6 Ways To Support Your Apprentice through their training

First and foremost, managers must understand the framework of the apprentice’s programme. Each Apprenticeship will have a standard assigned to it. Through this the apprentice must cover all duties, as well as the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) set. 

As the KSBs are in line with the Apprenticeship standard, it will also coincide with the job role which the employer will have a better understanding of. This helps you contribute to their learnings by assigning tasks to the apprentice that is relevant to the Apprenticeship. 

Knowing what your apprentice needs to cover will help you assign tasks which help to cover these KSBs, which support the skill building and training with it. 

During their Apprenticeship, they will complete off-the-job and on-the-job training. Simply asking the apprentice questions relating to their training will help you understand what they have learnt, and how it is relevant to their job role.  

You can also test their knowledge to gather an understand as to what they need additional training on. 

This also works two ways, as the apprentice can provide reasoning as to how they are implementing their training and what they have done in their job to demonstrate such development. 

Support for their development is essential for the apprentice to learn and build their skills. This can be in the form of dedicated training sessions at work, shadowing or set tasks to enforce skill growth. 

Through this, you can be sure that your apprentice will foster a “can do” attitude and build on their learnings. 

While the Apprenticeship is outlined in a structured way to establish covered KSBs, it can be a challenge for the apprentice to figure out themselves the best way to cover the training necessary in the allocated time frame. 

Here, the apprentice will greatly benefit from having SMART goals and objectives in line with their programme. This way, you can be sure that everything within the standard is covered appropriately, while also giving the apprentice a timeline as to what they can complete, when and how it relates to their overall qualification attainment. 

As the line manager, you will already have a plethora of knowledge and experience in the industry you work for. This is a great asset for apprentices who can directly understand the ways you have conducted and completed work which relates to their training. 

Utilising prior experiences gives your apprentice a better understanding of their job role. 

While it is important to have continuous discussions with your apprentice throughout their training, you need to also enforce strong communication with their trainer. This is because you can both collaborate to make sure that your apprentice is on track to complete achieve their Apprenticeship qualification. 

This can include checking what KSBs they have covered and how this has been demonstrated, what other training is essential for career growth, and how you can help as an employer. You can also find out through the trainer and apprentice what struggles there are and how you can best support them. 

If you’re ready to invest in your team’s future, we’d love to support you. Call 01329 825805 to find out what Apprenticeship opportunities there are for your team. 

You can also view our range of Apprenticeships available; we cover Apprenticeships for Marketing; Leadership & Management; Learning & Development; Health & Social Care and Professional Services. 

Become a mentor today for your team and help them attain a nationally recognised qualification from the leaders of training.