Solutions Recruitment launches its apprenticeship partnership with The New College in Swindon.

It is widely acknowledged that with tuition fees on the increase students are now looking for alternatives to university.  An apprenticeship can be a way forward to continue learning and establishing ones self in the business community.  Apprenticeships can help businesses across all sectors of industry by offering a way of accessing new talent.

Apprenticeships ensure that your workforce has the skills, qualifications, and knowledge needed to support its growth now and also in the future. The combination of on the job training and externally based learning can often be the best way forward when recruiting younger workers.  Some benefits of apprenticeships are listed below:

Increasing your bottom line return

Apprenticeships can add real value to your bottom line.  Recruiting and training apprentices can be more cost effective than hiring skilled staff, the benefit of this can lead to lower training and recruitment costs which can add real value to your bottom line return.

Address your skills shortages

Apprenticeships can deliver skills tailored to your business and its specific requirements by providing your future workforce.  They can also help you develop the specific skills you need to maintain the ever changing impact technology has in the market place.

A motivated workforce

As you are making an active investment in recruiting an apprentice they tend to be loyal, motivated, and eager to reward your faith in them through hard work and dedication.  As an apprentice with you the worker has made a rational decision to commit to your Company, they want to work for you and develop their career through learning.  The rewards to you are numerous.

The research

In February 2008 research on behalf of the LSC highlighted the following:

•77% of employers believe apprenticeships make them more competitive
•76% say that apprenticeships provide higher overall productivity
•80% feel that apprenticeships reduce staff turnover
•83% of employers rely on their apprenticeships programme to provide the skilled workers that they need for the future
•Two thirds of respondents believe that their apprenticeship programme helps them fill vacancies more quickly
•88% believe that apprenticeships lead to a more motivated and satisfied workforce
•59% report that training apprentices is more cost-effective than hiring skilled staff
•In terms of the return on investment linked to apprenticeships, 41% say that their apprentices make a valuable contribution to the business during their training period, while a further third report that apprentices add value within their first few weeks
•57% report a high proportion of their apprentices going on to management positions within the company
•Over three quarters of respondents expect apprenticeships to play a bigger part in their recruitment policy in the future

To see how apprentices can help your business please contact a member of staff