Apprenticeship is as much a passing of tradition as it is a training method for David Larsen, Executive Chef for British Columbia’s Painter’s Lodge and April Point Resort.
A seasoned chef, David Larsen earned his Red Seal in Ontario, and has since mentored more than 50 apprentices throughout his career and is a strong supporter of the program. So strong, in fact, that he views apprenticeship as “the means of keeping the art and passion of the profession alive and that without it we are nothing.”
With an estimated 11,000 cooks and chefs needed over the next decade, it’s no surprise that BC’s food and beverage industry is stretched in finding committed, career-driven talent. With such hot and high demand, apprenticeship is one of the best ways for employers to fill the gaps, keep the career thriving, and offer proven workplace training.
Apprenticeship undoubtedly increases the level of practical knowledge held by the employees that participate in the program and ensures that experienced employees have an opportunity to pass their expertise down to the next generation of workers.
What is Your Role?
Apprenticeship is a partnership between you the employer and the cook. When you hire an apprentice you commit to a journey that includes coaching, training, directing and leading a committed individual down the very path that has garnered your career success.
You must provide employment for the apprentice to accumulate the required hours. But more than just a job, employers must create a working environment where the passing along of knowledge and skills is the focus on the partnership.
Yours to Gain
Apprenticeship programs have recently been changed to aim at making the system more flexible and less prescriptive. For example, there is now more flexibility in terms of ratios of journeypersons to apprentices you are required to maintain in your workplace. Otherwise, completion requirements and procedures remain basically the same.
Changes to the industry training system are intended to provide more flexibility, improved delivery of technical training, and better training outcomes. From your perspective, another key benefit will be efforts to better align training with current industry requirements. These changes will be of benefit to apprentices and all other industry training participants and stakeholders because the quality of work the apprentice will be able to produce should be on point with that of industry expectations.
Apprenticeship is a true win for employers. The opportunity to choose people to work for you who have already expressed and demonstrated their career interest as well as having been coached by a credible name in the industry validates the program’s immense value. The structure, tools and resources available help you teach coveted industry skills the right way, the first time.
Apprentices bring dedication, a positive attitude, and passion to the workplace. They are serious about their success and are ready to soak up the knowledge that awaits them working alongside a leader in the field. Committed apprentices are driven by a desire to learn from the best and to better themselves to a high level of skill and professionalism in the industry.
According to Barry Ladell, owner of the Longwood Brew Pub in Nanaimo, “It’s a win-win scenario. We, the employer, benefit from the skill, passion, and stability of our apprentices, while the apprentice has a venue to achieve his or her personal goal of becoming a chef. The industry, as a whole, is perpetuated and benefits from an increased workforce of talented and proven chefs.”
