Apprenticeship in a Global Perspective: A summary - Lucie Episode 3

”Apprenticeship in a Global Perspective”, a dialogue hosted by CAF-FCA at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) during WorldSkills Calgary 2009 this past September, welcomed guests from around the world including the U.K., France, Belgium, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Host of workopolis tv Bruce Sellery guided the international discussion on strategies for engaging employers in apprenticeship training and findings from return on apprenticeship training studies. Learn more by watching the video clips and reading the summary below.

• Emily Arrowsmith, Researcher at CAF-FCA
  Emily Episode 1 | Emily Episode 2 | Emily Episode 3
• Lucie Wenmakers, Group Manager – Corporate Affairs at the NZ Motor Industry Training Organisation (Inc)
  Lucie Episode 1 | Lucie Episode 2 | Lucie Episode 3 | Lucie Episode 4

• Charles Pickford, Director for EmployerPartnerships (Private Sector) for Foundation Degree Forward
  Charles Episode 1 | Charles Episode 2 | Charles Episode 3 | Charles Episode 4
• Terrence Harrison, GroupTraining Manager South Africa at ArcelorMittal
  Terrence Episode 1 | Terrence Episode 2 | Terrence Episode 3 | Terrence Episode 4
• Highlights from the Q&A
  Highlights from the Q&A Episode 1 | Highlights from the Q&A Episode 2 | Highlights from the Q&A Episode 3

The opinions expressed in these video clips and in the summary document below do not necessarily represent the views or official policies of the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum – Forum canadien sur l’apprentissage (CAF–FCA) or other agencies or organizations that may have provided support, financial or otherwise, for this project.

Background

• In September 2009, CAF-FCA hosted “Apprenticeship in a Global Perspective: Engaging Employers and Investing in Apprenticeship Training”, an event that capitalized on the international setting provided by WorldSkills Calgary 2009.
• At the dialogue, guest panelists from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and South Africa joined CAF-FCA in sharing their respective countries’ efforts and initiatives around strategies for engaging employers, incentives for encouraging apprenticeship training, and studies on return on investment for apprenticeship training.
• The four panelists included Terrence Harrison, Group Training Manager at ArcelorMittal in South Africa; Lucie Wenmakers, Group Manager – Corporate Affairs at the NZ Motor Industry Training Organisation (Inc) in New Zealand; Charles Pickford, Director of Employer Partnerships (Private Sector) for Foundation Degree Forward (fdf) in the U.K., and Dr. Emily Arrowsmith, researcher at CAF-FCA.

Why is it timely to discuss best practices for engaging employers in apprenticeship training and to share information on return on apprenticeship training investment studies?

• Manpower Inc.’s 2009 Talent Shortage Survey results find that globally, employers are having difficulty filling jobs in the skilled trades area. In fact, this issue ranks within their top ten concerns. ¹
• These results were broken down by country. ² In Canada, employers identified employment in the skilled trades area as the most difficult area for companies to fill. ³ This issue ranks as the second most difficult area for employers to fill in both the United Kingdom and South Africa. ⁴ And in New Zealand, it is included as one of the top ten areas that employers are having difficulty filling, coming in at number seven. ⁵
• In Canada, the above issue and the role of apprenticeship training in ensuring future prosperity is repeated in the Business Council of British Columbia’s Outlook 2020 project. Researchers from the University of Victoria who completed the work underline that “Apprenticeships are the key to raising the productivity of much of the workforce. Shortages of skilled trades lower the productivity of all workers, raise costs, and slow capital investment.” ⁶
• Although results from CAF-FCA’s ROTI phase II study seem to suggest that the number of employers providing apprenticeship training in Canada may be on the rise, the number of employers who indicated that they either currently, or in the past three years, employed an apprentice in their company is still under 20 per cent. ⁷

What participants told us! Key messages from the discussion:

• Tell employers about the strong business case for apprenticeship. Show the data! Share the benefits! Training is an investment, not a cost!
• Consider alternative approaches to delivering apprenticeship training: think creatively about training delivery and recognize different learning styles.
• Retain apprentices through the economic cycles by encouraging re-skilling and up-skilling.
• Seek areas for collaboration and partnership at local, jurisdictional, national and international levels.
• Recognize that in the workplace, there will be people at different stages in life, so anticipate and prepare for generational dynamics.
• Continue the international conversations on apprenticeship because there is more room for engagement on a number of issues and there are opportunities to impact and support each other.

