Article: Building talent pipelines: Apprenticeship or hiring?

Talent Acquisition

Building talent pipelines: Apprenticeship or hiring?

Apprenticeship builds loyalty and future talent, while conventional hiring ensures strategic positions are filled swiftly. Which method suits your business priorities?
Building talent pipelines: Apprenticeship or hiring?

Talent acquisition today assumes strategic significance for businesses. Hiring the right talent is not an easy task, and even more difficult is choosing between apprenticeship or the conventional method of hiring. The push for apprenticeship is evident from the Prime Minister Internship Scheme (PMIS) 2024, rolled out by the Union Government. The scheme aims to train 10 million youth in the next five years by offering them 12-month internships in India’s top 500 companies. While apprentices make more sense for skill-based vacancies, conventional methods are better for meeting quick and qualified hiring needs. So, which one do you prefer to induct new employees? Here's a complete lowdown:

Apprenticeship method: Key benefits

Tailored training: Apprenticeships are great for building specific skills that firms need to excel in their industry verticals. The method also allows firms to customise their training programmes, aligning with company needs and preferences. This tailored training creates a win-win situation for both hires and the company.

Affordable route: Hiring trainees proves more cost-effective than recruiting qualified employees with higher compensation packages. Also, the talent acquisition cost of trainees is spread over the years, making it more affordable for companies to plan their budgets and chalk out expenses in the long run.

Dynamic diversity: Interns joining the organisation belong to different academic streams, institutions, geographies, and cultures. These varied profiles bring a dynamic mix of potential employees to the company, which can be leveraged in the long term to achieve a competitive advantage. Apprenticeship methods also allow firms to go beyond their conventional reach and hire talent that might not qualify for certain roles through conventional processes.

Building talent: Apprenticeships are great for building a talent pipeline to address skill gaps that might arise in the future. Especially for tech-oriented businesses, nurturing a talent pool for the future can make a world of difference in growth and profitability.

High loyalty: Apprentices often show a strong sense of commitment and loyalty—something that is not seen in employees onboarded through regular hiring methods. Organisations forge a special bond with trainees by investing in their training, development, and growth opportunities. This bond reduces employee turnover and keeps hiring costs in check in the long run.

Conventional hiring: Advantage areas

Strategic positions: In case an organisation has to hire for a strategic role, the conventional method of hiring makes much more sense. As filling strategic positions has long-term ramifications for the future of the business, the merits of conventional hiring easily outweigh the benefits of the apprenticeship method.

Proven record: Hiring fully qualified candidates with a proven track record is another key advantage of the conventional method of talent acquisition. Interviewers can choose from a range of qualified candidates and ultimately select the most talented one for the specific role or position.

Urgent hiring: Conventional hiring is the preferred medium of recruitment when hiring needs to be done urgently. For example, if the chief engineer of an organisation resigns during an ongoing critical project, conventional hiring will enable a swift replacement. The speed and agility of conventional hiring here outpace the apprenticeship approach.

Fairness and transparency: Conventional hiring comes with a standardised format, making it less prone to subjectivity and biases. This objectivity ensures that only the best candidate is selected for the specified role. Companies can also constitute a wider panel of experts to further minimise bias in the selection process.

Conclusion

Both apprenticeship and conventional hiring come with their share of merits and advantages. It ultimately boils down to the priorities of the organisation and the strategic outlook it has adopted for talent acquisition. Summarily, it can be concluded that while the apprenticeship method is preferred for functional and operational levels, strategic hiring should be done through conventional talent acquisition processes.

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Topics: Talent Acquisition, Recruitment, #Future of Work

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