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Although 2025’s International Youth Day (IYD) may have come and gone, the challenges facing young people highlighted during the celebration persist.
Job vacancies are slumping for graduates and entry-level applicants, while young people who do secure employment frequently fail to have their voices heard.
In response to these issues, Ricoh UK has launched its first-ever apprentice board. Made up of eight members, the initiative is designed to highlight young talent and give them a seat at the table to shape the company’s key projects, from digital innovation to sustainability to workplace culture and other blind spots potentially missed by senior executives.
HR Grapevine speaks to Rebecca Rodger, Apprentice and Talent Development Manager at Ricoh UK, to reveal how the technology firm’s Apprentice Board has become a smash hit from early careers to the C-suite.
Our focus is on supporting the Apprentice Board members in their roles as critical friends, advocating for them, and challenging them to help them articulate their strategic thinking
What is Ricoh UK’s Apprentice Board?
The Apprentice Board is designed to bring together our apprentices and the executive board directly, enabling them to collaborate, offer fresh perspectives, and ensure a wide range of ideas are considered in key decision-making. It’s a way for our business to gather valuable feedback and new ideas, fostering a culture of creativity and driving an innovation mindset at every level.
How did you create the board?
Our Apprentice Board was co-created by the Talent Development, Early Careers, and DEI teams. We knew we wanted to implement a programme that would make an impact, and this is something that was in development for several years.
We wanted to make sure we launched when the time was right, and when our Apprenticeship Programme was mature enough to drive the best insights back to the business.
From inception, the Apprentice Board has been championed wholeheartedly by our CEO, Chris Hopton, and our Multigeneration Affinity Group Sponsor, David Clack. Having the support from senior members of the team has helped accelerate the project.
How will it work in practice, and what’s the selection process for apprentices?
Any employee of Ricoh UK on an apprentice contract is eligible to apply for the board. Each applicant is then reviewed by a panel of senior leaders at the company before holding interviews.
The interview process consists of two parts; the first round gives applicants a business-critical policy to review, asking them to provide feedback in the form of a presentation with a Q&A at the end. The second round is an interview to discuss the opportunity further and answer any of the applicants’ questions.
The purpose of the interview processes is to gain an understanding of why each apprentice is applying, their interests, how they articulate their points of view, and how they structure their thinking. We also make sure that as many parts of the business as possible are represented in the apprentice board.
