Apprenticeships are a great investment in talent, futureproofing your workforce with a new generation of skilled professionals. Setting goals and objectives for your apprentice is the key to successful personal and professional development, and is an important part of the mentoring process.
Putting clear objectives in place will give your apprentice something to work towards alongside their apprenticeship training – helping them to put their skills into action and become a vital member of your team.
Short term objectives for an Apprentice:
It’s important to remember that for many apprentices, this could be their first experience of your industry or even the workplace in general. Setting your apprentice clear short term objectives can help them settle into their new role and build their confidence within your organisation.
These objectives should be manageable, measurable, and relevant to their job role and personal development goals. Short term objectives usually relate to specific tasks, projects or skills and can be set in one-to-ones, team meetings, or monthly catch-ups.
Some examples of short term objectives include:
Day to day tasks
Giving your apprentice ownership over everyday tasks will help develop their skills and give them understanding of their new job role. It is beneficial to start with simple tasks and as they progress through their apprenticeship, give them more responsibility by setting more advanced and strategic work.
Training Goals
Training can be classed as both a short term and long term objective for an apprentice. They will continue training throughout their apprenticeship programme. Short term training objectives can include implementing internal training sessions, such as shadowing members of the team, or completing short self-study courses related to their job role. There are many free online courses that an apprentice can complete as part of their “off-the-job training” on platforms such as Google Digital Garage, Codecademy, and Cisco Networking Academy.
Long term objectives for an apprentice:
Long term objectives give apprentices a future goal to work towards. These are achieved over a longer period of time and are usually set during quarterly or annual appraisals. When setting your apprentice long term objectives, it’s important to help them visualise where their role and contribution fits into the wider goals of the organisation and their career trajectory.
Some examples of long term objectives include:
Managing Their Workload
It’s important that your apprentice can manage their workload independently. You can support this by encouraging them to create a schedule, break down large projects into specific tasks, set achievable deadlines, and help them utilise their email calendar. Learning how to effectively prioritise work is an important time management lesson and will enable your apprentice to take on bigger responsibilities in the long term.
Personal and Professional Development
Personal development is important in keeping employees motivated and productive. Engage with your apprentice by asking them what their long term goals are and how you can help them get there.
If they have joined you on a Level 3 apprenticeship, make them aware of the Level 4 programmes in the early stages of their training. Knowing there is a progression route and next step in their journey will give them the drive to successfully complete their Level 3 apprenticeship. Track their progress and recognise milestones by having regular one-to-one discussions or appraisals, offering help where needed.
Encourage your apprentice to share their wider career goals, and regularly discuss how they might develop their career within your organisation. Apprentices are often highly driven, and very loyal to employers who have invested in them. With the right support and guidance – we’ve seen former apprentices become company directors!
Find out more
To learn more about supporting your apprentice throughout their journey, check out our Ultimate Guide for Managers.
Our team are always on hand to answer any questions you have on hiring and supporting an apprentice in your team. Get in touch to find out more.