Hiring An Apprentice: How Businesses Can Increase Value And Profits With Trainees

Annie Button, professional content writer and branding aficionado, explores how hiring an apprentice can boost a businesses value and profits.

Apprentices may be overlooked by many businesses, but they offer countless benefits to companies in a range of sectors. From boosting staff morale to improving productivity, taking on trainees can also help to increase profits within a business too. 

Apprenticeships and training programmes can be a great investment for any business, whether you’re looking to take on new talent or upskill existing team members. They can help to reinvigorate the team, add enthusiasm and energy to the business and they can be a cost-effective way of scaling up. Here’s why trainees are an effective way to boost profits and how they can add value within the company. 

Cost-Effective Labour

One of the primary reasons that businesses should consider hiring trainees and apprentices is that it’s a cost-effective form of labour. Studies suggest that the average cost of a new hire is just under £15,000, which can be difficult to find for smaller businesses and can impact a company’s ability to scale up and expand quickly. However, growing your team with apprentices makes it possible to expand the capacity within the team without the huge recruitment costs so you can still build the business in a less expensive way. 

Plug The Skills Gap

In the early stages of a business, colleagues have to wear many hats in order for everything to get done. But as the business scales up, there’s a chance for employees to specialise, and it’s at this stage that you’re likely to spot gaps in the skill set of your team. According to research carried out by McKinsey, 44% of respondents believe their organisations will face a skills gap in the next five years while a further 43% already face them. It’s possible to outsource such jobs, but this can be costly and inefficient, whereas hiring an apprentice gives you the chance to take on someone who wants to develop the specialist talent you’re looking for. From digital marketing and financial degree apprenticeships to electrical apprenticeships and renewable energy, businesses in a wide variety of industries can create specialist teams by hiring trainees. 

Scale Up Faster

Increasing profits and scaling up your business go hand in hand, and hiring apprentices makes it possible to scale up at a quicker rate. Being able to expand the team and retain the company culture can be one of the core challenges that businesses face, and just filling these gaps with qualified people can be a huge mistake. 

Hiring apprentices can be an effective way of developing the skills needed in the business, expanding the team and protecting the values and culture of the company as you can build training opportunities into new roles and hire for culture and skill development. 

Financial Incentives For Employers

Not only do apprenticeships help organisations avoid recruitment costs, but there are actually financial incentives for employers willing to take on trainees too. For example, employers might not need to pay Class 1 National Insurance contributions for an apprentice if they’re under 25 years old, earning less than £967 a week or are part of an approved UK government apprenticeship. The regulations for paying an apprentice also state that employers have to pay apprentices at least the National Minimum Wage, which varies depending on age and the level of apprenticeship training they’re in. This makes hiring apprentices an affordable and financially viable solution to recruitment. 

Upskilling Existing Employees

Apprenticeships and trainee programmes aren’t only for new recruits. They can also be used to upskill existing employees so they can remain in their current role while also taking on additional responsibilities and learning new skills. Investing in your team provides immense value by providing new opportunities for them to progress into and boosting morale and productivity. Upskilling staff can also help to boost employee loyalty and reduce staff turnover, which provides immense value to your business and can help reduce profit loss through recruitment costs. 

Boost Morale And Productivity

Motivated, encouraged and skilled staff are likely to contribute to a more productive work environment and that can do wonders for increasing the output of the team and helping your business achieve its targets. Apprentices and trainees are eager to learn and develop their skills, and their enthusiasm for the job can have a positive effect on other people in the business by inspiring them. Apprentices can add a much-needed injection of enthusiasm and energy into your company and this can have a positive effect on your bottom line through increased productivity and engagement.

A Profitable Solution To Scaling Up

Despite the challenges that can come from hiring an apprentice, employers that take the leap have been shown to gain net financial benefits in the thousands and the initial costs of taking on a trainee are often recovered far earlier than expected. To make an employee feel like a valued member of the business, it’s essential that employees invest in training and development as it’s critical to career progression. Whether that’s with an external recruit or investing in upskilling employees already working for the business, there are many benefits to working with trainees.