As both an Apprenticeship provider and employer, I have unique insights into how to get the best out of your Apprentice. Although it’s not an easy job for every business to employ an apprentice, it can be a time-consuming task. But don’t underestimate the life-changing impact of this opportunity on an apprentice.
Here are my tips for maximising the ROI of this partnership between employer and apprentice.
Recruit your Apprentice effectively:
We have many options to find an apprenticeship, and not only through the Government Apprenticeship website. You can still share the vacancy on social media, but this doesn’t mean you have to. We recommend you to follow the following steps once we have selected an apprentice and they have passed our 100 point vetting.
Telephone interviews are more than a means of narrowing down a pool of applicants to those who seem most passionate or confident. Telephone interviews allow nervous applicants to do their best in face-to face interviews because they have already spoken to them on the telephone.
Interviews – Many employers only have a casual chat about potential apprentices. However, we strongly recommend that they conduct a structured interview as with any new hire to your company. You should identify the most important qualities and talents you have and then plan your questions.
After interview, assign the Apprentice a task. This allows you compare the applicants’ work. Send the same document to the applicants. Check the work for quality, accuracy, and how fast it is retuned.
They will be allowed to work at their own pace and skills during a Trial Day. This is a great chance to assess their ability to work in a team, as well as how they perform on tasks. The Apprentice will be able to get a taster of the role, and decide if this is the right job for them.
You should introduce the Apprentice to your team. Make sure you explain their job role thoroughly. This will allow you to determine if the Apprenticeship will work for you and what their future plans are.
This will force applicants to fight for their right to work for you. They will appreciate any job offer more if it has been earned.
Your Apprentice must be trained effectively. An Apprentice should spend at least 20% of their time training, developing, shadowing or developing. This will allow them to not only work towards their qualification, but it will also help them be an effective part of your business.
You can teach the Apprentice to help them develop their skills, and to make progress in their role. To ensure that they are always challenged and motivated, make sure you keep the Apprentice informed.
Establish achievable goals and meet regularly to discuss them. To ensure your Apprentice is happy in their role, meet regularly with them and discuss what they should do next.
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