I have an apprentice, she's here on placement while doing an NVQ. I am her employer and i pay her. Problem is she seems to have completely lost interest in the job and is basically doing nothing. I have had several meetings and chats with her, she has a daily and weekly checklist so its not like she doesn't understand what to do.
She has a very light workload and i really do not think i am asking too much of her. I did an appraisal and went through her job description and discussed what i need from her and where she needs to improve. She was very eager and convincing that she would improve but then she went back to work and continued doing nothing.
I am getting so fed up with her being here i keep sending her home early, she's basically just in the way. I am starting to get impatient, work piles up while she plays games on her phone or texts, I ask her to do something and she says yes no problem and then just wanders off and doesn't do it. I know i have become snappy and irritable with her and its obviously not going to help, i am just out of ideas. She is only 17 and seems quite young for her age. I am committed to keeping her to the end of her course, could make her redundant but its a last resort.
Please can someone give me some ideas for either encouraging and supporting her or how i go about disciplining while not making the atmosphere unbearable. There is only 3 of us work here.