How to use apprenticeships for Early Years employees to drive business performance and productivity

The growing value of soft skills in organisations

As leadership coach and author Peggy Klaus says, “Soft skills get little respect, but they will make or break your career.” Klaus, who has coached leaders at Google, NASA, and the World Bank, champions the view that core human skills like communication, adaptability, and emotional intelligence are essential for workplace success, especially in times of change.

In today’s rapidly changing work landscape, employing people with the right capabilities, mindset and behaviours is critical to business success. When teams lack these human skills, it can lead to widening skills gaps and increased pressure on others. Yet only 19% of organisations had a written skills plan in place for 2024 (The Open University Business Barometer 2024), highlighting a missed opportunity to proactively develop talent that benefits and future-proofs the company and the individual.

Why apprenticeships are a smarter alternative to graduate schemes

While graduate schemes have long been a traditional entry route into employment, they often come with significant costs for employers and tend to overemphasise theoretical learning over practical application. In contrast, apprenticeships provide role-specific training that is practiced and applied in the flow of an employees work. This modern form of vocational learning is not only highly practical and engaging, but it more effectively embeds new skills and behaviours and leads to faster productivity. Apprenticeships are also fully funded through the apprenticeship levy, with the critical benefit that this on-the-job training comes at no extra cost to the employer.

Beyond delivering qualifications, apprenticeships help organisations build a resilient and skilled workforce. The 2022 report by the Department for Education found that 76% of employers who trained existing employees as apprentices reported improved staff retention, contributing to greater internal progression and enhanced social mobility. It’s no surprise that companies like PwC, Lloyds Banking Group, Google, and Unilever have embraced this apprentice approach to developing future talent.

Apprenticeships: A strategic opportunity for businesses to drive business performance and win the new war for talent

With the UK government actively promoting apprenticeships across all sectors, the apprenticeship levy provides a valuable funding mechanism. Employers with a wage bill over £3 million automatically contribute 0.5% of payroll costs into an apprenticeship levy fund that can be used to recruit new apprentices or upskill existing staff. For businesses facing tighter budgets, this represents a cost-effective way to develop talent and drive performance.

In a world defined by change, core human skills like adaptability, communication, building relationships, managing stakeholders, business or commercial acumen and resilience are no longer optional. They’re essential for performance, innovation and growth. Yet in a busy working environment, these skills can be difficult to nurture and develop.

The Level 3 (‘Team Leader’) Leadership and Management Apprenticeship offers a structured and scaffolded approach to embedding these highly transferable skills. By giving Early Years employees and entry-level graduates access to a modern management development programme, organisations can equip them with the core capabilities needed to fast-track their progression into managerial roles.

For Millennials and entry-level talent, development sits at the top of their career wish list. When choosing an employer after school, college, or university, they prioritise opportunities to gain transferable skills that support long-term social and career mobility.

The urgency for continuous upskilling is clear. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report (2025), 39% of core skills are expected to be disrupted or become obsolete within five years. In response, 42% of Millennials say they’re likely to leave a job if they’re not learning enough (McKinsey).

At the same time, demand for human-centred skills is accelerating. As AI takes over more routine tasks, uniquely human capabilities are becoming key to individual and organisational success. These skills are now among the most in-demand areas for development — not just among employees, but among employers seeking to drive future business performance.

There’s strong alignment at the top, too: 69% of CEOs believe that Generative AI will require most of their workforce to develop new skills within the next three years (PwC’s Annual Global CEO Survey, 2024).

So, what are those skills?

According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report 2025, the top 10 skills in demand in the next 5 years are these predominantly human skills:

Analytical thinking
Creative thinking
AI and big data
Leadership and social influence
Resilience, flexibility and agility
Curiosity and lifelong learning
Technological literacy
Design and user experience
Motivation and self awareness
Empathy and active listening

Conclusion: Use your levy to build the workforce you need

Strategically using your apprenticeship levy isn’t just a tick-box exercise, it’s a powerful opportunity to invest in your people and future-proof your organisation, in a cost-effective and time efficient way.

Apprenticeships provide a practical, scalable way to embed these core human and management capabilities across departments in the workforce, whether you're nurturing new talent or upskilling experienced employees. As Stephen Isherwood, joint CEO at the Institute of Student Employers, advises, aligning your skills strategy with business strategy is key to unlocking long-term impact and securing board-level buy-in.

You can watch the webinar here >> for expert tips on how to build a compelling business case to upskill your talent by using the apprenticeship levy.

And the best part? It’s already paid for. The apprenticeship levy gives you the funding — now’s the time to use it to build the capabilities that matter most.

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