I have been working with nursery owners and managers for 10 years, helping them build their teams. Lately I am being asked more and more, where are the good applicants? The answer is nothing has changed on the applicant’s side, it is the industry that has changed and our recruitment needs to change with it. This is no one’s fault, since the lockdown pressure felt by those who remain in the industry can be hard to cope with. No surprise new nervous candidates pick up on this.

I have tried to outline some of the easier things you can do right now to make a difference, most are completely free. I hope I can help you avoid some of the mistakes that can turn a promising apprentice into a problem or a borderline candidate into a deputy manager! It is not just about finding the right training provider and leaving it to them anymore. We are all finding it hard to get good, keep and support candidates. We have to work together!

I know it’s easy to say, but the first thing to do is find as many people as possible who want a career in childcare, or at least think they want to be in childcare. From there you can pick the best ones. Please don’t stop reading yet, there are a few things you may not be doing. You must use a lot of different methods to spread your net wide;

• adverts on jobs boards and post on social media (we use both and ask the nurseries we work with to use theirs).
• Career coaches in schools etc are great too, especially this time of year (to offer work experience).
• Talk to a few training providers; you do not have to use just one. Once you have a good one however you may want to think about staying with them.
• Ask the parent/guardian network (post it on the nursery board in reception “amazing opportunity!”).

I know there are others ways too, but the last one will find someone local and flexible which most nurseries are not even doing.

The next step is don’t take on just everyone. Someone who you like, but you can’t support or someone you can’t support right now, will not help your team. One of the things I love about working in this caring industry is our heart, but do not let only your heart chose your apprentice, think of the team. You should look for the spark and the passion that all practitioners need, fan that spark to become a blazing success.

I cannot stress how important support is for apprentices. Now I am not talking about pampering here, we are talking “proper” mentoring. Many nurseries will take on an apprentice full of energy and ideas, stick them in the room and let them get on with it. Now this may work and the stronger ones will be successful. However, especially now, we can’t afford to lose the ones that need more support and guidance.

• Have you got someone in the team who has the skills and patience to take an apprentice under their wing?

This may not be a manager; in some ways it is better if it is not. It should be someone who knows the nursery routine, is encouraging but realistic (I always think of my favourite aunty, firm but fair).

• Talk to the team, most will have been an apprentice once, remind them that they will need to support and provide guidance.

All too frequently I have had to talk to apprentices who feel unwelcome in a team. This is usually no fault of the team. It is just the team were not prepared for the support an apprentice needs and treated them as they would a fully qualified practitioner. The apprentice feels instantly out of their depth, unsupported and unwelcome.

I have tried to be as unbiased as I can be in this post, but I hope you will forgive me if I brag just a little in this part.

• Find yourself a good training provider to work with.

Ask questions when we call you up, make sure we know what we are talking about!

• How long have their assessors been with the company? (You know you have had 2-3 assessors visit one apprentice in a year)
• What are their successes? (i.e., 80% of our Level 3’s achieve a distinction).
• If they are recruiting for you, how do they do it?
• How do they support the apprentice? (We have a meeting one a week with all department and talk about every apprentice.)

My main role is supporting nurseries/employers to communicate with our academy. Managers can call me about anything and they do! I even get asked about other apprentice providers “Peter is this right?” I am always happy to talk about Swift / Apprenticeships or just try to come up with a solution to help support the nursery and the apprentice. Any good training provider should be the same. A good training provider will take away a lot of the headaches for you, working with you to provide the best support to the apprentice.

• Have a plan for your apprentices.

Set, track and monitor your apprentice progression, but be flexible. You should be setting out realistic progression goals for your apprentice; when should they do nappies by, when should they be able to do observations, how are you going to support them to take on key children? I would also suggest more frequent appraisals / feedbacks, this will also give you a better feel on how things are going and stop any misunderstandings quickly. Make sure you talk to the training provider (our tutor/assessors provide feedback at the end of each visit and can answer any academic questions). From us no news is usually good news, but this is not always the case, know what’s going on. Don’t expect an amazing practitioner right away but know they are on the way!

• Treat an apprentice as a team member straight away. 

An apprentice should not be late and they should be disciplined like any staff member. I know I have talked about support at length, but I did not want you to think I meant letting them get away with anything you would not let any other staff member get away with. We as an industry are incredibly caring and understanding, as I have said it is one of the reasons I love working in early years, but consistency is important to a good apprenticeship. I am not saying to become Cruella Devil, but setting boundaries is something we know about with children but sometimes forget to do with staff.

• Make time to talk about pay and benefits, they won’t.

Apprentices know the deal; they get less wages but they get trained. However just like your good staff, they are being tempted away to other settings. Not all apprentices will talk to you about pay or if things are wrong. They don’t know you will put the wages up at the end of their apprenticeship, they don’t know about your benefits. You have trained them, now you must keep them! 

My main hope is that you give an apprentice a chance to impress you. I know many of you are saying that you have tried an apprentice and would not go there again. This is like saying you went to a restaurant and will only cook at home from now on. You got the wrong apprentice or training provider. Give it another go, please!

Thank you for reading this far and I hope you have found something useful. I know I have missed some and maybe one of your favourites. My goal here was to support you and all apprentices, if you would like to ask any questions, I encourage you to do so or visit our employers page for more information. 

Get in touch today:

peterb@swiftcc.co.uk

0121 594 0183