APPRENTICESHIPS….WHAT’S IN IT FOR EMPLOYERS?

An Employer’s Perspective.

By Chris Boynton, Apprentice & Technical Training Manager at Wirral Partnership Homes (Building Services) Ltd

Proskills celebrated the launch of the first Apprenticeship Week (25 to 29 February 2008) with the announcement of the 2008 Apprenticeship Awards for the process and manufacturing sector, including the Print industry. Here Chris Boynton, Apprentice & Technical Training Manager at Wirral Partnership Homes (Building Services) Ltd looks at apprenticeships – what’s in it for employers?

“What’s in it for employers?” The short but simple view from this employer’s perspective is “an awful lot actually!”

For the past 20 years I have been involved with the training of apprentices, both within a Managing Agency as well as from the perspective of an employer. Naturally, it has not always been plain sailing in that time – life rarely is – but certainly the positives have far outweighed the negatives…massively so.

And in an effort to attempt to pre-empt some of the historical reasons that are normally cited as to why there is not a larger uptake of apprentices by employers, I would offer the following:

• Yes – there can be a fair amount of bureaucracy involved in the process – but certainly nothing too excessive which would outweigh any potential advantages that are to be gained.

• No – young people may not always be the easiest people in the world to deal with – but this statement could also equally apply to a whole host of other client groups. But the fact is that apprentices are, on the whole, young…and inexperienced…but they are also enthusiastic…and creative…and energetic…and talented…and expressive…and vibrant……….……

If you take the time and the trouble to look beyond what might initially appear to be an imposing set of obstacles, you might just find that the potential rewards to be gained from investing in the employment of apprentices can be immense! And let us not forget that since October 2006, apprenticeships are no longer solely the domain of the young. The window of opportunity has now expanded to encompass what, in some circumstances, can be an all embracing open-age recruitment process.

At Wirral Partnership Homes, we employ 24 apprentices, predominantly in the Construction trades, Window Fabrication / Installation, Glazing and Administration. When our company was established some three years ago, we inherited an apprenticeship programme from our predecessors at Wirral Council and we have chosen to continue with what has been a hugely successful legacy that benefits the employer as much as the individual.

In many respects, it would seem to be self-evident to consider the rewards that an individual might derive from undertaking an apprenticeship. They would stand to gain qualifications, experience, a sense of self worth / self-belief / self-confidence in their own abilities and moreover a chance of obtaining suitable employment and career prospects.

Similarly, an employer would also receive all of the above benefits, plus a whole host more from investing in apprenticeship training. For their part, employers would stand to benefit because they would receive qualified employees who are highly skilled and competent at their job roles and who are trained to the most recent industry standards.

From our experience, high proportions of those apprentices whom we have trained have subsequently gone on to be employed by us and are still in our employ some considerable years later. Indeed, some of our supervisors and managers of today have reached their current designations as a result of commencing their working lives as apprentices.

And to think that such careers could have been aspired to from commencing the first rung of the working ladder as a new apprentice, possibly in their first job straight from school. Within that process however, one thing that is common to most apprentices and that is that they are an excellent way for individuals to develop skills and knowledge from first-hand experience and never more so than from the experience that I have been fortunate enough to sample for myself on the very week that I write this article.

Our company have brought together a small group of our more senior construction apprentices for an annual “Work Week” at an Outdoor Education Centre in Snowdonia. However, this event is not the traditional team-building event that uses outdoor pursuits as the vehicle to promote the notion of team building. Instead, this is an event that affords the opportunity to practice the skills that each individual has acquired over a period of time and to put it to good use on improving the fabric of the centre, which in turn has a knock-on positive impact for the users of the centre. This creates a real win-win situation that benefits the apprentice, the centre and the customers of the centre. More particularly, I have witnessed from first-hand experience, the remarkable and positive difference that such a process can have on an individual employee, not to mention the benefits that it can provide for the wider community as well as for the reputation of the employer.

And so on such a note, I would heartily encourage other employers to engage in the process of employing apprentices. There is a considerable amount of assistance that is available to assist you in this process, both from the financial aspect as well as from the logistical point of view. Take advantage of the help that is there for you and do become involved…it might just be the best decision you ever made!