The Apprenticeship Model
Thoughts On Apprenticeship Model
The “Apprenticeship model" refers to a way of learning a skill or trade by working directly alongside a more experienced person, rather than through classroom instruction alone. The core idea: knowledge and skill are transferred through guided, hands-on practice in real working conditions. The trades are famous for taking this approach to learning and business. Enterprise Rent A Car where I worked out of college had a similar approach I think. In their branches they had the following org structure:
Branch Manager
Assistant Branch Manager
Management Assistant
Management Trainee
Extra: Just for the record here is the full management structure of Enterprise Rent A Car. Maybe if I am able to grow this gold business idea and make it super successful we could have something similar way down the road. Some of these roles below paid great and were career jobs for people.
CEO of Enterprise Holdings / Enterprise Mobility
President / CEO of Enterprise Rent-A-Car brand
Group Vice President / Executive Vice President (EVP)
Senior Vice President (SVP)
Regional Vice President (RVP)
Vice President / General Manager (VP/GM)
City/Group/Regional Rental Manager
Area Manager
Branch Manager (BM)
Assistant Manager (AM)
Management Assistant (MA)
Management Trainee (MT)
This structure created an environment that allowed younger less experienced people to learn from more seasoned professionals. It also allowed upper management to concentrate on more important tasks and spread the work load out in the organization. Take for example my physical gold trading business idea. We could have the following in country structure:
Territory CEO/Director
Vice President
Associate
This structure allows the organization to continue running if the head person is not there. You have a built in management structure in case someone quits or leaves. The thing about Enterprise was there were a lot of hungry people trying to get ahead. The culture was one where people wanted to be there and one that facilitated strong management practices.
I had an investor tell me once he liked businesses where people had some upward mobility. I brought him a food franchise business that was for sale and he did not like it because he thought there were limited options for people to advance past a certain point.
The great thing about my gold business idea if it is successful and how I imagine it is we are creating high paying career type jobs where people want to stay because they are making a lot of money and the work load is manageable. I think the formula for employee longevity is the following: High pay + Manageable work load + Career advancement = long tenure. If I can get this right I would have just created a company with stable management and a true business to where if I or someone else leaves the business stays in tact.
I think there is something to be learned from how the cartels operate. The kingpin strategy is a tactic law enforcement uses to target top leaders of criminal networks. They take one down and another one emerges. These organizations are masters of networks and organizational structure. A organization that is not well run would simply just collapse but one that has defined leadership structure where everyone is on the same page about how it works can handle turbulent times. To me if an organization has good bones there is no such thing as “key person” risk where one leaves and the business struggles to survive.
Bottom Line
Incorporating an apprenticeship structure where less experienced employees can learn from more tenured employees works. It works in the trades and it works in various multi billion dollar enterprises like Enterprise Rent A Car.
Design a culture that values high pay, manageable work loads, career advancement, and strong organization bones or infrastructure to where if someone leaves the business continues without skipping a beat.
Gauge of how well the company is and its management structure: Can I take a new college graduate from any major and from any school and in 15 years turn them into a world class physical commodities trader through apprenticeship and promotion to COO or CEO?
