Attracting the Best Young People - The Apprenticeship Scheme tells employers how they can attract the best talent and should consider running an Apprenticeship Scheme. For more information about taking on an Apprentice with Pathway Group call: 0121 707 0550 or e-mail: info@pathwaygroup.co.uk

1. Attracting the Best Young People:
The Apprenticeship Scheme?

2. In many businesses, the graduate training
programme has been a long held & well
delivered scheme for graduates to enter the
business & learn about the different elements
of it by touching various departments &
then find the role in the business that fits
their skills the best.

3. This structure has been around for some time
& is generally considered by both employers
& graduates as an excellent method.
In fact, graduates often seek out employees
with these structured programmes rather than
just a job, because they give them the best chance
of success & career development.

4. The main reason for this change has been the
significant increase in debt burden that graduates are
expected to take, based upon increasing tuition fees.
In addition to this & if we look at the market more
widely, we can see that young people, businesses,
educational establishments & the government are also
placing higher importance on vocational qualifications.

5. So with more young people coming into businesses at
an earlier age & through vocational qualifications such
as Apprenticeships, are businesses putting in place the
‘Apprentice Training Schemes’ that will ensure that the
young people they take on outside of their graduate
recruitment, have the same chance of success?

6. Yes.
While the scope of the training programme, how
long it goes on for & what elements it covers may
be different, an SME with a well laid out
programme is going to stand out to talented local
Apprentices & young people & can mean the at
the quality of individual you employ increases.
In addition, as a small business you may well be
able to offer more ‘growth opportunities’ than in a
bigger firm.
Is this relevant to all businesses including SMEs?

7. In many ways, it would probably look similar
to a graduate programme, although it may
be longer & cover more breadth to
ensure the placement is right.
Here’s some key elements to consider:
What could an apprentice training scheme look like?

8. 1. Different Paths
The first thing to consider is the nature of your
business and where the person is going. For
example if you are a technical business, you may
have a technical apprenticeship or a clerical
apprenticeship (non- technical route). While it’s
important young people see breadth, we want to
make sure they are in an area which they are
interested and skilled in.

9. 2. Multiple Departments/Roles
Within the apprenticeship training programme the
young person needs to see how different elements of
the business work. Not just so they can understand
the business, although this is key, but also so they &
their mentors can assess their aptitude for different
roles. Having a defined end role in mind could be
damaging if the person simply doesn’t suit it. As in a
graduate training programme, a sufficient amount of
time needs to be spent in each department.

10. 3. Tutoring & Mentoring
An Apprentice needs to have one person in the
business that is going to guide them & work with them
to progress. This person will oversee their progress &
then take feedback & input from the appointed
mentors within a specific department in order to
evaluate progress & determine position suitability.
During the time in any department a specific tutor or
mentor needs to be appointed so they can ensure the
person gets the best from that department.

11. 4. Job Training
In order to succeed an apprentice is going to need
specific training for the job they are doing, whether
that’s marketing or mechanics, the individual will
need a structured training programme.

12. 5. Life Training
Where an Apprenticeship training programme might
differ from a graduate one is the importance of
considering their age and life experience. As many
people who have been to university will say, their
biggest learning curve has come from living away from
home for the first time.

13. 5. Life Training Continued…
Understanding that this experience hasn’t happened,
consider things such as personal financial training or
other life skills training. It may seem outside your
responsibility, but a happy & settled young employee
is going to be much more productive than one
distracted by external factors.

14. 6. Reward & Recognition
This is not unique to any training programme of job
for that matter, but a clearly structure rewards &
recognition programme that incentives the key
behaviours you want to develop & the performance
standards you expect as a business will only further
help to drive an Apprentices performance forward.

15. Why would I do this?
…Two key factors:

16. 1. Attracting the Best Staff
As we mentioned at the outset, graduates are
looking for the best training programmes to help
their career develop. Apprentices and other young
people are in the same boat.
If you want the most talented young people, offering
them more than just a job will make you stand out.

17. 2. The Success of Apprentices
We hear many people say that Apprenticeship
recruitment is cheap. And it can be in comparison to
other techniques. However, it is only cost effective if
the person succeeds. If you have a long line of people
not achieving their potential, then irrelevant of where
they have come from, this is expensive & time
consuming

18. How Pathway Group can help you
Pathway group work with businesses of all sizes to
help make their recruitment successful. We believe
in a consultative and on-going process, where we
don’t just place employees & apprentices in your
business, but by establishing a partnership, we
ensure that the placed individual is a success. That
process is different for all business.

19. If you’d like to find out about how we
can help make your apprentices more
successful, contact Pathway Group.
Call: 0121 707 0550
E-mail: info@pathwaygroup.co.uk
Visit: www.pathway2grow.co.uk/blog
For more information