When looking for an end-to-end apprenticeship delivery system, Locomotivation selected Aptem for its design, focus on compliance and partnership approach.

Founded over twenty years ago, Locomotivation specialises in Active Leisure, Hospitality, Aviation and Retail, among many other apprenticeships.

Upon making the strategic decision to move away from paper-based processes and cut down on the number of systems to maintain, Locomotivation began considering its options for an end-to-end apprenticeship delivery solution. Discussions picked up speed during the Covid-19 pandemic, as the need for a seamless digital approach increased, and remote working made compliance challenges more difficult to manage.

When assessing the market, Locomotivation was keen to find a partner that could bring their teams together and provide guidance throughout implementation, as well as offering a highly functional platform for apprenticeship management. They selected Aptem and began the process of implementation in 2022.

Benefits of Aptem

Despite still being in the early stages of embedding Aptem within the organisation, Locomotivation is already seeing some clear benefits. The first is as a result of the significant emphasis the team placed on creating an informative and engaging onboarding experience for apprentices and employers.

Creating a beautiful entrance to apprenticeship programmes

Wanting to ensure apprentices and employers were suitably prepared for their apprenticeship, Locomotivation decided to provide comprehensive information about each programme upfront, as part of onboarding. By surfacing this information early on, the team could spark enthusiasm within their apprentices, accurately set expectations for the workload and content of the programme, and get employers involved in the journey from the outset. As Matt Williams, Operations Director explains, “by providing extensive and engaging information about the programme upfront, all apprentices and employers are clear about the programme expectations ahead of signing their commitment. This helps us to ensure we are enrolling the right apprentices for the right programmes. We’ve seen a reduction in dropouts from people that we’ve signed up through Aptem, versus people that we signed up without Aptem.”

Not only is their onboarding informative, it’s also highly engaging from a apprentice perspective. The team leveraged Aptem’s HTML templates to create landing pages with design elements and imagery that truly bring the process to life. According to Lee Pitts, ICT Manager, “We’ve created a beautiful entrance to the programme. We’ve been able to share a lot of the information apprentices need ahead of their programme, along with steps like BKSB functional skills assessment and cognitive assessment, all within the onboarding journey.”

This approach has made a significant impact on the quality and consistency of the onboarding experience, which varied according to tutor and location prior to implementing Aptem. As Matt says, “it’s definitely made us more consistent in our approach. Whether a trainer is signing someone up in Bournemouth or Newcastle, we can be confident that the sign-up process they go through is equally informative and engaging.”

Further benefits identified by Locomotivation

• Faster onboarding with fewer errors. The replacement of paper processes means the team no longer has to wait to receive paper copies of forms and documents, then manually check for errors or omissions. The apprenticeship journey has been designed to capture all the right data at the right time, reducing the chance of delays and the need to chase additional information.
• Improvements to consistency and quality. Introducing Aptem has made the team more consistent in their approach to interacting with apprentices and delivering learning materials. As Sarah-Jane Bowley, Quality Manager at Locomotivation explains, “before Aptem, it was difficult to control what was shared by each tutor, which led to a lot of variation in materials. Aptem has helped us create a big shift in the quality of teaching and learning materials, and we now have a very standardised approach.”
• Enhancements to the apprentice experience. apprentices have fed back how much they like the fact that everything they need is provided in a single place, and that it’s very easy to communicate with their tutors via the platform.
• Increased confidence in reporting and compliance. The introduction of Aptem has enabled the team to make better use of their data and has improved specific processes such as the submission of Individual Learner Record (ILR) claims. Lisa Stratton, Senior Administrator explains that “everything is easier to manage now we have a system that knows all the answers. We can check our Power BI reports for data, it’s very simple from an ILR claim perspective, and we know that we’re collecting the right information at the right time.”
• Reduced reliance on MIS team members for information. Due to the set-up of their previous system, the team had been reliant on their IT colleagues to gather reports and insights for them. The pre-built reports in Aptem mean they can now find the right information themselves, whenever they need it.

As Georgina Burton, Locomotivation’s Implementation Consultant shares, “It’s been a joy to work with the Locomotivation team and to see them bring so much thought and creativity to the process. Their collaborative approach truly contributed to the success of the implementation. They ensured representation from each team throughout the project, meaning they could avoid any surprises and deliver a system that works for the entire organisation.”

If you’re keen to find out more about Aptem Apprentice, the solution selected by Locomotivation for their apprenticeship delivery, get in touch or book your demo.

You can also find out more about Aptem Apprentice here.