‘ACCESSING AND DEVELOPING TALENT FOR
FUTURE EMPLOYMENT’
CONNECTING FOR THE BENEFIT
OF STUDENTS AND EMPLOYERS
Gordon Parkes
HR Director, Northern Ireland Electricity
Member of CBI Employment Affairs Committee
29 March 2012
Connecting for the benefit of students and employers
How well connected are all the relevant Education Providers,
Training Providers, Government departments and Employers?
Level of connection
-
None or limited
Intermediate (some)
Advanced
Exemplary
Is your organisation connected with all the links in the chain?
Do we collectively currently provide informed life choices and a
career path which suits the individual and meets employer needs?
2
Connecting for the benefit of students & employers
•
•
•
•
So much has been written about this subject
So many good initiatives taking place
So much effort
Why have we not solved the basic issue -
“There is still a mismatch between the
demand for skills and the supply of skills”
3
Skills Needs - The Evidence
… Despite improvements, the Skills Profile of
the workforce remains relatively weak.
Highest Qualification Attained (25-64 year olds)
Czech Republic
EU19 average
OECD average
United Kingdom
Northern Ireland
Portugal
0%
20%
Low /No Quals
40%
Intermediate Quals
60%
80%
100%
Tertiary Quals
4
Source: OECD, 2010 and UKCES
Skills Needs - The Evidence
… and higher skills are required to underpin
growth.
Persons in Employment: Highest Qualifications (NQF)
NI 2010
Level 1 and below
Level 2
Level 4 and above
Level 3
NI 2020 - If Productivity Gap with UK to be addressed
Level 2
0%
10%
20%
Level 4 and above
Level 3
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Source: Oxford Economics
5
The current position
Lots of good initiatives
but
-
Lack of “joined-up” thinking
Fragmented and disconnected
Confusing and lacking clarity
The Result
Employers
Skills Gaps
Students
Not maximising opportunities
or potential
6
1 x 1= 1
2 x 2 = 4
3 x 3 = 9
4 x 4 = 15
What do you notice about this slide?
7
Skills Needs
There will be Job Opportunities across
the economy – not just in growth areas
Occupational Demand over decade to 2020
120
Expansion Demand
Replacement Demand
100
('000)
80
60
40
20
0
-20
Source: Oxford Economics
8
Sectors offering potential
Integrating labour market information with the career
pathway for pupils/students (Source CBI)
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Agri-food
Manufacturing
Health technologies
ICT sector and creative industries
Specialised business services
Retail
Tourism
Energy
9
The Future for the Energy Sector
•
Research carried out by the National Skills Academy for Power
-
28,200 leavers within sector
if current recruitment is maintained –
38% shortage of people with the right skills
•
In NI Market opening – new employers in this sector
•
NIE
-
•
we will need c.700 new employees over the next 5/10 years
How does this information get to pupils in schools
and students to inform their career decisions?
10
The NIE experience
•
We have just gone through 10 years of cost cutting and
efficiency improvement
•
Our employer brand weakened
•
We maintained our own apprentice training facility and
apprentice recruitment
•
Did not do enough to engage with education providers
•
Graduate intake difficulties
11
Apprentice and graduate intake during a difficult period
Graduates
Apprentices
Year
Year
Number
2006
10
2007
10
2008
10
2009
0
2010
20
This Year 40
Minimum Entry Requirements
4 GCSE @Grade C including
Maths & English
Number
Required
2006
3
2007
3
2008
4
2009
4
2010
6
This year
8
Number
Shortfall
Recruited
2
1
2
1
2
2
3
1
3
3
5
3
11
Minimum Entry Requirements
BSc 2.2(hons) in Electrical Engineering
or related discipline
12
Student options
5 career paths
3 outcomes
Apprenticeship
Employment
Parents
Employment
Pupils/
Students
Schools
F.E.
H.E.
Self-employment
Unemployment
Unemployment
•
•
The focus has to be based on the student
Careers advice needs to explore more options
13
Potential employees need employability skills
and not just a qualification
-
-
CBI’s recent research findings (Education and Skills Survey
2010)
10% of employers have concerns about basic skills in
graduates
24% of employers dissatisfied with graduates’ problem solving
skills
26% of employers dissatisfied with graduates’ selfmanagement skills
22% of employers have concerns about the limited career
awareness, while 40% feel graduates should have more
relevant work experience
65-75% of employers believe gaining practical experience is
the most valuable step young people can take to improve
their prospects
14
Potential employees need employability skills
and not just a qualification
Employers want the following
attributes in their employees:
Universities want to produce students
with the following attributes:
Critical thinking
Adaptability
Intellectual flexibility
Enquiring
Capacity to challenge
Ability to work in teams
Enterprise & entrepreneurship
Business Awareness
Leadership
An international dimension
?
?
?
?
Critical thinking
Adaptability
?
?
?
Team working
?
Business & Customer Awareness
Leadership
?
Problem solving & decision making
Communication Literacy & Numeracy
IT skills
Positive attitude
15
Employers want the following employability skills
and not just a qualification
What
employers
want
Critical thinking
Adaptability
Intellectual flexibility
Enquiring
Capacity to challenge
Team working
Enterprise & entrepreneurship
Business & Customer Awareness
Leadership
An international dimension
Problem solving & decision making
Literacy & numeracy
IT skills
Positive attitude
Communication skills
Confidence
16
Knowledge
Skill
Desire
Determination
Drive
19
The Challenges
•
Changing the Mindset
-
Employers
- invest time & effort in connecting
-
Schools
- focus on the right outcomes based
on the needs of students and
employers
-
F.E. & H.E.
- more flexible approaches to
learning in partnership with employers
and schools
-
pupils/students
- employability skills & attitude & expectations
-
parents
- open minded/explore a broader range of
options
-
Government
- a joined up approach between
departments
- single point of contact for
employers
18
How can we connect better?
Employers need to:
•
Make time to engage with education providers
•
Appoint an academic engagement officer
(portfolio/development role for an existing employee)
•
Provide quality work experience for pupils
•
Provide quality work placements for students
•
Provide teachers, lecturers and careers advisors with
knowledge/awareness opportunities (placements etc)
•
Promote the attractiveness of their sector by attending open days,
careers fairs etc and facilitating visits to their premises
•
Use experienced employees nearing retirement to develop the
next generation
19
How can we connect better? (cont’d)
Employers need to:
•
Consider providing scholarships in partnership with universities
•
Use role model employees as ambassadors in outreach
programmes with education providers
•
Larger employers should consider outreach support to SMEs
and micro businesses
20