Depending on the stage they are in their career the apprentice will need to develop a range of both social and business capabilities to face the challenges that arise in the workplace.
The sort of challenges an apprentice may encounter might include:
Core workplace skills
- Punctuality and professionalism
- Working as part of a team
- Learning to work with a diverse range of colleagues
- Understanding the skill requirements of the role
- Understanding the communication requirements of the role
- Dealing promptly and effectively with problems.
Specific tasks
- Completing a task to a set of instructions
- Selecting the appropriate equipment or resources for the job
- Considering and maintaining quality control
- Working safely at all times
- Considering the safety of others
- Using resources efficiently and effectively
- Maintaining the work area responsibly.
Apprenticeship related skills
- Learning to fit learning alongside work demands
- Information gathering from training materials and sources
- Information gathering from colleagues
- Completing work and learning logs
What challenges do apprentices in your business face? Would you add or take anything away from this list?
As a mentor, you will need to identify where you feel you have the skills and experience to support an apprentice in these areas. There will be some points where the apprentice is learning new skills through the training provider and on the job, and where this forms part of the framework assessment. Think about your own learning in the early stages of your career, or even now. There may have been a steep learning curve as you matured, gained new business skills, learned to delegate and took your career to the next level. How can you draw on these experiences to support your apprentice as they face similar challenges?
As a mentor, the challenges in dealing with an apprentice may not be what you might expect. Each apprentice is a unique individual who requires unique structures for his or her success. The challenge is in discovering what structures will work for your apprentice, and how to guide them to shorten their learning curve and accelerate their success.