Staffing Matters: Apprenticeships Work For You

Following on from my last article bemoaning the fact the government apprenticeship funding is targeted at the 16-18 olds I’m pleased to say that Business West have just started a £1.4M government funded programme aimed at unemployed 18-24 year olds. Those claiming job seekers allowance (in the Bristol area) for more than 13 weeks will be offered the skills, experience and employer engagement they need to find secure employment through work placement. Needless to say I have already approached all my local logistics contacts in the area and encouraged them to take on an apprentice in their business. Apprenticeships can work for you and your business as well as the apprentice.

Our industry has a real need for recruits - moreover we need to raise the level of our skills base. We can look to apprenticeships to help achieve this and to develop a motivated, skilled and qualified workforce. The key to a successful apprenticeship is providing high quality training. This will not only benefit both apprentices and employers but will also help to ‘future-proof’ the business and, ultimately, the logistics sector.

Apprenticeships have a significant positive impact on the majority of organisations that run schemes. In a recent survey discussing the use of apprenticeships with over 500 senior managers of service based industries the following results were recorded:

• 81% said that they had made a positive bottom line improvement to the productivity of their businesses

• 82% of employers said that they took on an apprentice to build the skills capacity in their organisation

• 92% said that it had helped the retention and motivation of their workforce

• 74% said that apprentices tended to be more loyal, remaining at their company longer than non-apprentices

So, a positive impact on finances, skills, motivation and retention. Do you face any of these issues in your business?

I recently attended a pre-launch of one of the most exciting new ventures to hit our industry for many years - The Logistics Guild.

The Logistics Guild is a free to enter membership organisation made up of anybody that works in or is training to become part of the logistics industry in the UK. I strongly believe that it will address and offer solutions to exactly what I have been discussing - attracting new talent, raising the level of skills, and establishing a pathway to a long career in logistics. It will provide you with access to a wide range of unrivalled apprenticeship resources and offer myriad training and development opportunities. The Logistics Guild will launch this month and I will discuss it’s progress in future editorials.

Do you see training as an investment rather than a cost? Are you committed to investment in training?

Author David Coombes has been in the transportation and logistics industry for over 28 years. He is the managing director of Logistics Job Shop.