Mentoring Apprentices

MENTORING APPRENTICES Supporting on-the-job learning for apprentices

Take a moment to reflect: What does the word \"Apprentice\" mean to you?

What is a Employer Involvement Registered Apprenticeship? On-the-Job Training and Experience Job Related Instruction Rewards for Skill Gains National Occupational Credential

Employers play an active role in building the apprenticeship program and remain involved every step of the way. On-the-job learning is conducted in the work setting under the direction of a mentor(s) and focuses on the skills and knowledge an apprentice must learn during the program to be fully competent on the job. Apprentices take classes while they are working, combining theoretical and hands-on learning. Apprentices receive wages when they begin work, and receive pay increases as they meet benchmarks for skill attainment. This helps reward and motivate apprentices as they advance through their training. Training results in an industry-recognized and portable credential. They can also earn college credits to continue their education.

How is the apprenticeship structured? The apprenticeship is a hybrid of a time-based and competency approach 2000 hours minimum of Apprentices must be able on-the-job training & to demonstrate experience per year competency in each key work process 144 hours of job related instruction per year Time Competence

The apprentice must complete 2000 hours of on- the-job training and experience and a minimum of 144 hours job related instruction. The on-the-job training and experience is under the guidance of a more experienced worker or mentor. The related instruction is online learning that the apprentice carries out either in their own time or during agreed times at work. The apprentice needs to provide evidence that they can competently carry out the main duties of the role.

Tracking the hours completed The Apprenticeship Connections portfolio provides a place for the Apprentice to record the hours they spend in on-the-job training and completing key work tasks along with the hours they spend on their related instruction each week. The apprentice's Supervisor and Learning Coach can then approve the hours. The Apprentice, and those assigned to support the Apprentice, their Supervisor, Mentor and Learning Coach can access the portfolio and check on the progress of the apprentice.

The Purpose of Mentoring Mentoring is an important part of an apprenticeship and can provide much needed additional support to an apprentice, helping them understand their role in the organisation, develop their career path, and provide a listening ear if they’re facing any problems and challenges.

The Benefits of Mentoring For the Apprentice: For the Mentor: Apprentice receives coaching, training & Helping others to learn increases support. confidence and job satisfaction. Has someone with greater knowledge & Improves communication and supervisory experience to turn to for advice. skills. Supports problem solving. Can gain new perspectives & expand own Apprentice may feel less isolated. knowledge base. For the Employer: Allows transfer of knowledge. Fewer mistakes by the apprentice. Greater motivation & productivity from the apprentice.

In Greek mythology, Odysseus placed his friend Mentor in charge of his son Telemachus when he had to leave to fight in the Trojan War. The name Mentor has been adopted in English as a term meaning someone who imparts wisdom to, and shares knowledge with, a less experienced colleague.

Mentoring helps people to learn and develop. Mentoring therefore has the potential to make a valuable contribution to apprentices in terms of their personal and professional development and to the overall development of the organisation. When carried out well, mentoring can help the apprentice feel more confident and therefore move toward greater development and self-reliance. For an organisation, mentoring is a good way of transferring valuable competencies from one person to another, in a way which makes sense to that particular organisation. It therefore complements training and external support. Mentoring can help to build strong teams and can form part of succession planning, ensuring the skills vital to business success are developed and nurtured within the workplace.

It is important to ensure that the mentoring relationship is not confused with the supervisory relationship. Mentoring is about supporting structured development. The mentor should not feel pressured to have to tell the apprentice everything they know about a subject, at every opportunity. What is more important is helping the apprentice to identify suitable opportunities to gain skills, knowledge and experience at work, preferably within everyday tasks. You will need to be able to objectively observe skills and abilities being implemented and provide feedback on these to ensure that the apprentice understands the progress they are making and areas for further development.

The role of the Apprentice mentor in Receives skills training apprenticeship Practices on-the-job Learns & reflects Mentor Observes Instructs & guides Supports & encourages Supervisor Observes Evaluates Supports mentor & apprentice

The role of the mentor can The apprentice also has an encompass any or all of the following important role to play in the depending on the specific needs of relationships as the mentee. Their the apprentice: responsibilities include: Scheduling time to meet with the act as a sounding board mentor and maintaining an up to listen and challenge date record of their progress. question Working proactively with the encourage independent thinking mentor to assess their areas of keep to boundaries and principles strength, and development areas. – mentoring is not therapy Taking ownership for their own encourage the apprentice to come development. up with their own solutions to Following through on actions problems discussed with the mentor. build the apprentices self Respecting the mentor’s confidence experience, ideas, guidance and act as a role model time. offer insights into the culture and Interested in skills building and values of the organisation goal-setting. share their experience and expertise give feedback provide advice where possible

On-the-Job The primary job of the Mentor is to ensure Learning that the Apprentice learns on-the-job and gains the experience to be fully competent in their role. The apprentice must complete 2000 hours of on-the-job experience over the course of the apprenticeship. The key work processes are specified so that the on-the-job learning is structured. The apprentice must be supervised and given frequent feedback on their progress and performance.

