Engaging parents at FDM Group became a priority when the company launched its first degree apprenticeship.
We launched a Digital Technology Solutions degree apprenticeship at FDM in 2022 and with it came a new, predominantly younger, candidate demographic.
Why engage parents?
We had many years of experience working with graduates and placement students but had no footprint in the early careers market. We had no significant brand presence around apprenticeships and we knew that we wouldn’t be able to automatically compete with more established programmes at bigger, more well-known companies.
We also knew that degree apprenticeships require hard work, resilience, commitment and a positive mindset and whilst we’d built in a strong mentoring component, we knew that parents would be an important stakeholder group both in terms of conversion and staying the course.
When it comes to taking the next steps in their careers, Springpod and Amberjack’s 2023 Gen Z Careers Report singles parents out as the single most important influence - 62% of respondents said they look to parents and carers for careers advice and support.
With this in mind, and with some initial trepidation, instead of bypassing parents we made a conscious decision to embrace them.
Engaging parents at FDM Group
We invited successful candidates to attend a welcome event in our offices a month before their start date so that they could meet their peers and FDM staff in relaxed surroundings and extended the invitation to parents, carers and significant others.
Initially the focus was on conversion – providing parents with insights into our company culture, values and career opportunities would, we hoped, encourage candidates to commit to their place and reduce the number of drop-outs in the run up to the start.
Our exec team sponsor introduced the evening and spent time with each candidate and their significant other and many talked about how much they valued the opportunity to visualise their child’s workplace environment as well as relief at not having to worry about expensive university fees.
We timed the event with A Level results and raised a toast to their success in achieving the academic grades needed.
Business support
Recognising that an employment contract can initially be an intimidating document our Legal and People teams got involved, providing a Q&A session and answering questions around terms and conditions, salaries and what would happen if things didn’t go to plan.
Some parents had read every line of the contract and had many questions, others simply valued an opportunity to understand the responsibilities on both sides.
If parents felt informed, we felt sure that the apprentices would also feel more secure in their career decisions but we also wanted to manage parental expectations in the apprentice journey.
We asked parents to be their child’s sponsor – to support and encourage them throughout the programme, challenge them if needed and celebrate their successes – but also to allow them to take responsibility for their own experience.
We made it clear that their role was not to directly advocate or negotiate on their child’s behalf and to allow them to develop these important life skills.
We still have the odd renege but we’ve also had a lot of positive feedback, minimal apprentice drop-outs and parents who have stuck to their role in the apprentice journey.
What started as a pilot has now become a standard part of our on-boarding process and an important part of our outreach programme.