When you’re looking to make dinner, what type of cook are you? Are you the grab-and-go type, that picks whatever ingredients you have and creates something, or are you the meticulous follow-a-recipe kind that cooks to a specified plan?
Saras Sarasvathy coined the concept ‘Curry in a Hurry’ to describe two kinds of entrepreneur. Neither cook is better than the other, neither cook is right, the difference is simply the way in which each cook works with that they have. Entrepreneurs work with what they have, doing the doable and pushing the boundaries, money is often not the resource that they prioritise – instead focus is on figuring out how they can do more for less.
Control is something most would express as a desired quality, but when things go out of our control, we have to utilise what we have, much like picking out what little ingredients we have in our fridge and cooking up a quality meal. In the apprenticeship sector, we have little control over aspects we wish we could change. We can’t control funding bands, the move from frameworks to standards, whether we have a new skills minister or changes to the Ofsted inspection framework.
However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can control – how we utilise the resources we have, how we spend our funding, where we invest energy and money, which employers we choose to work with, which standards we deliver and which technology platforms we choose to use.
But how do you encourage your employers to ‘do more with less’? How can you encourage your employers to use their levy pot on apprenticeship training and how can you keep them engaged? They’re employers, they don’t know what they don’t know about delivering apprenticeships – for some it is a new concept to them entirely. How can they utilise this ‘tax’ they’re now required to pay?
According to a study by MIT Sloan Management Review and Capgemini Consulting, only 20% of technology features are always used or often used, within the software, which results in a significant shortfall of expected return on investment.
Technology has the potential to help you do more with less, to get that employer engagement and support, to reduce the costs of delivering outstanding teaching and learning, to eliminate paperwork.
But there is still a massive gap in fully utilising technology platforms in our sector, which wastes time, money, energy and is a real missed opportunity to deliver more with less to your employers and learners.
So, what type of cook are you? Curry in a hurry, or the same curry every time by following a recipe?
Whichever you are, continue to do you, continue to be the entrepreneurs you are, creating your curry in a hurry, getting more out your technology investment to do more with less.
Smart Apprentices’ digital learning journey seamlessly works together to create an innovative, completely learning journey for apprentices. From onboarding, to on programme, through to off boarding and end point assessment, employers, apprenticeship providers and learners are engaged with the technology platforms to ensure a timely, successful completion.
Our User Engagement Academy has been created for use alongside Smart Assessor, our e-portfolio software and flagship technology platform. The academy features training modules, mapped into the digital learning journey with different levels of competence, from entry level to elite, supported by our Client Account Managers through personal coaching, online resources and group training.
Designed not just to coach users on individual features, but to blend those features into a seamlessly digital learning journey to support your delivery model.
To find out more, contact Smart Apprentices today on 0845 460 4440, or book onto one of our webinars to learn how we can help you create your curry in a hurry.