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The second edition of the Apprenticeship Outlook Report (AOR) was published by TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship for the period July to December 2021. The report clearly stated that the net apprenticeship outlook has increased by 4% for the period of July to December 2021, taking it to 46% as compared to 41% for the period of January to June 2021. And it also puts some hard facts about the hiring trends of apprentices across small, medium, and large enterprises. There's an increase of 6% in terms of apprentice hiring growth for the period of July to December 2021 as compared to January to June 2021. But there are some hiring managers today who are facing challenges with the apprenticeship model because of stipends, compensation, and many other issues. 

To shed light on Emerging trends in the current apprenticeship ecosystem, a webinar was conducted on the 28th of October with an esteemed panel of three amazing speakers. On the mics they had, Mr. K. Shivananda Rao, Chief Operating Officer, Krsnaa Diagnostics Ltd, Ms. Shweta Desai - Group Head - HR at Kataria Group of Companies, Mr. Colin Mendes, Head of Human Resources, Voltas Beko, along with the moderator, Dhriti Prasanna Mahanta, AVP, NETAP. Let’s hear what they have to share. 

 How were the hiring trends formed in the last four months with respect to the company and with respect to the industry? 

Colin Mendes started the discussion with his experience in the manufacturing industry. He continued by saying; that there are already a significant number of advantages that the manufacturing industry has been considering with apprenticeships. The most important of them was the opportunity to observe and build in-house talent throughout the job training period, which ranged from six months to almost three years with a good absorption rate. There's also a huge amount of flexibility that comes with the apprenticeship. Voltas Becko has moved up the scale to almost 20% to 25% apprentices hiring for the second half of the year, which is a significant uptick. 

The Kataria Group is a very big name with 6600 employees on board. They have an insurance broking firm, a finance firm, and logistics. They are also into expansion mode right now. So, for the automobile industry, they are coming up with four-five more workshops and brand outlets. Seems like a good reason to get more talent on board. So the total number of apprentices they have right now is 900, almost 20% more than the initial months of the year.

On the other hand, the medical sector is blooming when it comes to creating talent after the outbreak of pandemics. They did cold emailing and SMS to find the right candidates because of the increasing demand for manpower. From January to June, they managed with the same number of staff. But again hiring went up due to new projects with another 24 medical centers, radiology centers, and 31 laboratory setups, six radiology centers in Mumbai. So that's where the hiring might go by another 1200 apprentices in the next six months for Krsnaa Diagnostics. Watch the conversation here

 How is the assessment done in terms of productivity and with respect to the training?

The entire program of degree apprenticeship has been questioned based on the resources, and the responsibility of enhancing productivity. Productivity must be driven and owned by organizations. The important thing is first to step back, make an inventory of the skills an organization needs, and then start looking for the right talent. Providing them with a meaningful opportunity to learn and grow should be a priority. Organizations like Voltas are doing an assessment every six months, but moving it to a quarterly basis, because in manufacturing, it can be easily tracked to a very large extent. All the assessments are digitized because they help in the creation of a history of each apprentice that shows progression and improvement. 

Shweta shared her organization’s Certification Program, especially for ITI people with incentives. So once they complete each and every quarter, their incentives grow. This is also taken as a tool for retention, as well as as a tool for assessment. The second is the reward and recognition program. Speaking on the healthcare sector like Krsnaa Diagnostics, more than productivity, quality is the most important aspect. That is a place that needs to be more empathy-oriented. So productivity measuring is slightly intangible with quality standards, empathy, and the counseling nature of the employee or apprentice. Watch the conversation here 

Will degree-linked apprenticeship help an industry or a company to hire apprentices easily?

All three of them believe it to be a good move forward. Degree embedded apprenticeships will ensure that apprentices stay on for a longer period of time because they will be able to complete their graduation and get on-job training/experience on the side. Industries should really leverage this opportunity and take people through this mechanism, watch them over a period of time, and help them develop and learn and earn in the organization. 

Getting apprentices in the medical field is a tough job. Under the National Skill Development program, there is a lot of training in nursing aide programs, radiology technicians or laboratory technicians or, operation theater technicians. Being the COO of Krsnaa Diagnostics, Shivananda Rao talked about the meticulous training of students under his organization. Students go for around six months of classroom training with the Institute, then 18 months with the respective hospital or maybe the diagnostic centers, and they get completely trained. And at the end of that, they have to write the common exam. They also undergo company training and get at least a diploma degree through this. Then based on the assessments as well as the qualifications, the apprentice would be awarded a bachelor’s degree or a diploma degree. Watch the conversation here.

The webinar signed off with a thank you note to the speakers as well as the attendees. If anyone wishes to see the entire webinar video, check it out here. For more upcoming events and webinars on apprenticeships, keep the following TeamLease Degree Apprenticeship on the social media handles.