30 Months of Levy - Quality or Quantity

Apprenticeships are and have always been a common topic within government manifestos to improve and stabilise the job market/ unemployment rates within the UK. With the impromptu Brexit on the horizon (deal or no deal), Apprenticeships will no doubt play an integral part in the growth of the British economy as funds will be used to train and upskill new and existing staff members. Brexit, theoretically, shouldn’t mean an impending threat to Apprenticeship training, particularly as it may restrict citizens from other countries moving to Britain and filling the skills shortage. This will mean a greater emphasis on utilising the training on offer to upskill our current and future workforces; and the levy is a great way for employers to do this. 

Now with the option for Levy employers to transfer 25% of their annual funds to other employers to utilise, there should be no excuses. However, in the first 30 months of the levy being open and available, how is it looking? 

According to a third of employers, there still isn’t suitable apprenticeship provision for a number of different job roles that would benefit the needs of particular businesses. This would suggest that circa 33% of employers within the country couldn’t benefit from Apprenticeship training as they don’t feel the training that is on offer would offer a positive outcome for their staff members. But if these employers feel that this provision isn’t available, should they not be responsible for creating their own Trailblazer groups to start the vision of these Apprenticeship standards that would suit their business environments? Because that is what others have done…

Over half of businesses in Britain share positive views on Apprenticeships and the impact these have on their organisations. These, I believe, would contain the employers who have envisioned and started Trailblazer groups to create the Apprenticeship standards needed for their businesses and sectors.

One of the concerning statistics is around a quarter of all companies who utilise Apprenticeship training are considering changing their Apprenticeship provider. That is a big figure! Furthermore, one in six have stated that their provider hasn’t always been honest with them. I think this comes down to the way some providers are run; numbers and statistics driven. Now don’t get me wrong; I am heavily statistical and run my business based on numbers but certainly not at the expense of quality. There are always extenuating factors that mean statistics can be affected by quality. For example… 

Let’s say a training provider explains to their training staff that part of their job is to see 3 learners a day. They must spend ‘x’ amount of time with that learner and ensure that they are at ‘y’ progress rate at ‘z’ point in their Apprenticeship. But what if, one day, one learner struggles and needs more time? Are some providers accounting for extenuating circumstances within their staff’s KPI’s? If you’re not, you could be misplacing quality with quantity and this is where those 25% of employers will feel let down.

Take another example: a sales team. A recruitment consultant for a training company may be targeted with placing ‘x’ amount of learners per month. But what happens when an employer is particularly picky, they know exactly what they want, and the recruitment consultant can’t find it. Are they going to send a candidate for the sake of it who has no interest in what the employer is looking for? If they are, they are again misplacing quality with quantity and this isn’t going to benefit neither the training provider or the employer.

Misplacing quality will only mean one thing: bad reviews and loss of business/ revenue. Honesty with clients will create opportunity. And this is where the majority of the 25% of unhappy clients looking for new providers will stem from. 

I personally believe the levy is fantastic and offers ample opportunity to both employer and apprentice. But, within the training sector, we need to get it right for all. The government has created an opportunity in which the training industry can really maximise and profit on, however it’s up to us to keep it and showcase that it’s the right thing to do. Within training, if you’re staring at your budget spreadsheets thinking about quantity over quality, you’re on the route to disaster. Where there’s quality, the quantity will come…