Optimising your Apprenticeship Levy in the NHS
Although the NHS faces ongoing strategic challenges, the Apprenticeship Levy offers an important resource to upskill its workforce.
Leveraging this funding is pivotal for implementing robust learning and development strategies, vital for the NHS's long-term sustainability.
Investing in apprenticeships brings the NHS closer to its goals of improving patient-centred care.
Now that you understand the intricacies of the Apprenticeship Levy, the final question should be how to take full advantage of these funds. Here are some steps you can consider.
Step 1
Establish clear management accountabilities for maximising the Levy and allocate appropriate resources. Your team should:
- Create a strategy to maximize the Levy
- Properly implement it
- Manage it on an ongoing basis
- Review and adjust the strategy based on progress
Step 2
Have a clear, ambitious, long-term strategy.
- For example, over the next 3 years we are going to invest £4 million of our Levy in developing X, Y and Z corporate capabilities to support our organisational objectives
- Be clear about the intended business impact
- Get board approval and buy-in. It’s a multimillion pound investment in your people
Step 3
Integrate, join up and communicate. HR and L&D leaders should:
- Actively champion the understanding of what an apprenticeship can be within the organisation
- Ensure the strategy for spending the Levy is integrated across the organisation
Step 4
Secure buy-in from the highest levels of the organisation:
- Actively involve, seek endorsement and build champions for the organisation’s Levy strategy. If the Levy strategy is aligned with corporate objectives and backed by senior stakeholders, the pace at which it can be mobilised will be far quicker and its long-term impact greater.
- Without the cooperation of senior leaders, the programme can’t succeed. This is more than merely declaring support for learning and development, your leaders must prioritise providing employees with dedicated time for learning despite their busy schedules.
Step 5
Find the right strategic partner.
- A great partner will invest time in understanding your business and assist in identifying your training priorities to ensure they are seamlessly integrated into the apprenticeship program.
- At Corndel, we work with you to build apprenticeship programmes to meet your training needs. We tailor our apprenticeship with programmes to meet the objectives of the organisations we work with.