If there’s is one thing Covid reminded us of it’s that we’re made for community.
When Covid arrived back in 2020, separation was at the heart of all the government messaging – “social distance”, “exercise alone”, “work from home” and shelve any form of in–person work or social gathering.
It’s good to be back together and see the resurgence of in–person events.
Community enables to us to do things that we couldn’t accomplish as individuals. I’ve seen that when it comes to growing opportunities and changing culture around early careers.
Growing your own
Gordon Parkes is the Executive Director of People & Culture at NIE. He was on a panel speaking about apprenticeships and was talking about the sense of reward that comes from helping apprentices to grow, develop and progress. And then he said, “It’s a bit like growing your own tomatoes – they taste so much better when you’ve grown them yourself!”
I loved the analogy and it got me thinking.
That idea of growing and nurturing talent – and the satisfaction that comes from creating the conditions where people can excel in their work.
There are two options for ‘growing your own’. You can build a greenhouse in your own garden or you can become part of something bigger with others, and, I think, more enriching and rewarding…
You can join an allotment
At Workplus, we’re about helping companies grow talent – allotment style!
Being part of Workplus plugs you into a network to be with others who share your passion, frustrations and concerns. Rather than trying to work things out on your own, it’s a place where you can collaborate, share ideas and best practice and where you’ll be supported in navigating the skills landscape.
At Workplus, we want to help organisations grow their future talent together. We run campaigns to help find great apprentices through our UCAS–style platform as well as offering mentor training, seminar, forums and apprentice events throughout the year.
Growing your own, together
In this challenging labour market, the need for a new approach has become all the more pertinent. More and more companies are thinking about how best to recruit, grow and retain talent. One of the best ways of doing that is through apprenticeships.
The HR professionals we’re working with tell us their apprentices are thriving, with many apprentices out–performing graduates, improving a culture of lifelong learning for all staff and positively impacting wider outcomes including productivity and retention.
Find out more
If you’re interested in exploring what an apprenticeship pathway could look like in your organisation, we’d love to see you at our Grow Your Own event — a breakfast seminar on growing talent through apprenticeships, from 9:00–10:30 on Thursday 17 November at Ormeau Baths.