Apprenticeships are a vital resource for business owners. Apprentices can help share the workload, become essential employees of your company because they know the job from first-hand experience, and can be a means of growth for your business and for the UK economy. For this reason, now is a better time than ever to be taking on apprentices, training them up and developing your resource pool.
With UK industry – whether construction, engineering or otherwise – on the up, it’s a good time to capitalize on the extra investment in the market; so without further ado, here are some of the ways you can make the most of apprentices as a resource while the going’s good, helping them to succeed while doing so.
Build It into Your Business Plan
First off, if your business plan isn’t set up to facilitate the training of new apprentices, you’ll need to amend it. Don’t worry, this shouldn’t be a difficult task, and although many people are of the opinion that business plans are static and unmovable, in reality they should be flexible documents that allow your business to grow and develop where it needs to. Make sure all your employees have a clearly defined job title and description, and that everyone knows who they are answering to; this will eliminate any doubt over training responsibilities.
Safety First
Once you’ve got your first apprentices, you’ll need to ensure they can learn and work productively in a safe environment. By the very nature of apprenticeships, your apprentices will be learning on the job, so you will need to give your employees instructions to explain on-the-job safety to your new trainees. Similarly, you can guide them to a range of safety courses for the construction industry, which will set them on their way to becoming safety-conscious members of your team.
Maximising Their Potential
Finally, while health and safety, introductions and more are all vital aspects of becoming part of the team, it’s important to strike a balance between being a friendly, encouraging boss, and being profitable and businesslike. One of the most valuable things about your new trainees is that they’re likely to be young, hard-working and eager to please, so make the most of the resource at your fingertips and put them to work. This doesn’t mean working them to the bone or paying them poorly – as an employer you will be bound by employment law to adhere to the regulations surrounding apprenticeship hours and pay – but it means allowing the apprentice to make the most of their own potential, and trusting them to take on greater responsibilities if you feel they are able to stand up to the task.
So there you have it. The pathway to successful and safe apprentices is not a quick one, but if you facilitate their training and care as you should, they may quickly become one of your business’s greatest assets, and make fantastic employees once their skill set is firmly in place.
