People Who Are Not Learning Will Leave

According to a study by LinkedIn, three of the top five factors people consider when seeking a new job reflect their desire to stretch, grow, and develop new skills.

The factors:

1. Compensation and benefits

2. Flexibility

3. Challenging and impactful work

4. Opportunities to grow within the company

5. Opportunities to learn and develop new skills

These priorities align with organisations' aims to become more agile in 2024, with large-scale upskilling and reskilling programmes becoming a top priority for learning and development departments to build competitive capabilities.

Career advancement does not always have to mean promotion. The opportunity for people to develop new skills and excel within their current roles boosts staff motivation and productivity, making employees feel valued, which in turn reduces employee turnover.

Intec partners with industry-leading awarding bodies, ensuring that our learners achieve the career development they seek through our programmes. Through our Project Management Apprenticeship, learners not only achieve a recognised apprenticeship standard but also gain Associate Membership of APM (Association for Project Management). Similarly, our Leadership & Management programmes offer a route to Chartered Manager Status. By offering these in-demand accreditations, our learners are motivated to succeed. By providing and promoting upskilling programmes aligned with business needs and employee career goals, learning and development teams can create a pipeline of talent to match opportunities.

Apprenticeships provide a cost-effective way of supporting high-impact professional development. Training can be funded through the Apprenticeship Levy (a levy for organisations with wage bills over £3 million per annum). SMEs seeking to roll out apprenticeships to both existing staff and new recruits can access 95% or 100% government funding to cover the cost of apprenticeship training.

Completing an apprenticeship has advantages over standalone professional qualifications such as certificates and diplomas, benefiting both the learner and the employer. Professional qualifications focus on providing enhanced understanding and knowledge. Apprenticeships, by contrast, are vocational and assess success based on learners' knowledge, skills, and behaviours. Unlike professional qualifications, apprenticeships require the learner to demonstrate what they have learned in practice, not just understand it.

Upskilling and reskilling through apprenticeship programmes enhances the onboarding process and has been proven to boost retention and develop new skills within the workforce, increasing organisations' ability to be flexible and, therefore, competitive. This is why apprenticeships should be a top priority for businesses in 2024.