As businesses prepare to brave through the COVID-19 pandemic the building pressures of redeveloping and reskilling their workforce continue to be a factor. A study produced by McKinsey & Company found that around 80 percent of current businesses face critical skills gaps. The only way to curb this trend is through learning and development and on-the-job training something an apprenticeship program best provides. With an emphasis on training and education, an apprenticeship program can also help increase overall productivity and create a healthy and cohesive work environment.
At its core, apprenticeship is a relationship-driven learning model, based on actual day-to-day work, in which a novice gains hands-on knowledge from an expert to grow skills and act with increasing independence. In the classic one-on-one model of apprenticeship, the learning happens as a result of physical proximity and observation. Experience has historically been equated with longevity, putting the responsibility to become the teachers on those with more seniority. This iterative learning approach allowed novices to learn through close observation, practice, feedback, and coaching, all of which are quite effective for building deep expertise and skill mastery.
Work environments that implement apprenticeships programs succeed immensely in businesses that promote a strong learning culture and emphasize skill development, which helps to introduce both productivity and accountability within the company. By creating this learning culture organizations will be able to build their personal talent pool as well as foster a line of thinking that revolves around effectively responding to feedback and building and reflecting on the progress they have made and looking at what they still need to practice and improve on.
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