With inflation rising and labour dwindling, hiring (and retaining) staff has become increasingly difficult. Yet, many businesses are still reluctant to employ apprentices. And understandably so. Apprentices require a lot of time, training and attention. However, they are also incredibly useful!
So, to help you weigh up the pros and cons of hiring an apprentice, we’ve created a guide specifically about the hiring process.
Here is all you need to know about hiring an apprentice:
1. What to consider before hiring an apprentice
Here are some things to consider before hiring an apprentice:
Which area of your business would benefit from an apprentice?
First things first, you need to assess whether there are any gaps in your workforce. Do you have a role that needs filling? Or a department that could benefit from an extra pair of hands? If so, the chances are you’re looking to either hire or outsource. But what if you could hire an apprentice to fill this gap?
By hiring an apprentice, you could train someone to fulfill your exacting needs for a fraction of the cost. And with so many apprenticeships to choose from, it’s worth seeing which roles could remedy your staffing issues.
What do you want from a potential candidate?
Before advertising for an apprentice, you must decide upon your list of requirements. After all, the aim is to find someone who will fit seamlessly into your team. So, ask yourself, what would make the ideal apprentice?
- Having prior experience or relevant qualifications?
- Being employed for 12 months or longer?
- Would they fulfil part-time or full-time hours?
- Would they be an intermediate or advanced level candidate?
Once you have a clear idea of what you want from a potential candidate, you can utilise your answers to determine what type of apprenticeship you’re willing to offer. Whether that’s a Level 2 apprenticeship or a Level 7 Master’s equivalent, the intention is to create a specification that will attract your ideal candidate(s).
Do you have the resources to train an apprentice?
Financially, hiring an apprentice is relatively inexpensive. However, the support they require can be costly in other ways.
Therefore, you must carefully consider whether or not your business can facilitate an apprentice – not just from a monetary perspective but from an educational one. Ask yourself:
- Do you have the resources to train them in-house?
- Have you sourced a suitable training provider?
- Does your liability insurance cover apprentices?
- Can you provide them with the support they need?
If not, then hiring an apprentice isn’t for you. However, if you can provide the necessary resources (and fulfil government regulations), you’ll have the opportunity to welcome and nurture exciting new talent.
2. What skills should you look out for?
To help you find the ideal candidate, we have created a list of qualities you should look for when hiring an apprentice:
- Enthusiasm – enthusiasm is a precious commodity. Why? Because studies have shown that companies with enthusiastic employees are 30% – 40% more productive! Therefore, if you want to get the most out of your apprenticeship programme, you must seek out passionate individuals.
- Willingness to learn – apprenticeships are all about learning. At their very core, they are an educational endeavour. Therefore, you must select candidates that are eager to learn and develop new skills. After all, if they aren’t willing to learn, you have very little to gain.
- Self-motivation – much like enthusiasm, motivation is an intrinsic quality. Therefore, when advertising for an apprentice, you want to be seeking out ambitious individuals. Why? Because they are more productive, more engaged and more autonomous. In turn, you can entrust them with greater responsibilities, enhance their learning and increase their effectiveness.
- Effective communication – written and verbal communication are the cornerstones of every professional relationship. Without clear communication skills, wires get crossed, mistakes get made, and relationships suffer. So, make sure you hire an apprentice with great communication skills.
- Resilience – In many businesses the hours are long, so if you want your apprenticeship to be a success, you must select a candidate that demonstrates some resilience.
3. The pros and cons of hiring an apprentice
To help you assess whether or not hiring an apprentice would be the right choice for your business, here is a list detailing the pros and cons of investing in an apprentice:
The pros
- An affordable staffing solution: hiring an apprentice is incredibly inexpensive. With the help of government funding, you could pay as little as 5% towards your apprentices’ training and assessments.
- Opportune for expanding your skill set: you can train an apprentice to meet your exacting needs by filling the gaps in your unique skillset.
- Ideal for delegating low-value tasks: this will enable your other employees to focus on higher-value tasks.
- Welcome a fresh perspective: innovation is essential to success. Hiring a young apprentice can provide you with new inspiration along with a brand new outlook.
- Improved retention rates: did we mention hiring an apprentice can improve staff retention by 69%?
The cons
- Time-consuming: hiring and training an apprentice takes much more effort than hiring a traditional employee.
- Mistakes are inevitable: mistakes are a necessary part of the learning process. However, you may spend more time fixing errors than making progress.
- No long-term guarantees: There’s always the risk that your apprentice will leave you to work elsewhere. (However, recent studies have shown that 64% of apprentices choose to remain with their original employer after qualifying.)
Welcome new talent
Apprenticeships are an economical and effective way to source new talent. And although an apprentice may require more care and attention than your other employees, they do provide you with a whole host of tangible benefits.
So, if you want to improve your bottom line, staff retention rates and productivity levels (by 78%), consider hiring an apprentice. It’s a long-term investment, but the ROI is second to none.