Retaining and supporting talent through apprenticeships

This week we’ve been focusing on the value of apprenticeships - both for business and individuals. At Bruntwood, we believe in giving all of our colleagues the opportunity to ‘shape your world’, and for many, this means completing apprenticeships in order to upskill or reskill to follow new paths in their career. 

Investing in our existing talent means that they can develop and grow with our business and it’s this commitment that will mean that they are more likely to want to stay and grow with us. Apprenticeships offer the opportunity to upskill and re-skill and stay connected to what is happening externally, keeping us ahead of the game on what our cities need from its businesses and workforce. 

Our Business Administrator, Charlie Nathaniel joined the First Customer Contact team as a Business Administration apprentice back in 2019 and has stayed at Bruntwood since to shape her career. She’s proven herself to be an invaluable colleague and we were so proud to see her win The Apprentice Academy’s ‘Business Administration Star Award’ in 2020 for the positive impact she has had on Bruntwood and her team.

“My apprenticeship allowed me to develop good relationships at a company that has now taken me on full time since finishing my course,” explains Charlie. “The course was very business-orientated as the majority of my work was based around what I did in my role at Bruntwood. The apprenticeship allowed me to look at Bruntwood from all different angles and learn much more about the company I was working for. 

Learning on the job allows you to dive straight into the tasks you’ll face in your role and ask questions as you go along. 

“The main benefit of completing an apprenticeship was the confidence that I gained, allowing me to communicate better with my team and take on more responsibilities,” says Charlie. “The apprenticeship helped me to form good relationships with my team but also with other teams across the business as I had to communicate with other colleagues. Overall, the apprenticeship has taught me so much about business and skills you need in order to be a good colleague.”

Apprenticeships are open to all ages and we believe that in addition to recruiting apprentices into the business, we must remain committed to upskilling our existing colleagues with apprenticeships and making sure they have the skills that they need now and in the future. 

“We believe in growing our own people and helping to shape the careers of our colleagues,” says Learning Development Advisor, Jade Gates. “We’re prepared to do this even if it’s a longer route than recruiting at the level needed, as our culture is all about developing our people and creating a real learning environment.”

You no longer need to fit within a certain age bracket in order to complete an apprenticeship. “This really opens up new prospects for development and gives everybody the option to start or develop an exciting career. Learning is essential throughout all of our career, helping to drive us and continuously evolve our skills to match what is needed.”