10 Things You Should Do When Choosing Your Apprenticeship Provider - Part 1

The following 10 points are based on my experience over the last year of working with a diverse range of large and small employers in relation to helping them to develop a skilled, productive and sustainable workforce through Apprenticeship programmes. These are things that we've learnt that are really helping both employers and us, as a training provider, to make the best possible decisions in regard to whether we work together, and how we'll collaborate effectively, if and when we do! And.... it's not all the usual 'stuff' that you might expect.

 

1. Take your time

Whilst this may sound extremely obvious, for many, it really doesn't seem to be the case.

We all know that person that who starts to feel the anxiety of having money in their bank account on pay day and feels the need to vanquish that credit balance back to zero at the earliest possible moment. (I happen to be married to one of these people!) And, it appears to be the same with the Apprenticeship Levy.

We had the pre-May madness of employers shouting 'I must spend my Levyyyyyy' to all passers by, and whilst this has settled somewhat, the next generation of Levy spendaholics has arisen. Thankfully, this isn't the 'norm', but it is a concern. I suspect that there will be some buyers remorse in the months to come.

If you rushed in head long, or are thinking of doing so, step back and re-assess what you're doing, why you're doing it and how you're going to deliver the desired outcomes and impact. Do this at regular intervals. Fail to plan, plan....... you know the rest!

You've got 2 years to spend the Levy before you lose it! Take your time to get it right.

2. Make time for the informal conversation

Over the last year we've been on the receiving end of some of the most bizarre and at times, completely ineffective procurement processes you could imagine. Both sides itching to have a 'good conversation', with the eagle eyed procurement bod waiting to stamp out any sign of anything that might vaguely constitute a productive two way dialogue. It's been difficult at times not to burst into laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of process. I'll recount one such conversation for your entertainment;

Purchaser: 'So, please can you tell us how many workshops you would deliver to us as part of the Level 5 Leadership programme?'

Babington: 'OK, so we can show you what a generic delivery model would look like and this contains a default number of workshops. But this isn't the way we work, or the way that Apprenticeship Standards should be delivered. The generic version is really just a starting point for us to then agree how we then co-design a programme with you, that will meet your business needs and most importantly, the needs of learners. Whilst also ensuring that we meet the Standard and deliver high quality training (teaching and learning). Workshops are also just one aspect of our blended delivery methodology, so this won't really provide the full picture of the programme'

Purchaser: 'OK, but we really just need a number from you, as your response will be benchmarked against other bidders from a Value for Money and Quality perspective'

Babington: 'OK, we understand what you're saying, however, the generic response wouldn't be an accurate response, as we'll agree this with you, through our co-design process, should we be successful in being appointed'

Purchaser: 'We really just need a number.'

Babington: '8' (Huge internalised sigh of absolute dismay)

And, this hasn't been the worst of it.

With so much change, so much ambiguity, so much need for employers and training providers to work together on the design, development and delivery of Apprenticeships, informal, good conversations are crucial from the off. If this conversation needs to follow strict procurement rules, find a way to run 'competitive dialogue'. Without this, the chances that you'll end up in the right partnership are severely limited.

To really hammer this point home, imagine if you had 45 minutes and 10 fixed questions to decide whether you wanted to date someone for the next year, at least. Scary thought isn't it. You're going to be wedded to that training provider for a good while. Get to know them!

3. Know your problems and be ready to talk about them

Not necessarily the most British of traits, but getting comfortable with talking about your (organisational) problems (challenges, opportunities.... or however you want to spin it, yawn) is absolutely critical to creating a high performing Apprenticeship programme.

If you don't have any problems, don't do Apprenticeships. If you have, work with your training provider to help them to understand them and see whether they have some of the solutions to help you overcome, or are at least improve your position, in relation to these problems.

In my experience, a HUGE proportion of business problems can be traced back to who and how you recruit, train, support, develop, manage and lead your people. So, whilst Apprenticeships may not be the silver bullet for all business ills, they should certainly make a difference in all of these areas.

The best training providers will see their role as helping you to create a diverse, skilled, productive and sustainable workforce. And who wouldn't want some of that!

FOOT NOTE: Try to remember, that these problems started out as your problems and whilst a good training provider will own them with you, they can't do it on their own. (High 5 all you whipped providers ;)

4. Negotiate on V A L U E, not... price

Semantics? Not when you really understand the difference. Unfortunately, price still seems to be the focal point for a few too many employers. Where this is the case, we tend to walk away. When it becomes all about the price, it really sets the alarm bells off in terms of believing that the business is serious about investing in its workforce.

On the flip side, I’m often horrified by training providers saying, ‘we’re charging the maximum funding band, BECAUSE WE CAN’. Now, I don’t have an issue with the maximum funding band being charged, provided that it represents good value, it can be justified and that there is transparency. However, it does often seem that training providers are doing this because, ‘well, they’ve got loads of Levy anyway’, or, ‘employers don’t really understand it, so we might as well…’. This certainly isn’t the sort of business ethics I (or we) subscribe to. We want to win relationships once and keep them for life (momentary flash of a puppy called Levy on a Christmas advert!) Take heed training providers.

So, back to price vs. value. The definitions of words help to sum this up nicely:

• Price; the amount of money expected, required, or given in payment for something
• Value; the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness of something

For Levy paying employers, I believe that the it’s all about deriving the most possible value from the investment that they can make in their people. Which means expecting more, expecting higher quality, expecting better service, expecting your training provider to take the time to really understand you and your people and to design and deliver a programme that makes a demonstrable, positive difference. (It DOESN’T mean giving the employer free stuff, in case the recent lessons haven’t yet been learnt!)

And the best bit, if you run out of your Levy, the Government will pay 90% of the cost of any other Apprenticeship training that you want to drive your business forward. Now is not a time for penny pinching. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, make the most of it!

5. Meet the senior team

Take a moment to think about your current organisation. Where does its culture come from? Think of the great places that you’ve worked, think of the not so great. What was/is it about the leaders in those organisations that makes them better, or worse? How did this impact on customers?

Whilst meeting the leaders of an organisation will never give you the full picture, I’ve found time and again that it’s such a strong indicator of how the organisations culture will be. As they say, culture comes from the top. And for me, the culture and values of an organisation are fundamental to how I view that organisation. It makes a huge difference as to whether I choose to do business with them.

Working with an Apprenticeship training provider is a long-term commitment. The minimum 12 month, plus 1 day (odd isn’t it?) duration of a programme, means that you’re in it for the long-haul. It needs to be, by its very nature, a strategic partnership, if you have any hope of achieving a high performing programme, linked to your business priorities. In my experience, long-term, strategic partnerships need a good level of alignment between each organisations values and culture. They don’t need to be identical, but they do need to be complementary (as in, harmonious, not ‘free’. We don’t use that word any more in Apprenticeships).

So, eye ball those Executives. Give them the once over. See if you trust them. See if you like them. See if you believe that they care about at least some of the things that you and your organisation do!

 

Still to come…

6. Meet the trainers…

7. Check out organizational stability…

8. Take references…

9. SERVICE…

10. Understand the commitment required from you…