Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week

This week, we have been celebrating National Apprenticeship Week. We have offered apprenticeships for several years, and we currently have two apprentices – you can hear from one of them below.  We also have two members of staff who completed their apprenticeships with us and now have permanent contracts.

Our dynamic Apprenticeship Programme offers a structured, meaningful, and rewarding programme for both the Apprentice and the business. The programme has easily identifiable milestones for the Apprentice, and we encourage them to develop and thrive in the workplace. We operate our Apprenticeship Programme in line with the ‘IIP’ Apprenticeship standard, which centres around three supporting pillars.

The Teign Academy is our exciting training, learning and professional development platform for employees. As an Investors in People ‘Platinum’ employer, Teign Housing actively supports the professional development of its staff. The Teign Academy is the umbrella under which most training and development activities are managed. The Teign Academy will encourage and support employees to:

• Acquire the skills, knowledge and qualifications required to fulfil their roles and duties.
• Develop talent to meet future staffing needs.
• Adapt to changes in procedures, operations, and emerging technologies.

To celebrate National Apprenticeship Week, we interviewed our Human Resources Apprentice, Leah, to find out, in her words, what she loves about her apprenticeship programme…

What initially sparked your interest in an HR apprenticeship?

What initially sparked my interest was my tutor from my previous apprenticeship. I completed an apprenticeship before this one, where I worked in a different office in an administrative role and took on small HR duties with the HR manager. I had spoken with my tutor at college about this, and she told me about the CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate in People Practice. I looked on Indeed and found that Teign Housing was offering the exact qualifications for an apprentice. To me, this seemed the perfect fit and the right next step for me to begin my career in HR.

What stood out to you about an apprenticeship with Teign Housing?

I was looking for a local employer who was offering the CIPD Level 3 Foundation Certificate, and Teign Housing was offering the right opportunity at the right time. I saw that Teign Housings’ values matched my own, and as a result, it seemed the right step for me.

What’s the most challenging part of your role?

 The most challenging part of my role is getting everything right. I make mistakes sometimes, which I can beat myself up about, but I know that as an apprentice, I have the time to learn from my mistakes and have a great support network around me to help me through any difficulties.

What’s the best part of your apprenticeship?

The best part of my apprenticeship has definitely been the self-confirmation that this is what I want to do career wise. It has helped shape my view of my own life and helped bring a lot more certainty to what I want to do.  I love learning the recruitment side of HR, I find this to be the most interesting, and I have developed and progressed lots in terms of my knowledge of recruitment.

What skills have you developed/achieved during your time at Teign Housing?

I have developed and achieved many skills during my time at Teign. As I said above, learning all things recruitment has been something I’ve found really interesting. This has helped me to develop skills such as my organisational skills and how to prioritise tasks for the day.

How has the Teign Academy Apprenticeship Programme supported you in your role at Teign Housing?

The Teign Academy Apprenticeship Programme has supported me in my role as it has helped me go back and reflect on what has gone well or not so well and what my next steps for further development will be. I have found it beneficial to take the time to go back through and think about what I have achieved so far and the direction I’m headed towards.

What are your future career goals?

I would like to go on to complete my CIPD Level 5 in People Management and widen my knowledge of all things HR and the different issues that HR deals with on a day-to-day basis.