Skills gaps, upskilling and future proofing: the benefits of apprenticeships

Launching and developing careers

Apprenticeships are a great way to develop your skills through practical training and on-the-job experience. This is great for people who are looking to launch their careers as it means you get to earn whilst you learn, combining learning with your day-to-day duties. Most apprenticeships do not require previous experience or training, so they’re a brilliant way to explore something new – and at the end of the apprenticeship, you’ll already have a few years in the industry under your belt!

But apprenticeships aren’t only for people at the beginning of their career. They’re also an amazing opportunity to upskill and further your learning – whether that’s to develop in your current role or to branch out into something else. For example, I’m hoping to start a Project Management apprenticeship soon. It’ll help equip me with a broad range of skills that will not only help me in my current role, but open up a whole host of career possibilities for me in the future.

Retaining talent

Apprenticeships are great because they allow employers to home grow their own talent. As an employer, we can tailor the kind of training and experience that we provide for our apprentices. It can sometimes be difficult to recruit someone with the exact skills and experience you need, but with an apprentice you have the opportunity to shape their journey.

For existing employees, they’re a brilliant way of upskilling. These kind of personal development opportunities benefit everyone. For employees, it can boost our morale and gives us an opportunity to gain professional qualifications that can help our career. For businesses themselves, it allows them to address skill gaps and prepare their workforce for future challenges.

Diverse career and progression options

There’s so many different types of apprenticeships in different industries. And many of these programmes now offer degrees or degree level qualifications at the end of them. So they’re worth considering if you’re deciding between university and an apprenticeship. And there’s the added bonus that when you finish your course, not only will you have degree level qualifications, but you’ll also have the right industry experience, which will work in your favour when job hunting. Not to mention that you won’t have any student debts to pay off.

One of our key values at Abri is ‘always being curious’: this is all about personal development, trying new things, seeking different points of view. That’s why apprentices at Abri also get the opportunity to experience different parts of the business. If you’re working in trades as an apprentice, you’ll get the opportunity to work across different trade areas, and you’ll also get a taste of how some of our other business areas work, such as our customer service, scheduling and housing teams. If you’re working in an office based role, you can ask to shadow other teams in the business to get an understanding of what they do.

The future of apprenticeships at Abri

We have big plans for apprenticeships in Abri!

We’re looking to significantly grow the number of trade apprentices we have, starting with a big recruitment drive this Spring, ready for September starts. We’re keen to engage with a diverse range of candidates as we know how important a diverse workforce is. Keep an eye out for us as we’ll be attending recruitment fairs and events in our local communities to promote our vacancies!

Our work doesn’t stop once the apprentices are through the door – we’re passionate about providing an environment and the support that enables our apprentices to thrive! We’ve got lots of plans including a trade apprentice rotation programme, our mentor scheme and more.

Finally, we want to spread the word about how great our apprentices and apprenticeships are. I might be bias, but I think all of our apprentices are absolutely amazing and I want everyone else to know!