Top tips for top skills

Skills shortages and their threat to future business growth are of major concern to businesses in South Yorkshire

This worry is echoed in PricewaterhouseCoopers 11^th Annual Global CEO Survey published recently in which people management, recruitment and skills issues emerged as priority concerns. Almost two thirds of the business leaders surveyed said that fundamental changes were needed in the way they recruit, motivate and develop employees to help them compete for talent. Investment in training and development and more flexible working environments were also seen as vital.

The survey’s findings concur with the Leitch Review which warned that the UK faced a bleak future if the skills level of its workforce didn’t improve. This report predicted that it would be increasingly difficult for employers to find individuals with the right skills. It also said unskilled workers would soon find it hard to get employment as there would be very few, if any, jobs that did not require at least five good GCSEs or their equivalent.

Government is well aware of this and has developed a number of initiatives to help ‘upskill’ the UK workforce. A number of local organisations including Sheffield College and Fosters Bakery have signed up to the Skills Pledge, a Government led initiative developed in response to the skills shortage. Employers who sign the pledge will commit themselves to supporting all of their staff in reaching Level Two (five good GCSEs); in return the Government has promised to make money available for the training needed to reach that level. The aim is to ensure key skills such as literacy and numeracy are up to the standard required by employers and the UK economy in general.

The fact that two companies from such different sectors have signed up shows that the skills issue is relevant across the economy and I’d urge other businesses to follow their lead.

Employers who sign the pledge will be putting training at the heart of their business.  Working with a skills broker, they'll be in control of their own workforce training, delivered, with some government funding, when, where and how they want it.

‘Upskilling’ people can make a real difference in helping to retain staff. At my organisation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, we are finding that the small things can make a really big difference. We run schemes such as shadowing, secondments and mentoring to allow staff to experience other parts of the business and develop new skills. Schemes like this don’t cost much apart from time but the benefits to both individuals and businesses can be huge.

We must seize this opportunity to tackle the skills issue, as failure will affect the long-term success of the UK economy. The ability of business to attract, develop and retain the right people is now a critical issue for UK companies. In South Yorkshire, this issue needs to be addressed by companies sooner rather than later to ensure that they remain competitive, particularly given the current challenging market conditions.

Contact details
Email: Philip Gregory
Tel: +44 (0)114 259 8236