What others are doing in apprenticeship, training, and areas of engagement:

• The latest findings from CAF-FCA’s Return on Training Investment (ROTI) phase II study indicate an even higher return than the first phase of the study for employers who invest in apprenticeship training. On average, for the sixteen trades examined, for every $1 the employer invests in an apprentice’s direct costs, s/he receives a return of $1.47. ⁸ What about other countries’ return on apprenticeship training investment studies?
• The NZ Motor Industry Training Organisation (Inc.)’s study shows that ultimately, the total benefits accrued by the employer who invests in apprenticeship training exceed the total costs over the apprenticeship training period. Moreover, the payback period across all five sub-industries ⁹ within the motor industry occurs in year two of the apprenticeship.
• An analysis of the Swiss vocational education training (VET) system shows that in most cases, training apprentices pays for itself within the training period. ¹⁰
• A study in Germany reveals that apprentices in areas such as trade, craft, and construction have a positive impact on a company’s profit through their performance in the workplace, thus recovering the employer’s costs within the training period. In manufacturing, however, it was found that while the actual costs of training the apprentice are not recovered by the firm within the training period, they still benefit in the long-term through the human capital investment. ¹¹
• Researchers in the U.K. found that apprenticeships:
• are cost effective;
• aid recruitment and are linked to structured career development;
• improve retention, quality and productivity in the company;
• train staff to meet business needs and instill company values;
• offset skills shortages; and
• contribute to a larger pool of skilled workers from which to draw. ¹²
• The City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development reports that internationally, employers perceive they get a return on their training investment. ¹³
Top
• How can we help employers find apprentices, and apprentices find employers?
• In the U.K., the National Apprenticeship Service is starting to provide a sort of ‘dating’ service to help match interested employers with potential apprentices. The challenge in the U.K. is more about stimulating demand from employers. Much of the communication strategies have been targeted at the young learners, whereas efforts should be equally aimed at the employers, to illustrate the investment opportunities, to raise their game, as has been shown today.
• Also in New Zealand, there are challenges around finding enough employers willing to take apprentices on. A number of Industry Training Organisations have set up online recruitment services where employers can log positions and potential apprentices can post their CVs.
• How do companies plan for the long-term, particularly with respect to retaining investments in apprenticeship training through the economic cycle?
• At AreclorMittal in South Africa, they have developed workforce planning strategies, taking into consideration future workforce needs in areas such as trends and turnover. In doing so, they can better recognize and make plans for an economic upturn. In challenging economic times, they may offer employees other trades (multi-skilling) or up-skilling opportunities. The goal is not to lose the investment.
• For more information on apprenticeship workplace practices in a challenging economic climate, visit: http://www.caf-fca.org/en/events/NFD_video.asp , to learn about the perspectives and best practices from five Canadian organizations and their respective industries.
• How do you recognize the role of the mentor and certify that role within the company, from the viewpoint of the employer?
• In the automotive industry in New Zealand, a blended training model is used. The on-the-job component poses the most challenges in assuring assessment quality and consistency. The system involves workplace supervisors and workplace assessors. The supervisor is the ‘mentor’ or ‘trainer’ supporting the apprentice through the program. The workplace assessor assesses the apprentice. Sometimes the supervisor and the assessor are the same person. The workplace assessor has to be registered with the Industry Training Organisation and complete assessor training. Within the NZ Motor Industry Training Organisation (Inc), for example, there is a department that registers the assessors and moderates assessment; they ensure the quality of assessments is sufficient and they work with the workplace assessors to improve quality and consistency. The assessors take part in moderation and ‘peer review’ processes each year.

