Creating and embedding an employer liaison group (ELG)
to enhance employability and higher level skills in science students.
HINTS AND TIPS
Identify the remit of your employer liaison group (ELG)
 Make sure you have dedicated sufficient time to research and establish the
group
 Become familiar with employer engagement activity taking place in your
institution and confirm the need for your ELG
 Determine the remit of your ELG
 Make sure you have the commitment of the relevant academic staff from
departments and faculty etc.
All of this information will help you draft a convincing invitation to the employers you
would like to participate and persuade them that participating the group will be
worthwhile.
Promote your employer liaison group internally and involve the relevant stake
holders
 Your ELG may be relevant to other academic departments or professional
services(e.g. careers) even if they are not directly involved. It will be beneficial
to keep them informed.
 Consider the stakeholders for your ELG. For example, seek the engagement
and participation of the relevant Students’ Union Officers, academic and
students from the relevant departments, in addition to employers.
 As the project progresses, additional stakeholders may be identified; be
prepared to invite and include them in your group.
Involvement of the relevant stakeholders will give employers confidence that
observations and findings of the liaison group will be relevant.
Looking for employer participation: Tap into your own networks and networks
within your institution
 Use your own personal networks from work, friends/neighbours and family.
Personal contacts are more likely to respond!
 The Careers Service within your institution will keep records of companies
that have advertised graduate positions with them. From this information you
will be able to collect the names and contact details of the company staff that
have placed the ad – this will give you a named person to approach in the first
instance.
 Find out when careers events are scheduled within your institution.
Employers attending these are keen to recruit graduates and may be
interested to participate in employer liaison groups. There is nothing to beat
speaking directly with someone and getting their contact details so that you
can follow-up either by email or telephone.
 Contact staff involved in knowledge exchange within your institution, who will,
by the very nature of their work to facilitate the transfer of information
between academics and industry (and vice versa), have many company
contacts. They will know whom best from of their networks they could
introduce you to that may be able to help you recruit members to the ELG.
Stay in contact with employers that you recruit to the group
 As soon as an employer states their interest, offer to provide further
information and ask if there are any current issues the employer is
experiencing that may be relevant to the meeting
 To increase the value of an employer trip to the HEI, consider scheduling
meetings with researchers in the employer’s areas of interest
 Ascertain any dietary requirements and closer to the event share parking
arrangements, provide directions and a contact number in case of any
unforeseen issues
All these activities start to create a dialogue and any information obtained can also
be used to inform the agenda
The Employer Liaison Group must remain useful for all participants
 Ensure that the remit of the Employer liaison group remains current. While it
is important for the group to remain focussed on its remit, circumstances can
change and it is important for the group to remain useful.
 Look at external pressures on the HEI to determine whether there are topics
on the horizon that the group could review now or in the future.
This sort of proactive approach will facilitate sustainability.
Organise the employer liaison group meetings well in advance
 Preparation is required to ensure meetings run smoothly – room bookings,
parking arrangements, catering, audio-visual provision as necessary should
all be confirmed
 Provide an mobile contact number should any of the participants encounter
any problems
 Post-meeting communications are also important both to that participants for
their attendance and to capture impressions
Obtain and circulate feed-back from stakeholders when possible
 Be sure to collate correspondence for reference and audit purposes and
ensure smooth transfer when those involved move on
 Seek feed-back/input from participants when possible particularly following
meetings
 Keep questionnaires short and to maximise return rates by providing them at
the meeting and collating immediately afterwards
 Don’t forget to ask for permission to use the material provided by participants
 Circulate feed-back from meetings to relevant and management groups in
your institution especially positive feed-back and tangible outcomes.
Communications
 Face-to-face conversations are best, but when not possible in the order of
telephone, email and finally letter
 Quick responses promote dialogue. Even a short ‘holding’ email will be
appreciated
 Short, timely and clear information is essential; any ambiguities will reduce
confidence
Sustainability
 Having a clear and mutually advantageous reason to meet will be the best
way to ensure sustainability
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Embed the ELG into Faculty/ institutional structures (ie a committee that
reports to an established group; has the support of senior staff; has an
adequate budget for the upcoming year; ensure adequate administrative
support
Have aims that are agreed in advance and outcomes that can easily be
measured/ monitored
Have a mixture of ‘low hanging fruit’ and longer-term/ more ambitious goals