So… WHY!
I often get asked, why did I set up Apprentify and what were the reasons?

To take that step away from working in a corporate world and in employment was a really hard decision.  Moving away from that safety blanket was so daunting. Then there was the mere fact that I wanted to start a new business from from an idea with just myself at the helm and in an regulated / audited industry with all its pit falls and policies.

Looking back the businesses that I had worked in were either extremely large (one of the largest UK employers) or a medium sized employer.  What they all had was a differing range of culture and reasons for existence.

I knew though, that I wanted to do the right thing. It was not about profit, not about sales revenues or numbers but about getting it right for our apprentices and the employer. I knew that if I got the principles right and the culture then the numbers, sales and profits would follow.

The first thing to get right was the team with the right behaviours. I knew for example that my head of curriculum was right straight away. He had just come away from 3AAA after their demise and his first words were why am I doing what I doing and what would I do to make it right for the apprentice. Straight away I knew that he was right and had the right behaviours amongst being one of the best curriculum designs and coaches out there.

All the way through my journey the team that I have recruited has been for the right behavours and correct attitudes. Even though we are small our culture is so important. The employees will shape the business and what it stands for.  As we get bigger I will influence it but it will be the first group of employees that will drive it and influence those underneath them.

In our meetings we don’t discuss sales metrics or costs or profits we talk about how can we make it better, its that simple. If it is broke, how do we make it better. If it is excellent, how do we make it better. If we can control it, how do we do the right thing.

Our mission is to energise talent and unleash potential in the digital world. So passion is important especially as a new business. We all have to do things that may not be in the dreaded job description. I dislike JDs they pigeon hole talent. In businesses I have worked in, when I heard those words ‘its not my job’ chills were sent down my spine. So those four words are banned at Apprentify. Agility is promoted or as we put it ‘Freedom within a Framework’.

This leads to our business GROWTH objectives. We designed these with the apprentice (and the employer) at the heart of everything we do. These objectives are woven through everything we do from our quality improvement plan through individual KPIs. GROWTH is within everything we do.

By using the GROWTH objections throughout everything we do, we have designed the best programme on the market (in my view!). Implemented the best technologies (in my view). Recruited the best behaviours and attitudes (with the right skill obviously, in my view).

This meant we have looked at every angle, from recruiting apprentices through to the training, to ensure that we have the best solutions and it is the right thing for the apprentice and employer. No stone has been left unturned and everyone has got involved.  Every employee has done something that would not be in their dreaded job description.  However, the team have done it because they know it is the right thing for the apprentice or employer and finally the business.

Now, has it been easy? Simply put, NO. At every turn we have faced some form of issue or set back. However, as the team has the right behaviours and attitudes, it has meant we have been agile enough to find a solution, and in some instances have made it even better.

Will we face issues in the future, no doubt we will.  There will be mistakes and there will be errors but we will celebrate these as it is the actions after that will ensure it doesn't happen again.

So again, why do we do what we do?

Well as our mission statement says we want to… energise talent and unleash potential in the digital world. We strive to provide every learner with the knowledge, skills and resources to confidently develop themselves and their business through digital excellence.

Well that’s the official mission. Simply put…

We want to do the right thing across everything we do