47. A New Form of Currency During The Great Resignation

What if this structured training system — a system that’s been in place for generations in various trades — became part of your company’s formal recruiting-hiring-development process?

As the employee you receive a comprehensive education about the business that goes far beyond the baseline knowledge required for the job. 

How your job impacts the business: sales, fulfillment, purchasing, finance.

How each person’s contributions drive revenue and profitability. 

How your culture of development and history of churning out rock stars at all levels is your greatest competitive advantage. 

As a job seeker, you’re getting paid two ways:  one in the currency of money, the other currency of experience

You get the benefit of a head start on your career. You’ll be 2-6 years ahead of where you’d be if you went to college first. 

You’re learning the business, the market, the industry. You’re getting professional development opportunities…

Leadership. Presentation skills. Collaboration.

Being surrounded by other high performers who’ve “come up through the ranks” gives you multiple people to go to for advice, wisdom, and mentoring. 

And there’s also another currency… you build loyalty to a company that saw potential in you, sometimes before you saw it in yourself. 

Apprenticeship is not a function of conventional HR;

Rather a new, strategic aspect of your company; 

As important as any other operations team such as sales, fulfillment or purchasing. 

Why not embrace apprenticeship as part of your organizational culture and your overall business strategy? 

The cost vs benefit analysis seems pretty clear. 

It’s my belief that this is the evolution in business and embodies the flexibility that young people are seeking.