If there ever was such thing as a Workplace Zodiac, 2019 would forever be known at The ONE Group as the Year of the Apprentice.
Following a thorough and rigorous selection and assessment process at the end of 2018, it was clear that we had secured ourselves some rising stars in the form of fresh and enthusiastic Degree Apprentices, ready to embark on their next huge adventure in the world of recruitment.
Did they understand what they were letting themselves in for? Possibly not.
Did they take a dive into the deep end and sign on the dotted line, anyway? Absolutely.
Having experienced consistent and significant growth since 2004 and now boasting some of the top recruiters in the local marketplace, we knew that we were ready to take on a new challenge and focus our efforts on the very thing that has made us so successful in the first place; our people.
Not only did we want to inject our experienced consultants with new and refreshing training and development opportunities, we wanted to take our future talent potential to a whole new level - this is where the Degree Apprenticeship Programme had us hooked. We were able to select talented individuals with the key competencies required to make it as a successful recruiter and utilise our current knowledge and experienced professionals to support them through their journey.
For us, this was more than just an educational programme, this was an opportunity to pass on industry knowledge, commercial awareness and total business savviness to the future leaders of our industry. It's often said that running a desk in a recruitment agency is like running your own business, so what better place to nurture and grow the skills required in business than in your very own mini business?
Since our Degree Apprentices joined us in January of this year, they have contributed significantly to the success of their immediate teams, colleagues, and that of the wider business. They’ve created engaging social media content, found new candidates and placed people in their dream jobs. They became more commercially aware by the day, learned about profit margins, terms of business, negotiations and what a good client relationship looks like. And one, Becca, took a leap into our internal marketing team, willing and ready to learn everything she needed to know about how to make our brand the best it can be.
You can’t teach work ethic and dedication, but luckily for us, our Apprentices have shown us that they have these two things in abundance. 5 years later… and I can’t see them slowing down any time soon!