AN APPRENTICESHIP FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF TECHS

PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

AN APPRENTICESHIP FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF TECHS

Apprenticeships; genuine jobs with accompanying assessment and skills development programmes, a way for individuals to earn while they learn, gaining valuable skills and knowledge in a specific job role. This is all gained through a mix of learning in the workplace, formal offthe-job training and, crucially, the opportunity to practice new skills in a real work environment. Apprenticeships benefit employers and individuals, with big picture benefits of a skilled workforce improving economic productivity.

Apprenticeships are also a productive and effective way for any business to grow talent and develop a motivated, skilled and qualified workforce; at least that’s what the leaflet states. The statistics paint a similarly rosy picture; employers who have an established apprenticeship programme reported that productivity in their workplace had improved by 76% whilst 75% reported that apprenticeships improved the quality of their product or service. Add to that a reduction in staff turnover and recruitment costs, a lower minimum wage requirement for apprentices, no employer National Insurance contributions for salaries up to the higher rate tax bracket and some extra cash inducements for certain groups and you have a neat package of benefits. The thing is, up until now, apprenticeships haven’t featured too heavily in the recruitment and development plans of rental houses, with most relying on in-house training programmes that had little or no external training element and attracted none of the funding associated with apprenticeships. It seems that this was due to a lack of real understanding on the part of colleges and training providers about the needs of employers.

Basically, any sector that could put together a group of 10 or more employers could express an interest in developing an Apprenticeship Standard. At that time we contacted a bunch of employers, suggesting that we might want to get together and look at possibilities, the response

was overwhelmingly positive. What seems like a lifetime ago, a dozen or so people sat round a table at PRG Longbridge, introduced themselves to each other and described how they dealt with new trainees. The methods were very similar; take a new person, give them a trip through all the departments and get department heads to sign off when they’ve reached a suitable level, eventually turning out people with the skills, knowledge and behaviours for a life of work with live event technology. With so many similarities, it was little surprise when everyone agreed to develop a standard. Around 3 years ago, Government overhauled the apprenticeship system, switching to an employer-led method of development, we thought it looked interesting. approach, a Live Event Technician Apprenticeship.

To cut a long story medium (there’s a word count to achieve here), there was swift agreement on how to describe the job and the knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs) required of a practitioner in our field. That was the easy bit, taking the KSBs delivered and developed in existing traineeships and putting them, along with a job description, on two sides of A4 paper.

That journey through the departments was placed at the root of the apprenticeship, it’s stood many in good stead for a career in our industry. What followed was a tortuously drawn out process to develop methods of assessing against those KSBs, fitting our agreed requirements into an ever-changing template. One of the most attractive elements of the new

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PSA: THE BIGGER PICTURE

apprenticeship standards is the end point assessment. Instead of apprentices being assessed on elements that can subsequently be forgotten, the end point assessment is designed as a holistic test of all that has been learned, delivered in a manner suited to the sector. It didn’t take much to agree that our end point assessment should be highly practical, demonstrating the ability to build systems from the drawing board to operation. While the original group of employers shrank as companies completed mergers and acquisitions, heavy doses of tenacity, determination and patience led to the recent, eventual publication of the Live Event Technician Apprenticeship. Brilliant, fantastic, break out the party poppers... what now?

One key benefit that we saw with the new method of development is the way that the apprenticeship is designed around the needs of the employer; this also needs to be reflected in delivery and assessment. No longer should employers compromise, providers need to innovate. Lucky then that we have a National College for Creative and Cultural Skills as well as a growing network of colleges and providers that come under the wing of UK Music’s Music Academic Partnership. We’ve already spoken with The National College and to be honest, they’re speaking our language. Flexible delivery, a network of trainers and assessors, options for in house delivery and pooled resources are all on the table. Recruitment shouldn’t be an issue either, especially considering existing staff can be switched to apprenticeships. The Department for Education are also engaged, with people to support organisations like the PSA in their efforts to spread the Apprenticeship word to SME members.

Of course, the input of the employers has been key to getting to where we are now, but continued input from those with the experience to drive quality training and effective assessment is essential. One individual who, along with helping with the final push over the line, has switched focus from running a company to developing new talent. Former HPSS Director, Linda Cressey explained: “I have come across many training schemes and courses for this industry of ours in the 30 years in which I have worked in and on the industry, and although some have covered areas required I don’t think I have come across one which ticked all the boxes, until now.

“How could they, as this industry has such a varied skill base and group of companies within it, several with a touch of the creative personality mixed in. During the last 20 years huge changes have taken place both in equipment capabilities and client requirements, legal requirement and constitutional needs. Companies come and companies go however the need for a skilled work force with the flare for the wow factor remains.

“That is why I have left HPSS, a company I was a Director at for some 16 years to work with colleagues and companies both big and small to assist in the delivery and development of this Live Event Technicians Apprenticeship. During the Hull City of Culture 2017, I put this forward as part of the legacy arm of City of Culture and lo and behold after a conversation with Andy at the Production Services Association I wasn’t the only one working on it. In December 2018 the standard was published, the best Christmas gift last year.

“Apprenticeship work on more than intellectual basic skills so they include those individuals not necessarily academically skilled, you work with and among skilled people already in the industry you want to join and be a member of, what better learning platform is there? You build a contact base for the future and have the ability to impress through work.

“This apprenticeship standard has been written for the industry, by the Industry, what could be more advantageous? How substantially qualified for the industry will be these apprentices with this foundation? The standard has been written published and accepted, what’s next? Ensuring the delivery meets this standard and is accepted throughout all sectors of live events, this will take cohesion and collective thinking from a diverse group of companies and pools of skilled people. This is what I want to ensure to the best of my ability happens. I whole heartedly believe in this and the future of this…

“And for the future, well this is a level 3 apprenticeship, there is still level 4 and then level 5 (equivalent to a degree) to go, this is just the beginning.”

A final note; none of this would have been possible without the determined efforts of our Trailblazer Group Chair, John McEvoy, whose tenacity and patience in the face of bureaucracy and endless delays saw the project to a successful conclusion. TPi www.psa.org.uk

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