ESRC Seminar Series
Stakeholder perspectives: how employers,
trades unions and human resource
management professionals see the
purpose and practice of careers support in
work settings
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
29th March 2012
1
Business Plan for 2012 – 13
Ambition
Strategic
objectives
Outcomes
To transform the UK’s approach to investing in the skills of people as an intrinsic part of
securing jobs and growth
Our remitted strategic objectives from Government for 2011-14 are to:
Impact
• Maximise the impact of employment and skills policies and employer behaviour to support jobs and growth and
secure an internationally competitive skills base
Investment
• Work with businesses to develop the best market solutions which leverage greater investment in skills
Intelligence
• Provide outstanding labour market intelligence which helps businesses and people make the best choices for them
Key to our ambition is the need to encourage greater employer ownership of skills, working to secure sustainable partnerships
for the long term. Over the next 12 months Commissioners will focus on four outcomes:
More employers
investing in the skills of
their people
Assets
More collective action by
employers through stronger
sectors and local networks
More employers stepping
up and taking ownership
of skills
To secure these outcomes the Commission has five distinct assets to draw upon:
Commissioner
Insights &
Networks
Resources
More career
opportunities for young
people
Research
As a small and dynamic organisation our 100
people are grouped into three professions:
Research &
Technical
Project
Delivery
Business
Services
Investors in People
Supported by efficient,
high quality core services
Finance, HR, IT,
Facilities, Procurement,
Communications
Investment Funds
National
Occupational
Standards
Our delivery , core services and people are supported by
the following budgets for the year:
Investment
funds of up
to £62m
Programme
funding £20m
(excl investment funds)
Organisation’s
running costs
£8m
Commissioners
Key:
Chairman
Devolved Administrations
Charlie Mayfield,
Chairman,
John Lewis
Partnership
Large Employers
Small/Medium Enterprises
Dr Bill McGinnis CBE
DL, N. Ireland
Advisor, Employment
and Skills
Trade Unions
David Fairhurst,
Chief People
Officer, McDonalds
Europe
Trevor Matthews,
CEO,
Aviva UK
Nigel Whitehead,
Group Managing
Director of
programmes &
support, BAE
Systems
Lucy Adams,
Director of Business
Operations, BBC
Jeremy Anderson
CBE, Chairman
Global Financial
Services, KPMG LLP
John Cridland CBE,
Director General,
CBI
Sean Taggart,
Owner & Chief
Executive, The
Albatross Group
Dave Prentis,
General Secretary,
UNISON
Brendan Barber,
General Secretary,
TUC
Seyi Obakin, Chief
Executive,
Centrepoint
Liz Sayce OBE, Chief
Executive, Disability
Rights
Lord Victor
Adebowale, Chief
Executive,
Turning Point
Dr. Deidre Hughes
OBE, Lead
Consultant,
European Lifelong
Guidance Policy
Network
Voluntary Sector
FE and HE
James Wates CBE,
Deputy Chairman,
Wates Construction
Ltd
Valerie Todd,
Director of Talent
and Resources ,
Crossrail Ltd
Julie Kenny, CBE DL
Chairman & Chief
Executive,
Pyronix Ltd
Grahame Smith,
General Secretary,
Scottish Trade
Union Congress
Tony Lau-Walker,
Chief Executive
Officer, Eastleigh
College
Prof. John Coyne,
Vice Chancellor,
University of
Derby
If we don’t succeed our economic renewal is at risk
Our global performance is NOT world class and is falling
Skills have a role to play in raising future performance
Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2011 and OECD Productivity Database 2010
Geography matters
Significant variations across the UK
Productivity and employment in the nations and regions of the UK
75
High employment /
Low productivity
74
East of England
South East
High employment /
High productivity
South West
Employment rate: UK=70.3
73
72
East Midlands
71
UK
70
60
70
80
69
Wales
68
67
66
65
Source: ONS
Scotland
England
West Midlands
90
100
110
120
130
North West
Yorkshire and
Humberside
140
London
Northern Ireland
North East
Low employment /
Low productivity
Low employment
High productivity
5
Productivity: GVA per hour worked (UK=1000), 2010
What are the key messages?:
Is training investment sufficient?
More
training is
provided to
“most
skilled”
staff
Just under
half of
employees
miss out
Only 12%
of
employees
train to
qualifications
In decline
and inflated
by
“opportunity
cost”
Total UK
investment =
£49bn BUT
Around
40% of
employers
don’t
invest
Varies by
sector
Public sector
tops the
league tables
Non-trainers
feel staff
are already
proficient
“Trainers”
say cost is
key barrier
to more
training
More collective action by employers
Key role for our Investment Funds
The UK Commission’s Investment Funds will stimulate and drive employer led action
leading to increased ambition and employer investment in skills. So far we have
invested over £70m in nearly 90 projects across 20 different employer-led organisations.
Our investment has been matched by £19m of direct employer investment and £38m of
employer in-kind support. Summaries of all projects can be seen at www.ukces.org.uk
The Employer Investment Fund:
The Employer Investment Fund is open only to licensed Sector Skills Councils (SSCs)
and is a UK wide fund . Phase 1 delivery commenced in June 2011 and has invested
in 14 projects totalling £5m. Phase 2 was launched on 30th June 2011. £61m of
investment has now been announced in 63 employer led projects.
The Growth and Innovation Fund:
The Growth and Innovation Fund (GIF) is open to all employer representative
organisations (including Sector Skills Councils) and is an England only fund. In Round
1, the UK Commission has invested in 10 ‘Best Market Solutions’ totalling £6.3m for
projects running until March 2013. Further GIF bidding is currently underway (appr.
£30m available).
Securing Employer Ownership
Employer ownership pilots fund
• Employers should have the space
to own the skills agenda –
leadership and commitment
• Skills solutions should be
designed by employer-led
partnerships to reach more
people and businesses and raise
quality and support innovation
• Public contributions for vocational
training should move to employer
incentives and investments to
support sustainable investments
• Transactions should be
transparent to support better
evidence, outcomes (VFM)
“We need to take
determined steps to
encourage greater
employer ownership of
skills, working to secure a
sustainable partnership for
the long term”
Charlie Mayfield
UK Commission for Employment and Skills - Chairman
8
Opportunity to act now
England fund
• Up to £250 million
employer
ownership
investment fund
over two years
• Jointly led by BIS,
DfE and UKCES
• Need bold
propositions from
employers, in
partnership with
colleges and
training providers
9
Career Adaptable Competencies
(Bimrose et al. 2011)
CONTROL
CONCERN
CONFIDENCE
CURIOSITY
COMMITMENT
Career Adaptable Competencies
• Control:
exerting a degree of influence on their
situations
• Curiosity:
broadening horizons by exploring social
opportunities & possibilities
• Commitment:
experimenting with new & different
activities
• Confidence:
believing in yourself & ability to achieve
your goal
• Concern:
developing a positive optimistic attitude
to the future
Reference: Savickas et al. (2009). Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the 21st
Century. In Journal of Vocational Behavior, 75, 3, pp.239-250.
Next steps and more
information
• Ownership Prospectus document available
from www.ukces.org.uk/employerownership
• Further research information from
http://www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/research
• Further investment information from
http://www.ukces.org.uk/ourwork/investment
• Research on Career Adaptability & Skills
Supply
http://www.ukces.org.uk/publications/er35role-of-career-adaptability
12
Thank you
For additional information contact:
Dr Deirdre Hughes OBE
Commissioner
UK Commission for Employment & Skills
Email: deirdre.hughes3@btinternet.com
Tel: 07533 545057
13