Investing in your workforce is priceless for any business. There is a skills shortage across almost every industry, and companies need to adapt quickly if they want to stay in business, says The Education and Skills Partnership
To stay ahead, many organisations are re-evaluating how to attract and retain people with relevant skills at every level of the business. It’s now no longer optional for business leaders to prioritise learning and skill building for their workforce if they wish to succeed. It’s essential.
So now is the time to leverage your apprenticeship levies, and take advantage of available funding, and other courses to upskill.
Ready or not – change is coming
If you don’t think that investing in upskilling and reskilling your employees, is a strategic priority, then think again. According to the Office for National Statistics, approximately 1.5 million jobs in England are at risk of automation, especially those in low-skilled occupations.
Recruiting people who are willing and able to learn and develop their skills is a challenge. And building an apprenticeship programme can be a daunting task to face for any employer. But it’s important to remember how important happy and skilled workers are for your business. Your employees should have the ability to train for their current roles as well as for any role within the company they might be interested in in the future. If you’re concerned about expenses or how to scale up the operation, make use of your very own apprenticeship levy to set up training academies. If you didn’t know you had one, we are here to help.
Apprenticeship programmes help workers develop their skillsets
While all industries are struggling in the face of staff shortages and economic gaps, apprenticeships are an easy and effective way to recruit and retain a highly skilled workforce, ultimately benefiting your business’ bottom line. Data from Gov.uk supports this, with 86% of employers reporting that apprenticeship programmes enabled them to provide training to their employees that helped develop skills relevant to their company.
Following the lead of industry leaders like BT, Severn Trent, Amazon, and other retail giants have already become employer providers, taking advantage of available employability funding, and maximising their apprenticeship levy.
What makes an apprenticeship programme essential to your business?
From increased employee satisfaction to improved retention rates, appren-ticeship programmes are a sure-fire way to ensure your business stays successful. Because happy employees equal more productive employees, which in turn yields better results for you.
Apprenticeships help to improve retention rates
Appealing to, and securing quality workers for your business is all well and good, but if you can’t keep the talent you have, then what good is that? The Department for Education’s Apprenticeship Evaluation found that most employers who offered apprenticeship programmes reported improvements in retention rates, engagement, morale, and the ability to attract quality staff.
As apprentices are highly likely to stay at the company that supported them through their apprenticeship, apprenticeship programmes are an excellent way to reduce turnover. Apprenticeships are structured in such a way that help to progress an apprentice’s career and increase their confidence which in turn leads to job satisfaction.
Build long-term success
As business leaders, you will always want to find a better way to deliver long-term success. Apprenticeship programmes – at all apprenticeship levels – provide businesses with skilled workers. These programmes not only ensure your employees are equipped with the skills they need to survive in the early days of their careers, but also provide them with the ability to thrive in the company long-term. It’s well established that the growth and success of any business relies heavily on its employees, and providing the opportunity for people to attain the skills needed for your company can ultimately lead to future-proofing your business.
Filling your skills gaps with free training programmes
At The Education and Skills Partnership, we are delivering training solutions together with employers who want to upskill their workers, and with employees looking to grow their skillsets.
The Education and Skills Partnership, with support from the European Social Fund (ESF), is providing 25 hours of FREE remote training courses for employers in specific postal codes in the South of England and Greater London areas until the end of 2023. These are aimed at self-employed and SME (small-medium-enterprises) businesses who often struggle with resources (both time and money) to hire and train the perfect applicant.
Perhaps best of all is that there is absolutely no cost to the employer – ESP takes care of everything, and you don’t have to pay a penny. Plus, you have the additional benefit of a professional coach helping you at every step.
Available courses include:
• Coaching
• Customer Service
• Leadership & Management
• Project Management
• Teacher/Trainer
• Digital Marketing
How The Education and Skills Partnership can help
Your business faces unique talent challenges, so getting a bespoke solution that is designed to suit your business and is the only way to ensure you have a training programme that delivers the results you want.
We’ll do all the heavy lifting to enrol and onboard your new or current staff members and will deliver engaging and compelling programmes to each and every learner. Not to mention, we have proven experience of working in collaboration with employers to manage the day-to-day delivery and administration of such large-scale programmes.
