Learning and development can be tricky to get right in the workplace. Not only are your employees already working full time, but they’re also at different stages of their career progression. How can you be sure that you’re enriching each person with the tools they need to take the next big step in their position?
Our degree level apprenticeships are a flexible, enjoyable and impactful solution to skill gaps that might be preventing your employees from moving forward. To help you decide if degree level apprenticeships are right for your business’ L&D programme, we asked Barts Health NHS Trust in London about their positive experience.
Apprentice Rahela Ali, Research Management and Government Officer, and Kevin Garay, Apprentice Manager, shared their thoughts with us.
Career growth
Barts Health have 15,000 staff in their trust with 5 hospitals and 6 sites. To ensure their employees are engaged and happy, they offer our degree level apprenticeships so employees are equipped with the skills to progress. Rahela decided to take up the opportunity.
Rahela already had a longstanding, successful career in the Trust – but something was missing.
“I have a lot of experience in the Trust. I worked my way up to my role at the moment. To go to the next step, I needed a qualification to better my experiences and that’s why I’ve pursued this apprenticeship,” she said.
As for the learning experience, Rahela felt that it was as engaging and interesting as she’d hoped.
"I’m very passionate about learning. These modules have been really interesting for me. It’s been challenging, but I enjoy learning. Every time I submit a module, I get a buzz. Every time I get a result, I get a buzz!”
Impact in the workplace
Rahela had already achieved success in her role, so she needed a apprenticeship that was relevant and applicable to her progression.
From Rahela’s perspective, the apprenticeship wasn’t just interesting and fun – it also had a positive impact on her day-to-day working life.
“I feel like a new person going through life. My career had such a long break, and I didn’t have time for myself. Now it’s time for me – time to do what I love.”
Kevin agreed that he has seen advancements in Rahela’s skills.
“Her strategic planning has improved, and her communication skills and confidence have also increased greatly,” he said.
Why Arden?
Like many other employees at Barts Trust, Rahela was juggling work commitments with family life. She needed a simple, high-quality course that would allow her to learn and grow without taking up too much of her time.
“My favourite thing about studying with Arden is the flexibility that I have. I work full time, and it gives me the work-home life balance,” she said.
From an employer’s perspective, Kevin also recognised the importance of choosing a learning programme that was suitable and flexible to the individual needs of the apprentices at Barts Trust.
Hearing from Kevin, we can understand he did.
“We’ve been with Arden for 4 years. We’ve found their approach to delivery to be very flexible and meet a lot of our staff’s needs – bearing in mind that they are employed full time and studying alongside.”
“I feel like a new person”
Career progression isn’t just a priority for employees – it should be on all businesses’ radars too. Learning and development opportunities can help drive increased engagement and better employee retention.
You already have successful employees, so why not supercharge their success with degree level apprenticeships.
At Arden University, we recognise that your employees’ work commitments sometimes mean it’s impractical to take time away to study in a classroom. That’s why we provide degree-level apprenticeships with our innovative digital-first learning experience. With 24/7 access to our virtual classroom, ilearn, plus a host of other resources, including video lectures, library resources and interactive content.
As an employer, you’ll get access to reports so you can easily track their progression and performance.
Get in contact today to learn how you can make use of our accessible, flexible and relevant to the real-world courses. Reach out to us at degreeapprenticeships@arden.ac.uk.
