Level 5 HR Apprentice Review

My role within Santander is a Level 5 HR Apprentice. Throughout my 3 year apprenticeship course I will be rotating every 6 months into different AOE's within the function to get a better understanding of as many aspects of HR as possible. I am currently in the HR Operations Partner team.

Yes. Since joining Santander I have been able to develop my communication and networking skills and have been able to build strong relationships with my colleagues. I have also started working on my CIPD Diploma. Santander have enrolled me on training courses internally such as behaviours, unconscious Bias, Emergenetics and many more enabling me to build my knowledge on different aspects of HR. In general though I have been able to learn and understand what HR does as a function and given the chance to demonstrate what I have learnt in the real world environment.

I really enjoy my program here at Santander. The teams which I have worked with so far are very supportive and treat me as a colleague and not an apprentice which really makes me feel good about coming into work. While working at Santander I have always woken up with a smile and enjoyed coming to work. The company as a whole should be really proud of the apprenticeship schemes they offer. The culture within the bank is brilliant and really friendly to not only apprentices but also the staff. The apprenticeship so far has exceeded all of my expectations and I can not wait to see what lies ahead!

I feel that Santander do value me as an apprentice but also as an employee. This balance I feel is what some companies cant get right, but with Santander they value me as an employee to deliver, but also as an apprentice with my education pieces and the "Future of Work"

From the start at the indiction, through to the training, and support that Santander provide the structure was amazing and I did not expect the induction to the business that we had it was incredible! the studying that is provided through BPP could be improved but this is not to reflect badly on Santander as our concerns were raised and supported by Santander to try and improve the service that BPP provide. The support structure provided by our apprenticeship managers is also amazing, we are in constant communication with them if we were to ever need them. In regards to Task delegation, hierarchical structures; Santander have ensured that as my apprenticeship progresses and I feel more comfortable I have been more involved in bigger projects or pieces of work which has really helped me to progress. Hierarchically I have been treated as any other member of staff when it comes to working and have been given the opportunity to progress through the hierarchical structure to improve my people management skills on projects. On Hierarchical structure though I do believe that apprentices that are L5 and above should not be within the S1 Population, I believe due to the nature of the work they undertake within the business and there future prospects I believe they should join the business within the S2 population, or at least see this progression during their apprenticeship like the graduates.

BPP as a training provider are not the best. At the start of the course there was a lot of issues that needed to be rectified such as confusing instructions, and multiple timetables that did not match up. Conversations were had with BPP to try and rectify this however this process was slow and took some time. As the scheme has gone on they have started to improve and have made some of the relevant changes we asked for. There are still problems that need to be resolved, such as too many communicaitons sent out to apprentices regarding different things, these should all be included in 1 communication in my opinion otherwise they are all covered in work emails. Calendar invites to webinars should also be included with the link to access the webinar instead of a reminder a week before from the VLE. Escalation paths need to be made clearer for when issues arise. Having said all of this the tutors that teach and people who mark the assignments are very supportive and always try to help where possible. It is just a shame BPP don't have the correct framework to help the people who are trying to support the students. If I was to re-do this I would look to send students to university face to face 1 day a week.

My whole line management team are very supportive and I know where to go to get this.

Due to me living so far away from my base in Leicester it is quite costly for me to get to and from work, around £300 per month. When I do travel off site and go to the London and Milton Keynes offices all of my travel costs are paid for as well as food allowances. The salary should be consistent throughout the apprentices who work within different functions in the business such as T&O. I know from speaking with some of them that they earn a considerable amount more than us HR apprentices who are all based in the same location with the same EOY ratings and I can not understand why this is.

My CIPD membership which is provided through my apprenticeship enables me to attend events outside of work to do with HR. I am invited to outside of work meals with the teams that I work with. Due to the WISE schemes, and discovery days at Santander it does enable the staff to go out and help the local community. Due to my longer commute to and from the office now It has meant that I don't spend as much time with my friends as I used too, but this is to be expected.

Yes

Overall the apprenticeship scheme that is provided by Santander is one of the best. The roles, support, place of work, equipment is all the best that can be offered to an apprentice. I do feel that this apprenticeship scheme in particular could do with some improvements, such as the level that Level 5 apprentices enter the business, the lower salaries compared to other apprentices across the bank, and other teething issues that were to be expected seen as though this was the first year that HR had apprentices. But overall I couldn't have asked for a better way to start my career in HR than the HR apprenticeship program at Santander.

The application process right through to getting into work is very well organised and you are in constant conversation with Santander. My advice to anyone going through this process would be to be yourself, don't try and be someone you aren't. If you don't know the answer to the questions they ask then ask them to explain; and always remember, no question is a silly question! The one thing I would have liked to have been told is my location in advance to joining the business, as this would have given me the time to make any necessary changes, as I was under the impression that I would be able to choose, however they chose for me.