What employers want

Chris Banks CBE, Chairman, Learning and Skills Council

Within the Further Education (FE) system we have all heard the compelling argument about the need to increase the nation's skills base at all levels, if we are going to meet the opportunities and challenges presented by globalisation.

Whilst skills are high up our agenda, for many employers they are not. Many remain unconvinced of the need to improve the skills of their employees and even when they are, say that they cannot get the right sort of high quality and flexible training tailored to the needs of their business.

There has been real progress over the last few years in terms of improved skills and qualification levels and our latest survey of employers shows that the number of employers providing training and the investment they are making have both increased in the last two years.

Increasing demand

However, given the fast pace of change into today's world, the previous measures we have used to assess our progress in this area no long apply. We need to increase dramatically the demand for skills from employers and then ensure that the system responds to that demand and gives them what they want.

The LSC's Statement of Priorities, published in November 2007, sets out how we intend to focus our collective efforts and resources over the next three years to help us achieve these objectives and so put us on course for a workforce that is considered as "world class" by 2020. This also means improving the skills of those out of the labour market, so they too have the opportunity to succeed in work and life.

First of all, we are trying to create a culture of learning — through the skills campaign — that encourages employers and individuals to take control of their lives. "Our future. It's in our hands" was launched in July and the response has been very encouraging in terms of creating awareness and a call for action for employers. Key to that success has been the involvement in the campaign of partners such as Ufi.

Train to Gain

We then need to ensure that the training that is on offer to employers is attractive, high quality and relevant to their needs. This means expanding successful programmes like Apprenticeships, but it also means expanding the Train to Gain service which is — without question — now the main vehicle for giving employers what they want.

To date, Train to Gain has been very successful and has engaged around 60,000 employers with over 250,000 employees. Both employee and employer satisfaction are extremely high.

Engaging employers

But through Train to Gain we need to reach out to many more employers, help them understand the benefits that a skilled workforce can bring and then provide them with the training that is suited to their needs; some of which could be funded by the public purse and some by the employer itself.

Workforce skills

Part of the solution has to be the need to engage employers positively so that they have a real desire to transform the skills of their workforce and not just take whatever is free or government funded, otherwise will we never make the progress that we need. Our research shows that if the training is high quality, employers are willing to pay for it.

Our recently launched Train To Gain "Plan for Growth" sets out in more detail out how we intend to expand and improve the programme to increase the focus on skills at all levels and ensure that even more businesses benefit from access to high quality skills advice and support that is tailored to their needs. This is not a small government initiative, tinkering at the margins. It is about whole system change and marks a revolution in the way in which the public sector delivers services to employers.

Responsive

This also marks a major change in the way that the FE sector — and colleges in particular will need to operate. We want FE to be the first choice for employers, providing a service that is genuinely responsive to their needs. Through the new plan we want to enable the best providers to expand and prepare the rest to take advantage of the opportunities that Train to Gain brings.

I know working with employers can bring challenges - many don't know what they want and when they do, their needs can vary hugely; but we must continue to bang the drum for skills and improve the quality, responsiveness and flexibility of what's on offer. With the expansion of Train to Gain, we have the opportunity to make skills top of employers' agenda — as well as ours — for the benefit of the economy, our society and the country as a whole.

LSC National Employer Skills Survey (NESS) 2007

www.traintogain.gov.uk