For anybody leading a data office who is worried about their talent funnel, this week offers a golden opportunity to direct the attention of the people and L&D offices to the specific needs of data and analytics. Aside from recruitment at the lower level, there can also be benefits for retention by putting in place schemes for data scientists, while management and leadership could also find the upskilling support they need to cope with this fast-paced discipline.
Whatever level apprenticeships are aimed at, there are some common themes around how to ensure the success and sustainability of a programme.
1 – Purpose
Offering access to an apprenticeship in data, analytics, data science or leadership needs to be aligned with a very clear purpose for taking a place. After all, you are asking a colleague to spend at least 12 months undertaking formal training which will have an impact on their day job, whether the scheme is aimed at upskilling non-data practitioners to make them your next intake to the data office or at giving data scientists a different way to achieve a Masters-level qualification.
For that reason, it is important to be clear about how the choice of apprenticeships you offer aligns with your organisation’s competency framework. If there is a direct connection with the ability to progress in their career (or perhaps for it to be essential to do so), it will help to make the one day a week of studying on top of their existing workload easier to tolerate.
An important tip based on multiple conversations with organisations that have introduced apprenticeships – don’t start at the wrong level. If the goal is to develop a truly data-driven organisation by upskilling across the board, level 3 data apprenticeships (equivalent to an A-level) are enough. Don’t think that degree-level schemes (levels 4-6) will be appealing when the demands they make could be too great.
2 – Pounds
For large organisations in the UK, schemes are funded out of the apprenticeship levy which they are already paying. If the overall wage bill is higher than £3 million, 0.5% is being taken into the levy fund and can be regained by spending it on apprenticeships (minus a £15,000 slice). Indeed, it must be spent within 24 months or be lost to the Treasury, which helps to give impetus and urgency.
Data is a relative late comer to apprenticeships which makes it critical for chief data officers to talk to their chief people officer (or equivalent). It may be that the levy has already been accounted for by other functions with longer-term investment into skills. Equally, the CPO may not be aware that data apprenticeships are an option. Finding out early will help to avoid missing the boat.
3 – Provider
An external, accredited apprenticeship training provider is essential. These are specialists who understand exactly what is involved – there is a lot of bureaucracy involved all round and training provision has to meet specific Government-mandated standards. DataIQ does not offer apprenticeships because we are not a training company, however our commercial partners like Corndel and Multiversehave a track record in delivering for their clients.
Your organisation may already have a relationship with an apprenticeship training provider. However, they may not focus on data and analytics or have those options available, so working with a domain-specialist is more likely to be effective.
4 – Projects
On-the-job training is a major part of what makes apprenticeships attractive, especially to workers who may not have chosen to enter tertiary education or who struggled in secondary education. The practical application of the skills they are learning brings them to life and gives a sense of purpose.
To support this, as a data officer sitting at the centre of data apprenticeships, you need to be certain there are projects available for students to work on. This is especially important at the higher-levels – data scientists get bored easily, while students hoping to get involved in some cutting-edge Masters-level work could become disillusioned and wash out.
5 – Progress
With apprenticeships lasting from one to five years, this is not a simple hire-and-deploy exercise. The organisation, the data office and the students all need to maintain momentum through to completion, otherwise the investment will fail to deliver the expect return in talent.
Much of the bureaucracy noted above involves the completion of workbooks and reports by students, training providers and employers. As a CDO or leader of the apprenticeship scheme, this can become an added burden in itself which may drag. Think about how progress will be encouraged and incentivised as part of the overall plan right from the start.
There are many examples of successful apprenticeship schemes being run by members of the DataIQ community from the smaller scale like Costa Coffee to large-scale, enterprise-wide programmes like those at JLR and Marks & Spencer.
With attention focused on apprenticeships this week, it is the ideal moment to explore how a data apprenticeship might help to build your own data talent funnel.
