Skills for the Future: Securing the
UK’s long term competitiveness
Rachel
Burnham of Burnham L&D Consultancy writes: This excellent conference took place
last week in London and was jointly organised by the Work Foundation and the UK
Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES).
Matthew Hancock, the Minister of State for Skills & Enterprise and
Liam Byrne, the Shadow Minister for Universities, Science and Skills and a
whole host of speakers from the OECD, UKCES, businesses and organisations from throughout
the skills field shared their ideas on this important topic. Here are the key themes that I picked out
from this event:
1. Skills development is really, really
important for the future of the UK. The
types and level of skills available amongst people have a huge impact on the
effectiveness & success of individual organisations, the wider UK economy
and on individual’s life chances – not just access to work & income, but
also health. The conference was also the
occasion of the launch of a new report ‘The Future of Work: Jobs & Skills
in 2030’ by UKCES which examines four
possible scenarios for the UK economy and the kinds of work that will be
available in the future. This report
brings out the key point that developing the skills needed will influence the
way organisations and the economy are able to adapt to meet and respond to the
changes we face. To find out more about this report go to http://www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/future-of-work
I recommend that you do take a look at this and think about the impact of
these possible scenarios on your own organisation.
2. Matthew Hancock spoke of the need for
employer ‘ownership’ of the skills agenda – other speakers immediately
questioned whether as an employer they would want ownership of this field, but
would rather have ‘influence’. Whether
the move is towards employer ownership or influence, certainly the consensus
from the conference was of a need for much greater involvement of employers
large and small in the whole area of skills development.
3. Another area of consensus was the
need for partnership working, bringing together employers, training providers,
government & public bodies, unions and of course individual learners.
4. One of the great pleas echoed by most
of the employers who spoke is the need for a stable system that is allowed to
develop and improve, rather than being changed constantly and particularly
whenever there is a change of government.
One speaker contrasted the 30 major changes in to the vocational
education system in the UK in the time that Germany has had 3 major changes.
5. One of the changes welcomed by many
was a move to greater regionalisation or even localisation of decision-making
on skills and the possibilities that this gives for locally relevant
partnership working. It was also
suggested that possibly this could lead to greater stability, as localisation
may make it harder for rapid changes of policies and initiatives.
6. A continuing challenge is how to
involve businesses in skills development and particularly smaller businesses. With all businesses, the attitudes of senior
managers to investment in training and skills are key, but it can be
particularly difficult for SME’s to engage in this complex and ever-changing
field. Intermediary organisations can
play a key role in helping SME’s to navigate this and to work together to
articulate their real skills needs. We
heard of some great examples of how this is being done including from Greater
Manchester Chamber of Commerce, but it is difficult to see how this can work
without assistance for some form of intermediary body.
7. One of the most interesting aspects
of the event (to me) was the short presentation from Francesca Froy, from OECD,
who shared research on the impact of the demand from businesses for skills as
well as the effect of the supply of skills. The demand for skills from a business is
hugely dependent upon the business strategy chosen and whether the business
choses to compete on the basis of high skills or competes on the basis of low
cost. She identified that looking at
both issues allows for consideration not only of the familiar issue of skills
gaps, but also the often un-noticed issue of low skill supply and low demand
for skills in local economies. One of
the examples, she shared is of the contrast within Manchester – with South
Manchester having a ‘high skill demand: high skill supply’ economy and North
Manchester having a ‘low skill demand: low skill supply’ economy. For Francesca Froy’s full presentation go to
Rachel Burnham
10/3/14
Burnham L & D Consultancy specialises in the
development of L&D professionals, blended learning and evaluation
Follow me on Twitter @BurnhamLandD
