There is a famous quote from Harvard Business Review saying, “It’s tough when markets change and your people within the company don’t.”.
Well, no second thoughts about it. With technology constantly updating and innovation all around, no business or industry can afford to lag behind when it comes to upskilling its employees. It is essential to keep the workforce to be in pace with the emerging trends to keep the competitive spirit alive in the enterprise.
And to empower your employees, you need a culture of innovation, to make them feel more confident and valued. Possibly the best way to get them proactive and involved in an organization is through investing in programs that create a trained set of employees.
And one such way to foster innovation in the workforce is through ‘apprenticeships’.
Apprenticeships stand out as a way that companies can align their workforce strategies with their innovation strategies. Apprenticeships provide workers with both practical skills and an understanding of fundamental principles. Because apprentices understand the principles behind the work they are doing, they are often more adept at problem-solving, can adapt to new technologies, and can operate with less supervision than employees who did not go through the apprenticeship route.
Apprenticeship is thus not just a way of financing education, it also reflects a philosophy of knowledge—integrating both practical skills and classroom knowledge.
This is a system by which the employer undertakes, by contract, to employ and train a young person (between the ages of 17 and 30 years) for a period specified in advance and during which the apprentice is bound to work in the employer’s service. By nature of this unique employment contract, apprenticeships are an opportunity for organisations to remain competitive and drive economic growth and innovation. Employers provide apprentices with real experience of working life as this is essentially where manual skills, behaviours, attitudes and work processes are formed under real working conditions.
The apprenticeship programme can be a practical solution to address the gap between the demand for skilled workers in local industries. This initiative involves employers, skill development agencies and young people to ensure that demand-driven skills are being developed.
Also Read: Role and Responsibilities of an Employer in apprenticeship
Apprenticeships help improve the Indian economy
Apprenticeships are a great help for small and medium-sized organizations. This is an age-old way of increasing a company’s competency in the market and growing and benefiting the bottom line. But another boon that we don’t see or recognize is that by doing so they are also making the economy grow and move forward by leveraging the many advantages of apprenticeships.
Apprentices have the capability to improve the Indian economy. Some of the ways in which this can happen are mentioned below:
1. With the rise in apprenticeships and the skills one learns during the course, people become more industry-ready. A job-ready skilled workforce is a boon for the local economy as small, medium and large businesses alike can scale faster.
2. There are chances that a certain % of apprentices go ahead and work on their own business model and eventually create their own company. It’s a testimony to the training provided to the apprentice and their enterprise, that they have the potential to turn from employment seekers to employment creators.
3. The skills which an apprentice learns can be used in better product development resulting in production and service improvement in goods
Also Read: How to Start an Apprenticeship Program in MSME Sector
Apprenticeship training is a key to innovation
Many companies are still missing an opportunity — they don’t realise the full advantage of investing in workers. When organizations analyze the benefits of having workers who have both conceptual knowledge and practical skills, they will find benefits that are surprisingly high.
These benefits lead to a potential win-win-win — for companies, workers, and for communities, helping them stay strong and to compete by providing innovation and good jobs. Apprenticeships train workers who understand the principles behind what they are doing and thus prepare them to help create new technology, rather than being victims of it. That is, apprenticeships can help communities as well, by helping them develop strong innovation ecosystems (rather than a race to the bottom of ever more generous tax incentives).
Several companies found success by partnering academia with industry to execute degree apprenticeships. Degree apprenticeships are an interesting blend – that of a degree programme tailored to a specific role or industry and the structure and framework of on-job training. Degree apprenticeship programs provide an opportunity for employers to create their own workforce without waiting fruitlessly for skilled employees to walk in their doors. These innovative and non-conventional programs are designed to reflect the needs of employers, providing the knowledge and skills they recognise and value and if done right, they could do a lot to close the skills gap.
Ultimately, expanding the use of apprenticeships could help India become more innovative and have more good jobs.
Do share your thoughts on building a stronger ecosystem for a skilled and talented workforce.
