The five strategic skills priorities issued by the UKCES today (25th November 2014) provide a positive basis from which to try and address some of the fundamental challenges facing the UK, such as tackling poor productivity, closing the skills mismatch between what the education system produces and what employers require, and improving the quality of vocational education and training programmes, according to the CIPD.
Particularly welcoming the emphasis on workplace productivity, and the echoing of the CIPD’s own call for the creation of a Workplace Commission to bring business, government and employee representatives together to improve best practice, Peter Cheese, CEO of the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, said:
“Tackling the UK’s poor record on productivity and addressing the mismatches between what the education system provides and what employers require needs to be a national priority. The UKCES’s five strategic skills priorities provide a sound basis for tackling these fundamental challenges facing the UK.
“We particularly welcome the emphasis on workplace productivity. The call to bring together leaders from business, trade unions and government to provide strategic insight, policy co-ordination and a focal point for sharing and improving best practice, echoes the CIPD’s call for the creation of a Workplace Commission to fulfil exactly this purpose.
“The skills statement also underlines the critical importance of organisations being able to demonstrate the value of their people, through the development of good quality HR metrics and analytics. The Valuing your Talent programme run jointly by CIPD, the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and the Chartered Management Institute, with the support of the UKCES, is designed to help organisations raise their game in this area.
Emphasising the importance of better connecting employers with the education system, and providing both employers and employees with some degree of confidence in the stability of structures and funding in the skills system, Peter Cheese continued:
“The UKCES aim to improve the connection between education and employers through a drive to increase the number and quality of work experience placements is also much needed. CIPD supports the UKCES call for every school and college to have a point of contact for business engagement. Our own Learning to Work programme shows how employers can connect with young people while they are at school and as they try and enter the labour market to help them build the necessary employability skills to get a job.
“Finally, we agree with the report’s emphasis on the need for greater stability in structures and funding systems and a recognition that patience, flexibility and a willingness to experiment are needed to build capability at national, local and sectoral levels. That does not mean that change might not be needed at some point to respond better to future challenges, but decision makers need to give greater weight to the costs and disruption that change often brings.”