise of social and technological trends, having grown up in a digital world, whereas older apprentices will come into the business with a wealth of exchangeable knowledge.
Although your apprentice may not have field experience, they can hopefully offer a fresh perspective and new ideas, which are valuable to a growing business.
Financial support
There are a range of financial incentives available to help SMEs introduce apprenticeships and upskill existing workforce. Apprenticeship training is priced in funding brands ranging from £1,500 to £27,000, and SMEs pay just 10 per cent, with the government paying the remaining 90 per cent.
There is currently a £1,000 incentive for recruiting a young person as an apprentice, and businesses with less than 50 employees are eligible for the government to meet 100% of the cost of training an apprentice aged 18 and under.
Availability
Apprenticeships now cover more skills and sectors than ever before, and in the UK in 2015/2016, over 500,000 young individuals embarked on an apprenticeship according to the NAS. Apprenticeship vacancies have increased at a rapid rate, with up to 20,000 available at any one time, and an average of 11 applications for every Apprenticeship vacancy in the UK.
Apprenticeships are increasingly becoming a popular way for people to enter the working world, learn a trade and earn a wage. Not everybody chooses to go to University in order to get qualified, but for those who want a higher education without getting into debt, and to earn money straight away, the apprenticeship route can seem highly attractive.
