Level 5 Global Majority Empowerment Apprenticeship Programme for Existing Managers

In a critical report published in August 2022, the Socio-Economic Diversity Taskforce (led by the City of London Corporation) called on employers to take action to address the stark lack of socio-economic diversity at senior levels, as it threatens productivity, competitiveness, and staff retention.

The cross-industry collaborative survey showed:

• 88% of male senior leaders are white
• 86% of female senior leaders are white
• Ethnic minority females from a working-class background account for just 1% of
  senior positions!

Senior leadership should reflect the same diversity that is in the workforce and communities they serve. To achieve that, we can equip employees from Global Majority backgrounds with the tools and confidence to become the senior leaders of the future.

This is an apprenticeship programme with a difference

Happy has developed this 20-month Empowerment Level 5 Operations or Departmental Manager Apprenticeship programme to support the career and personal development of people from Global Majority backgrounds.

The programme aims to build a more diverse leadership pipeline by equipping current managers with the skills to navigate organisational culture with a clearer perspective on their own potential, building confidence, feeling empowered, and expanding their professional strengths.

After completing the programme, you will understand the strengths that diversity brings, and have the skills to support others to work at their best.

Ideally, conversations around the challenges that those from Global Majority backgrounds face happen when everyone is in the room. But the reality is that in communities where people feel oppressed, they do not always feel safe to talk about it. Here, they can talk about it, process it, and gain the confidence and tools to advocate for change when they are in the room with everyone else.

This programme will give you the opportunity to grow and develop with a personal one-to-one coaching plan. Throughout the course you will have the opportunity to support, manage, and develop team members. You will also be managing projects, delivering operational plans, resolving problems, and building relationships internally and externally. You will receive support with your new skills with expert guidance from your facilitator. This programme will give you the mechanisms and tools to deal with the challenges of an ever-changing workplace.

Benefits of this Programme

An Apprenticeship Programme at Happy comes with serious extra benefits, including:

• A personal training plan, which will be reviewed and adjusted during review meetings with your facilitator, manager, and yourself at intervals during the course.
• Direct one-to-one support from your facilitator with coaching, portfolio building days and workshops built into the structure, but who also frequently go above and beyond to give learners the support they need.
• A carefully held space that will encourage peer-to-peer learning (and network forming)
• Materials and assignments that have been honed over years to offer an experiential learning experience, so you genuinely retain the learning.
• An additional tutor should you need to sit Functional Skills exams.
• The support of a caring admin team to support employers and learners throughout their Apprenticeship programme.

Our programme is based on ideas of trust and freedom, of creating empowerment and innovation – and seeing the manager’s role primarily as coach to bring the best out of people. These ideas were originally outlined as 10 core principles in Henry Stewart's book The Happy Manifesto, and they form a very real foundation of everything we do at Happy.

What key outcomes do we expect?

• Confidence to advocate for yourself and apply for senior management roles.
• Can handle difficult people and difficult situations including unconscious biases and microaggressions in a way that promotes a culture of inclusion.
• Gain the skills to become a credible leader that inspires trust and autonomy for your team and organisation to work at their best.
• Be able to create clear frameworks using effective communication, presentation, and report writing skills.
• Develop project management skills including finance management, strategy, operational management, and time management.

What is the qualification you get when you complete it?

On completion and achievement of this apprenticeship programme, you will gain:

• Operations or Departmental Manager Level 5 apprenticeship qualification and certificate from IfATE (Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education
• Departmental Manager Diploma Digital Certificate of Achievement from the Institute of Leadership
• Automatic route to Membership with the Institute, including postnominal letters (MIoL) and digital credentials
• Automatic route to CMI Chartered Manager status (CMgr MCMI) or CMI Chartered Fellow status (CMgr FCMI)

Our programme is accredited by the Institute of Leadership. This confirms our programme has been independently verified and meets the evidence-based standards of their 5 Dimensions of Leadership: Authenticity, Vision, Achievement, Ownership and Collaboration. We are proud to join a community committed to professionalising the roles of leaders and managers to enhance leadership capability.

The recognition you receive for completing the programme is yours throughout your career. This will give you an edge, enabling you to lead exceptional teams and deliver better outcomes for your customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders.

You will be expected to complete at least 6 working hours per week in ‘off-the-job’ training through the duration of the training programme. These 6 hours per week will include training, coaching, assignments, work activities, projects, research, and reflections.

Download the full outline as a PDF

It is a requirement of all apprenticeships to include English and Maths qualifications. You will be exempt from this requirement if you already have English and Maths GCSE grade A-C (or equivalent) certificates and can provide a copy of these.

How much does it cost?

The full cost of the apprenticeship is £9,000 per person. If your organisation pays the Apprenticeship Levy, then the cost can be met in full from the Levy payments.

If your organisation doesn’t pay the Levy (ie. the payroll is less than £3 million), then the government will meet 95% of the cost of the programme. This means the cost to your organisation would be £450 + VAT per person.

In addition, there is a registration fee of £60 + VAT per person for membership of the Institute of Leadership.