How to Get the Best Out of Your Apprentice.

Taking on an apprentice chef in Canberra is one of the best investments you can make in your hospitality business, and one of the biggest responsibilities. The training contract sets the floor, not the ceiling. Yes, you must provide at least three hours per week of paid, structured training and safe supervision with access to the Registered Training Organisation (RTO), typically for the SIT30821 Certificate III in Commercial Cookery. But if you stop at the minimums, you’ll only ever get minimum results. The real payoff comes when you treat on-the-job training and coaching as part of how you run your business.

Apprentices stay where they can see a future.

Start by building rapport. Make sure your cookery apprentice feels welcome, valued and safe from day one. A proper induction, clear expectations and a buddy they can lean on all make a difference. Training shouldn’t sit with one person, it should be the team’s job. Brief your team that workplace training is part of everyone’s role, plan who will show what on which days, and model the standard you want copied. People learn far more from what they see you do than what they hear you say.

Create a positive learning environment. Encourage questions, praise effort and initiative, and give feedback that is specific and timely. Keep the workplace fun without making fun of the apprentice. Banter builds culture while practical jokes at their expense harm it. Your message should be simple, we’re here to learn, improve and look after each other.

Teach responsibility early. Help your apprentice organise themselves, bring a notebook, track due dates and think ahead. Prompt them to ask, “What else can I set up?” rather than waiting to be told. After each shift, get them to note one thing they learned and one thing to improve. Small habits compound.

Take a genuine interest in their education. Ask which units of competency they’re working on and align rostered tasks with upcoming assessments. There are 25 units in SIT30821 Certificate III in Commercial Cookery, so aiming for roughly one unit each month helps them see steady progress and keeps motivation high. Work with them to gather workplace evidence and practise competency-based tasks before assessor review. Break tricky jobs into steps, let them rehearse under gentle time pressure and run short mock scenarios so the real thing feels familiar. If they stumble, teach, let them try again and keep the tone constructive. Improvement beats perfection.

Give them extra opportunities to grow. Short stints running a section under supervision (larder, grill, pans, pastry) a small improvement project on mise en place or waste reduction, a supplier visit, a shift in a sister venue or time on a different station for a fresh view. Stretch but don’t snap. The goal is confidence built on competence.

Recognise effort and reward progress. Call out wins in pre-shift. Put milestones on the noticeboard. Link pay progression or bonuses to clear goals such as units completed, new stations mastered and reliable performance. Celebrate unit completions. It’s amazing how far a small acknowledgement and a small bonus can go when someone is working hard.

Don’t shy away from weaknesses. Have regular one-to-one chats about what’s difficult and why. Agree on one focus skill at a time e.g knife skills or food safety practices, practise daily and review weekly. Pair them with a team member who’s strong in that area and give them the resources to improve. The point isn’t to catch them out, it’s to build them up.

Keep the career path visible. Show the steps from apprentice to qualified cook/chef, to chef de partie and beyond. Talk timelines, expectations and what “competent” really looks like at each stage. Ambition tied to a clear pathway is a powerful retention tool. Apprentices stay where they can see a future.

It’s worth being honest about motives. I remember a chef telling me they were looking for two apprentices but didn’t have time to train them. I said, politely, that apprentices might not be the best fit. They replied they had no choice because the wages bill was out of control. Let’s be clear, if you’re chasing an apprentice primarily to keep wages down, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Australian Apprenticeships pay off when you invest time and conviction in training. That’s when you see productivity lift, culture strengthen and loyalty grow.

Circle back to the basics and do them well. Schedule the paid, structured training time and protect it. Make training a shared responsibility. Speak with your apprentice regularly about their studies. Help them prepare for assessments and ensure they’re assessment-ready. Provide extra chances to learn, recognise progress and set a path forward. Take the responsibility seriously and you’ll get the reward. A capable tradesperson who understands your standards, fits your culture and wants to stay.

Don’t overcomplicate it. Treat training as part of the job, not an interruption to it. If you do, you won’t just get the best out of your apprentice, you’ll help shape the kind of professional you’d be proud to hire again and again.That ripple effect improves kitchens beyond your own and lifts professionalism across the culinary sector.