Transcript Slide 1

Higher Level Skills in the Tees Valley
Dr Ruth Helyer
Dionne Lee
Teesside University
Remember Leitch and the Challenges?
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UK has an under-qualified & under-skilled workforce
70% of the 2020 UK workforce have already left school
Limited employer understanding of higher skills needs
40% of adults to be qualified to level 4 by 2020
Recent publications (Ambition 2020) claim many Leitch
predictions are unlikely to be achieved
• Government publications are still citing higher level skills as vital
to the UK’s recovery from recession and future prosperity (L4
and above) – ‘skills with economic significance’
• These are also the skills which develop the whole person community, social, professional, personal facets (CPD)
• UK HE has a reputation for producing graduates with these skills
– prepared for work and life
• ‘We cannot respond to the global economic challenges if we do
not develop the potential of all our people’ (Higher Ambitions)
The Added Value of HE
–‘... learning how to learn, learning
how to think; intellectual
curiosity; the challenge and
excitement of new ideas...’
(Cable 2010)
Focus on Future Jobs
Employers & employees need higher level skills for jobs and industries
that don’t yet exist: changeable, adaptable, pre-emptive
• Skills for Growth (The National Skills Strategy) (BIS 2009A)
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New Industries New Jobs – Building Britain’s Future (BERR 2009)
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New Skills for New Jobs: Action Now (European Commission 2010)
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The future is more than just tomorrow: Higher Education, the economy
and the longer term (Universities UK 2010)
• Employable graduates are required to fill skill
shortage areas
• There are also skills gaps within the capabilities
of individual employees who are already in the
workplace
• UKCES (Skills for Jobs: Today and Tomorrow, 2010)suggest
that 1/20 employers suffer from skills
shortages, whereas 1/5 suffer from skills gaps
Research into:
 Skills gaps in key Tees Valley
 sectors
 Provision of Higher Level Skills
 Potential future scenarios
Including:
 Online Survey
 Literature Review
 Interviews
 Case studies
(http://www.teesvalleyunlimited.gov.uk)
• 41% of training delivered by universities
• 31% of respondents participated in HLS training in the
last 12 months – Sector Specific & Generic – for
example:
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Leadership & Management
MBA
Software Training & Development
Commercial Awareness
• 72% of these were managers
• Many employees operating at L4 and above without
formal qualifications
• 25% planning to participate in higher level training in future:
– 100% had company training plans
– 44% had a training budget
– 55% used TNA tools
• 25% planning to participate in higher level training in future:
– 88% were doing so in order to develop the company
– 77% were doing so in order to expand
– 44% were doing so in order to diversify
Activity
So, What do Companies
Think??
What Companies Think
Change is unavoidable
‘The company needs to move into other areas of business in
order to expand and grow; we will only be able to do this by
investing in the right training for our employees’ (Engineering
Company)
Companies will invest, especially if:
• In long term plan/strategy
• Mandated/legally required
What Companies Think
Investing in training is essential
‘Over the next several years we will expand
and grow, but only if we invest in training for
our employees…’ (Engineering company)
What Companies Think
Who delivers the training matters
‘Practitioners are often the best qualified to
train others and academics should work with
them whenever possible’ (Manufacturing
Company)
What Companies Think
The HE skills landscape is confusing
‘Education providers need to explain what higher
level skills actually are and what they can do for an
employee’s potential and an organisation’s success’
(Interviewee from Training Company)
What Companies Think
Clear lines of communication are essential between
stakeholders
‘We need more training providers who are prepared to
talk to businesses and ask what our needs are’
(Engineering Company)
Gather LMI to ensure that skills policies and HEI’s
programmes evolve and stay relevant
What Companies Think
Relevance
‘More than anything, training has to be
business relevant and providers need to be
very flexible in developing and delivering
training packages that are tailored to
individual needs’
(Manufacturing Company)
What Companies Think
There needs to be a balance between general
and specific skills
• ‘We can help them with the subject skills – but
it’s often the generic skills which are
lacking’(Interviewee from Training Company)
• ‘Employers expect graduates to be ‘ovenready’ (Interviewee from Sector-wide Body)
Employability/Transferable/Life Skills
• Well rounded, professionally developed, individuals
• Adaptable/flexible/dynamic workforce, who:
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Strive to meet challenges
Understand how to learn
Are better equipped for both professional & private life
Are aware of/practice CPD
• These skills make a difference in an increasingly constrained
employment market
Activity
What kind of skills do you think
our survey respondents asked
for?
Examples Cited by Survey Respondents
• Presentation skills
• Thinking strategically and
analytically
• Leadership & Management
• Business Development
• Sales Skills – negotiating
• Communication skills
• Numeracy – in context
• Marketing
• IT & Software Training
• Commercial Awareness
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Innovation and creativity
Legal issues – IP etc
Common sense
Being polite & punctual
Problem solving
Initiative
Organising skills
Interpersonal skills
Making connections
Writing skills
Working independently
What Companies Think
Flexible/Convenient/Accessible
The sector needs more training that is relevant
to companies’ specific industries and is
assessed on the job (Logistics Company)
...ideally provide[s] short modules and tailored
to individual needs… (Digital Media Company)
Activity
What can HEIs do?
What can HEIs do?
Flexible/Convenient/Accessible
• Clear and accessible progression routes
• Spring/Summer uni
• Short concentrated bites of learning
• At flexible times and locations
• Accredited (or not)
• Framework style qualifications
• Master-classes
• Placements/sandwich courses etc…………………………
What HEIs can do?
• Develop more PG skills provision
‘The sector is predominantly a graduate sector,
we would like to see more training opportunities
at a post-graduate level’ (Digital Media Organisation)
• Create Lifelong Learners
‘Innovations are so rapid, to be successful you
must be prepared to strive to continuously
develop your skills and knowledge’ (Digital Media
Organisation)
What Next?
The future holds uncertainty, but:
• ‘Curriculum at the speed of light’
• Information is vital – communication (which sometimes requires
translation), LMI, research etc
• Economic squeeze on jobs – graduates need to stand out
• Continue to question and evolve the role of HLS and HE in
developing the workforce of the future
Dr Ruth Helyer
Head of Workforce Development
(Research and Policy)
Teesside University
[email protected]
01642 384268
Dionne Lee
VCE Policy Officer
Teesside University
[email protected]
01642 738146