Scottish Apprenticeship Week is underway, celebrating the benefits that apprenticeships bring for businesses, apprentices and the economy. Giving a young person the opportunity to start their career with an apprenticeship can be hugely beneficial, for both the apprentice and their employer. So what are the benefits for your business when you back talent through apprenticeships?

Employee Retention

The degree to which an employer offers training and development to employees is considered as one of the top areas of interest to a candidate when considering taking a new role or staying with an existing company. If an employer is committed to their employee’s learning and development, it can help to build loyalty and reduce the staff turnover.

Attitude and Work Ethic

Reaching out to candidates in the market who have experience in the role you are recruiting for is great. However, have you ever considered there are fresh candidates who have the personal attributes that would allow them to be an excellent member of the team, if the opportunity was presented to them? A young apprentice can offer a fresh insight to an organisation, a willingness to learn and excellent work ethic, which long-term can be more advantageous to an organisation than previous experience alone.

Hands on Experience

Apprenticeships are carried out in the workplace - ‘on the job’, with very little time taken away from daily duties. With our online learning portal (OneFile) and a dedicated assessor to support the apprentice, the qualification delivery allows the apprentice to remain engaged in their role and understand how their day-to-day responsibilities impact positively on the business.

Benefit the Wider Business

Taking on a young apprentice can give existing members of staff the opportunity to develop their own goals of coaching and mentoring. Hiring apprentices allows others to pass on their own knowledge and further their own skillset by successfully managing and coaching a new member of the business. This is not always an opportunity when organisations select a more experienced candidate for the role.

If you would like to discuss what the individual benefits to your organisation would be from hiring a young apprentice, you can get in touch here.