Every apprentice needs a workplace mentor – someone there every day who understands and supports their learning and development needs, and the concerns that go along with settling into a new role.
Mentorship Employer Support
The value of mentoring in supporting a high quality Apprenticeship programme is increasingly being recognised for its value in supporting the transition of young people into the workplace and in passing on skills and experience.
Within an apprenticeship, working as one with the trainee is essential in developing their key knowledge, skills and behaviours to prepare them for the work place, which requires agility to adapt to the constantly changing modus operandi.
At Fashion-Enter we like to encourage apprenticeship employers and their mentors to first create an introduction development plan, that see’s the apprentice through their first 8 to 12 weeks as a way to ease them into their role and provide a framework structure, which will be reviewed at the initial few progress reviews (which takes place every 8-10 weeks).
Once an apprentice learner has started their apprenticeship, the tutor will arrange a meeting with the employer and the learner to discuss the first 8 to 10 weeks of the apprenticeship program regarding the activities that will take place and the training methods, to ensure that these are suitable for the apprenticeship employer and with the apprentice.
Training methods are then discussed in every progress review throughout the apprenticeship and the tutor asks the employer, during these reviews, how they can best support the apprentice with the unit/duties the learner is currently working on or are due to soon start, regarding training methods and the specific tasks, units/duties the learner is currently or will soon be working on and the assessment criteria/KSBs they will need to evidence.
The tutor aligns with the employer and apprentice how best to plan ahead and how they can achieve their learning objectives within the work place and how the employer can support the apprentice within the workplace regarding roles, responsibilities, upcoming meetings and events and where the apprentice can apply what is due to be covered within the workplace and how it can relate back to the course, to evidence the required assessment criteria.
The tutor explains from the very start of the course during the introduction meetings and then continuously throughout the course in the progress reviews, that the order in which the apprentice completes their units/duties and works to evidence their assessment criteria/KSBs can be moved around to suit the schedule and critical path of the workplace, therefore enhancing the apprentices experience of developing the KSBs related to the specific learning outcomes and document these within the coursework on a weekly basis.
Throughout the apprenticeship we continuously monitor and improve employer engagement, regularly receive and review feedback from employers, manage concerns and issues raised by employers regarding the apprentice and manage communication with employers.
At FEL we work directly with the apprenticeship employers to develop and deliver our training for each of our apprentices and have built strong working relationships with each of these organisations, which are dedicated to maintaining and improving.
We tailor our training and work hard to be as flexible as we possibly can be to support and suit the changing circumstance of the employers and apprentice learners.
What is a mentor?
A mentor is a guide who can help the mentee find the right direction and develop solutions to career issues. Mentors rely upon having had similar experiences to gain an empathy with the mentee and an understanding of their issues.
Mentoring provides the apprentice with an opportunity to think about career options and progress. Mentors can provide wise counsel, help a new employee orientate into the workplace, provide information, advice and guidance relating to the learning and training aspects of the Apprenticeship, and work with the apprentice and employer to ensure that problems are resolved quickly and do not threaten the Apprenticeship.