Take a moment to reflect: Who has mentored or inspired you? What qualities did they possess?

What makes a good mentor? To be a good mentor, you Mentoring is about You will want to help others need to have experience transferring information, and be willing to spend time relevant to the apprentice's competence, and helping someone else to situation. experience to apprentices, understand aspects of work, so that they can use it to work life and the skills This can be technical build their confidence and required for tasks and be experience, management understanding. As a mentor, generally available to experience, or life you are there to encourage, provide information, experience. nurture, and provide support guidance and act as a because you have already sounding board. traveled the same road.

Qualities of Good Mentors Encouraging Good Listener Positive Good role model Knowledgeable Patient Forgives mistakes Professionally driven Available Want to help others Has confidence Can provide constructive feedback

You will need to be positive and approachable in order to encourage questions. You should have the confidence to offer feedback and challenge your apprentice in a way that is non-threatening and helps them to look at situations from different perspectives.

Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction. JOHN C. CROSBY

4 Stages of the Mentoring relationship 1.Getting to know 2. Goal setting 3. Progress 4. End each other Agree learning Using the series of It may be difficult to end Establishing expectations by: meetings agreed the relationship ,as it may rapport and you will meet to develop into a close building a Identifying review, assess and working relationship. relationship of trust. potential learning provide feedback opportunities at on targets as well A final meeting may be At this stage it is work. as agree future helpful here to provide a essential to ensure Agreeing a goals and targets. final review and a that expectations schedule of reflection on distance of both parties are meetings. traveled. explicitly Confirming the understood. ‘ground rules’. It may also include a celebration of achievement.

Getting to know each other It is worthwhile spending some initial time with the apprentice when you first meet, agreeing the ‘ground rules’ for how you will work together. The initial meeting might include: getting to know each other informally to begin to build trust and identify areas of common interest; discussing the apprentice's learning needs and aspirations for career development; setting the ground rules in terms of timeliness for set meetings, honesty, openness, respect, directness of feedback and their preferred communication style; and what records or formal papers will be required to document the relationship.

One way to be helpful to the Apprentice will be to support them to set effective targets they can work towards and help them achieve these. SMART targets help develop explicitness in goal setting. SMART stands for: Smart, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time- bound. So SMART targets set out what is going to happen, who’s going to do it, by when and how achievement will be measured. Such targets should be set by the apprentice to ensure that they ‘own’ them and therefore feel greater commitment to their achievement.

Setting SMART Specific goals with the The goal is direct, detailed and meaningful. apprentice Measurable The goal is quantifiable and can be measured to show success. Attainable The goal is realistic and the apprentice has the time and resources to complete it. Relevant The goal aligns with apprenticeship and company objectives Time-based The goal has a deadline

NOT SMART SMART Deploy Windows 10 Maintain the on all client's operating system for desktops by end of your client. July. Support and maintain Carry out applications. preventative health checks each Develop applications. Thursday. Review adapted code for a peer before it is released.

Assessing Competence

How is the apprentice assesed? Both Mentors and supervisors Mentors do assessments to Supervisors also use need to assess Apprentices, determine what Apprentices assessments but in addition but for different purposes. need to learn. They use to the ways that Mentors use assessments in a formative them, they also use them for and process way. evaluation, a summative process.

Assessing the competency of the Apprentice The Apprenticeship Connections portfolio promotes self-reflection and gives apprentices a chance to share examples of work that demonstrate achievements and competencies. They can upload various types of evidence - such as documents, videos and photographs that they feel prove they are working to the expected standard. The mentor will then look at the evidence and provide feedback to the apprentice on whether it meets the expected standard, or if they need to further improve.

The following are some of the items that could be included in the portfolio: Journaling or personal accounts of tasks carried out. Completed examples of reporting & documentation required. Comments, recommendations or observations from others (including from supervisors and mentors). Pictures or videos of completed work. Certifications achieved.

Reviewing Progress

Quarterly Reviews 3 monthly reviews of progress between the Apprentice, Employer Mentor, and the Learning Coach provide an opportunity for apprentices to reflect on what skills, knowledge and experience they have gained, and what still needs to be developed. The review discussion should lead to a new set of goals and actions so all are clear on the next steps of the apprentice's journey. The first progress review will confirm whether or not the apprentice has successfully completed their probationary period.

The Wage Schedule The apprentice will be able to see how many hours they need to complete at work and what skills they need to have mastered to achieve their scheduled wage increase. The Apprenticeship Connections portfolio will track the required hours. the Apprentice can upload evidence of their competencies at the appointed time. The apprentice's supervisor can then approve the wage increase if they agree the apprentice has made sufficient progress. Once the apprentice receives their wage increase they will upload evidence of this to their portfolio.