Hospitality Apprenticeships: filling the recruitment gap.
You don’t have to travel far at the moment to come across a ‘Help Wanted’ sign outside a hospitality business. Just a few scrolls on social media and you’re likely to see hospitality job vacancies being advertised. As we head into the busiest time of the year, the industry is struggling to recruit. Whilst this is unlikely to be solved overnight, now could be a great time to consider an apprenticeship scheme. We spoke to experts HIT Training about how hospitality apprenticeships work, and the benefits for employers and employees alike…
As an employer, what are the key benefits to becoming involved in an apprenticeship scheme?
At HIT Training, we know from our 15 years of experience working with employers across hospitality that apprenticeships work. Whether you’re upskilling existing employees or taking on new staff, there are a multitude of reasons to offer apprenticeships as part of your learning and development strategy. The vast majority (97%) of employers with apprentices have experienced at least one benefit from taking on apprentices, and most can count six or more.
According to the Department for Education’s Apprenticeships Evaluation 2018 to 2019: Employers Research Report March 2020, employers who offer apprenticeships say the key benefits are:
- Improved productivity
- Better quality of product or service
- Higher staff morale
- Improved staff retention
- Improved employer image in the sector
- Brought new ideas to the organisation
- Improved ability to attract good staff
We’ve created a free to download e-guide all about maximising the return on your apprenticeship investment. ‘The financial benefit of apprenticeships: measuring your return on investment’ contains a handful of ways to quantify the benefits you see from apprenticeships, how to gauge the success of your programme, and some inspiring stories from employers that we work with.
How much time is an operator asked to give to their apprentices?
Apprenticeships are created by employers and focused around giving your apprentices the skills, knowledge and behaviours they need to train ‘on the job’. This means the majority (80%) of the learning and assessment is conducted ‘on-the-job’ so apprentices can remain focused without the interruption of off-site study. Modern apprenticeship standards offer the flexibility for employers to work in partnership with the apprenticeship training provider, like HIT Training, to tailor learning to meet the unique demands of your business.
Your apprentice will also need to spend 20% of their paid hours working ‘off-the-job’. This training is defined as learning which is undertaken outside of day-to-day work duties and leads towards the achievement of the apprenticeship. This training takes place within the apprentice’s normal (contracted) working hours.
What is the average salary commitment?
Apprentices have the same rights as other employees working at the same grades or in similar roles, so they’re entitled to a contract of employment, holiday and sickness pay.
Apprentices are entitled to the National Minimum Wage for apprentices. The current minimum wage rate for an apprentice is £4.15 per hour, rising to £4.30 per hour for 2022-23. This rate applies to apprentices under 19 and those aged 19 or over who are in their first year. Apprentices must be paid at least the minimum wage rate for their age if they’re an apprentice aged 19 or over and have completed their first year.
How long do hospitality apprenticeships run for?
Apprenticeships can take between 1 and 5 years to complete depending on their level. For example, a Level 2 Hospitality Team Member apprenticeship takes around 12 months to complete, whereas a Level 6 BA (Hons) Chartered Manager Degree apprenticeship takes 48 months to complete.
Where can employers go to a) find apprentices and b) advertise apprentice roles?
Employers are often able to ‘recruit’ from within by offering a current employee or employees the opportunity to upskill with an apprenticeship.
For external candidates, employers can use the government’s free Recruit an apprentice service to create, post and manage apprenticeship vacancies. Potential apprentices can then search by keyword (job role, occupation type or apprenticeship level) to find and apply for vacancies through Find an apprenticeship on GOV.UK.
Some trusted apprenticeship training providers, like HIT Training, will offer a free recruitment service to help employers to fill apprenticeship job vacancies. HIT Training offers a complete recruitment marketing solution that will give you the edge when it comes to finding, attracting and hiring the best talent available.
What are the employee retention rates once the apprenticeship is completed?
Nearly 70% of companies that invest in apprenticeships report an increase in staff retention*. Plus, seven in ten employers have reported that the apprentices who completed their programme were still working for them 15 to 21 months later*.
To monitor how your apprenticeship programme impacts staff retention, you can measure the average length of service for your employees who have completed an apprenticeship versus your overall staff retention rates. You could also keep a record of this over time by monitoring how many previous apprentices remain with you two, three or five years after completion compared to other staff.
* Department for Education’s Apprenticeships Evaluation 2018 to 2019: Employers Research Report March 2020
How can employers improve these retention rates?
Keep your employees motivated by offering career pathways to work towards. Using apprenticeships as the basis, you can create a development roadmap for your workforce – similar to a graduate scheme.
Your employees will be able to see what opportunities are in front of them and be driven to succeed. Research has also found that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their learning and development*. At HIT Training clients are supported to put together career pathways that work for them and for their staff.
*LinkedIn Learning 2019 Workplace Learning Report
In a candidate starved environment, how can employers make themselves more appealing to potential employees?
To attract the best talent in hospitality, it boils down to three key factors: offering a work/life balance, fair pay and development opportunities.
- Work/Life Balance – when it comes to offering a work/life balance, people really appreciate a little flexibility. Your best staff members may be the ones who can only work during school hours, or can only work evenings, whilst others might want to work on a seasonal basis. With a bit of juggling rotas most employers can accommodate this and staff are grateful for it!
- Fair Pay – providing fair pay (at least the minimum living wage), and the opportunity to earn a bit extra based on exceeding targets is a great attraction tool. As an employer, you can be smart with the employee targets you set. The obvious one would be the achievement of higher sales through upselling, but think about the benefits that, say, better customer service might bring to your business in terms of repeat business or customers lingering a little longer. Remember – what gets measured gets done!
- Development Opportunities – lastly, offer a career – not just a job – give your potential and current staff the opportunity to grow in the role. You can make this part of the job offer from the application stage so people know what to expect and how you’ll support them to develop both personally and professionally. Many businesses are signing up to the Hospitality Commitment to show prospective staff they take this seriously.
Offering learning and development opportunities really can’t be understated in the hospitality industry. If people can see that you care about their skills, knowledge and behaviours, and are happy to invest time and effort in them, they will repay you with loyalty.
What working hours are apprentices able to work – are they able to work shifts? Is there a maximum number of working hours?
Apprentices have the same contract of employment as any other employee and normally work at least 30 hours a week. However, an apprentice’s weekly hours can be more or less depending on their contract of employment.
If an apprentice works less than 30 hours a week, their apprenticeship length will increase to ensure they have enough time to achieve the skills, knowledge and behaviours required.
Just like your other employees, apprentices can’t work more than 48 hours a week on average – normally averaged over 17 weeks. This law is sometimes called the ‘working time directive’ or ‘working time regulations’.
What areas of hospitality/job roles do the apprenticeships cover? Back of house and front of house for example?
Apprenticeships are specially designed by experts in the industry, to create the next generation of hospitality stars. Whether your employees are new to the industry or have a few years under their belt, apprenticeships give them the skills they need to excel in your workplace.
Hotel and catering apprenticeships are available across all sectors: for chefs, bar staff and waiters, housekeepers and cleaners, and also in sales and marketing roles, banqueting and conferencing, events, functions and outside catering. There really is an apprenticeship for every job role!
You can learn more about the wide variety of hospitality apprenticeships available on the HIT Training website.
Find out more:
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