Considerations for future work:

• Explore the disconnect between apprentices and employers.
• Why are both groups indicating that they encounter challenges in finding one another? Are employers actively looking for apprentices? Where are the employers looking? Are the employers looking at their existing workforce? For which trades are employers unable to find apprentices? What are the expectations and commitments of both parties?
• What is the difference between ‘qualified’ and ‘competent’?
• In South Africa at ArcelorMittal, it is suggested that qualified does not mean competent, whereas in New Zealand, one who meets the national qualification standards is deemed competent in his or her trade. How is it understood in Canada?
• How can we recognize prior learning, and how does it fit into apprenticeships?
• Can we develop a better support system to recognize prior learning for all trades? How might prior learning assessments impact completion rates? How can we focus more on adult learners? What about the value of life-long learning?
• Are there ways to develop linkages or crossovers between the various forms of education and training strategies?
• Can we have more discussion on accredited learning and vocationally-focused routes to higher/further/advanced education? Can we look at skills training to cover all levels of training for the workforce? How could aspects of the U.K.’s Foundation Degree apply to the Canadian system?
• Consider strategies for recruiting and engaging under-represented groups in apprenticeship training through to completion. How are other countries addressing similar challenges?
• What about accelerated apprenticeships?
• Are there risks to an accelerated apprenticeship model? Are there specific conditions that must exist to support such a model? Are companies’ accelerated training models recognized in other countries and how does that affect labour mobility? What are the completion rates of the accelerated model in comparison to the traditional apprenticeship training model? How are apprenticeship candidates selected for the accelerated apprenticeship program? What are the different types of accelerated apprenticeship training models?

What’s next?

• Check out the video clips of the panelists’ presentations, the Q&A, and the panelists’ advice for participants.
• Review the panelists’ presentations and follow-up with questions to continue the international dialogue on issues facing the global apprenticeship community.
• Note the similarities and differences between the countries’ apprenticeship systems and strategies: what promising practices can we adopt here in Canada?
• Make it a goal to tell one employer who does not train apprentices about the business case for apprenticeship.
• CAF-FCA should consider exploring the disconnect between apprentices and employers through additional research and/or a dialogue.

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¹ “2009 Talent Shortage Survey Results Report”, Manpower Inc., May 2009, p.1. Available at:
http://files.shareholder.com/downloads/MAN/653080303x0x297372/dab9f206-75f4-40b7-88fb-3ca81333140f/09TalentShortage_Results_USLetter_FINAL_FINAL.pdf
² In total, 38,925 employers from 33 countries and territories responded to this global survey.
³ Ibid, p.6.
⁴ Ibid, p.12.
⁵ 2009 Talent Shortage Survey”, p.8.
⁶ J. Braggs, D. Scoones and G. Voss. “Situating BC in the Global Economy”, paper prepared for Business Council of British Columbia Outlook 2020. June 2009. Available at: http://www.bcbc.com/Documents/2020_200906_SituatingBCintheGlobalEconomy.pdf
⁷ Findings from CAF-FCA’s ROTI phase II study, June 2009. In 2006, 16.7 per cent of employers surveyed indicated that they either currently, or in the past three years, employed an apprentice in their company compared to 19.7 per cent in 2008. It should, however, be noted that this survey was not meant to track employer participation, but rather to provide context to the situation.
⁸ CAF-FCA, “It pays to hire an apprentice: Calculating the Return on Training Investment for Skilled Trades Employers in Canada A Study of 16 Trades Phase II”. June 2009, p.3.
⁹ Employers from the five following sub-industries participated in the study: automotive light engineering, automotive heavy engineering, automotive electrical, collision repair and refinishing
¹⁰ Stefan C. Wolter, Samuel Muehlemann and Juerg Schweri. “Why some firms train apprentices and many others do not”, Institute for the Study of Labour, October 2003, p.14.
¹¹ Jens Mohrenweiser and Thomas Zwick. “Why do Firms Train Apprentices? The Net Cost Puzzle Reconsidered”, Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0016. University of Zurich, Institute for Strategy and Business Economics. 2008, p. 20. Available at: http://opus.zbw-kiel.de/volltexte/2008/7228/pdf/dp08019.pdf
¹² T. Hogarth, C. Hasluck, and W.W. Daniel, “Employing Apprentices: The Business Case”. Institute for Employment Research. September 2005. p.iii and ix-x. Available at: http://www.employersforapprentices.gov.uk/docs/research/Research_1_332.doc
¹³ “Skills Development: Attitudes and Perceptions”, City & Guilds Centre for Skills Development. March 2008, p.6. Available at: http://www.skillsdevelopment.org/PDF/Final%20Report.pdf