Apprenticeships offer 'significant value'

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ePolitix.com speaks to Petra Wilton, director of policy and research at CMI, about National Apprenticeship Week and the role of management apprenticeships.

What are CMI's views on apprenticeships? Why does CMI consider them to be so important?

CMI believes that apprenticeships, specifically management apprenticeships, really do offer significant value for employers. They widen the pool of available talent; they enable better training and development, which is particularly organisation specific, and they provide a very good mix of theoretical learning with day-to-day practical, project based activity.

What message does CMI hope that National Apprenticeship Week will convey?

For too long, apprenticeships have often been derided as the 'poor cousin' in career routes. However, we can see that they have a number of benefits, for both the employer and the individuals who undertake an apprenticeship.

Increasing numbers of young people are going to university, often leaving saddled with huge debts. Apprenticeships offer the opportunity to earn whilst learning. For those individuals undertaking apprenticeships it is absolutely vital that they are in the workplace and learning from those experiences, whilst also being accredited and recognised.

Are apprenticeships becoming increasingly important as people seek to re-skill in the economic downturn?

Absolutely, we have seen a huge growth in apprenticeships over the last few years, particularly working with the Management Standards Centre, which looks after the frameworks for management apprenticeships.

There have been significant increases in the interest in management apprenticeships over the last five years- we now have almost 5,000 management apprentices coming through the schemes each year, a 36 per cent increase in one year alone.

Employers can see that it is a very cost-effective way of training. Apprentices are not being taken out of the workplace; they are in there delivering at the same time as gaining practical and accredited experience.

Apprenticeships are also useful at providing good retention rates. When an employer has supported an individual through a two or three year apprenticeship, that individual is far more likely to remain at the organisation, having received help and guidance throughout their apprenticeship.

Do you feel that the government has done enough to promote apprenticeships and vocational training, both financially and educationally?

There certainly have been significant funds to support apprenticeships and the apprenticeship route. However, vocational training has often not received as much financial attention.

We have seen that there are skills that can be achieved via the apprenticeship route, with a core focus on funding lower level skills. There has not been as much attention placed on the promotion and development of management and leadership skills. Only 20 per cent of managers have any professional qualification, so there is still clearly room for improvement of skill levels amongst those charged with managing others.

What work has CMI undertaken to promote apprenticeships, notably in the management sector?

We are working closely with the National Apprenticeship Service to support National Apprenticeship Week. CMI is also working closely with the Management Standards Centre to undertake research evaluating the impact and effectiveness of apprenticeships from the perspective of the individual learner and their employers. The research will help to promote the benefits of apprenticeships for both the employer and apprentice and will be released in Apprenticeship Week.

We have also reached out to employers through our membership. We have worked with the Ambassador's Network for Apprenticeships and focused on the 14 to 19 Diploma. We have a lot of routes that we are utilising to promote apprenticeships.

CMI also seeks to raise employer understanding. There is a relatively complicated qualification system and the new Qualifications and Credit Framework, that is to be released, has gained our support. Using the framework, we would seek to help other, technical apprenticeships by adding a management module. CMI believes that those taking an apprenticeship should also learn key management skills, as an apprentice could potentially end up managing a team, budget or resources, later in their career.

We are looking at how we can better integrate core skills for management across some of those technical apprenticeship routes, in the future. One of the routes that we are looking to utilise is through a National Skills Academy for Management and Leadership and we currently have a bid in with the Learning and Skills Council to enable us to do this.

Could you tell us more about the bid to create a National Skills Academy for Management and Leadership?

There are already 14 National Skills Academies in operation in the UK and the CMI bid for a Management and Leadership academy is currently in the fifth round. We are particularly seeking to influence young people in management techniques. There are very established programmes for those already in the workplace, through their employer or through various qualifications that professional bodies offer. However, young people do not get access to those core management and leadership skills early enough. CMI is developing a model for 14 to 25-year-olds which can integrate the training and qualifications system from GCSEs, through the 14 to19 Diploma, apprenticeships and graduate routes.

An individual could actually do a progression route all the way through from 14 to 25, and identify relevant management units along the way. To start the individual may be looking at managing personal learning styles and team working; much later the person may learn more strategic management techniques as they get into managerial roles at age 25 and over.

What role do managers have in promoting apprenticeships?

Managers have a key role in fully understanding the apprenticeship system and promoting the benefits of apprenticeships. Managers often provide the coaching and serve as role models for apprentices in an organisation and, so, need to understand what the applicable career routes are and what opportunities are available to apprentices.

Often, managers need to build their own awareness of how they can work with apprentices coming through. They also need to challenge the perception that only graduates will be recruited, rather than school leavers who could join the company as an apprentice. There is the potential to challenge managers to review their recruitment practices and develop ideas to how new talent can be brought into an organisation.

Are there any additional points that you would like to raise on apprenticeships?

An area that professional bodies are very strong in is that our qualifications recognise experiential learning; a system where what an apprentice has achieved is recognised through accreditation.

We are very aligned to the apprenticeship programme in that we are focused on work-based learning. That runs right through the CMI structures to our Chartered Manager award, which is for those who can demonstrate delivery and impact in the workplace, as opposed to showcasing purely theoretical knowledge, which is no good unless it is applied.

That is why we support the apprenticeship route; it is very much focused on applied knowledge and skills in the workplace, rather than working in a vacuum where theoretical knowledge may be considered paramount, to the detriment of practical, hands-on experience