EP Magazine

We must ensure that employers don't lose their voice

Brian Wisdom, Chief Executive, People 1st

Given the financial challenges currently facing the UK as a whole, it is inevitable that government – regardless of the result of a general election – will be scrutinising public expenditure on skills and employment agencies, and looking at ways to simplify the system

THE UK Commission for Employment and Skills recently undertook a consultation on this very subject, with a report on its findings due to be published in the autumn.

People 1st was among the respondents to the consultation and, while we recognise that there is ample scope for reducing the complexity of the current system, we consider it vital that employers do not lose their voice in this process. I truly believe that a sectoral approach works strongly in the best interests of industry.

The hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism sector alone employs 1.9 million people across the UK, with the vast majority of those in England, and large employers accounting for 43% of all sector jobs. These employers – the ultimate arbiters of whether the skills system is indeed working – have constantly complained of the different and confusing funding regimes in different regions, the plethora of qualifications and training programmes on offer, and the different number and roles of regional bodies they need to deal with.

Employers have clearly articulated the desire for a national solution for staff development needs – a solution developed by employers, for employers. Regional agencies are simply not armed with the in-depth knowledge to understand the strategic issues facing hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism businesses.

Across the Sector Skills Council network, there are hundreds of examples of the strength of an industry-focused approach. For instance, People 1st recently united hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism employers to support the
government’s drive to prepare and motivate unemployed individuals to build careers in our sector. Government’s
target was to generate 100,000 job roles – our employers have pledged to provide 30,000 of this total and have worked with us to develop a sector-specific preemployment training programme.

We have also engaged industry to develop a new qualification to replace the failing NVQ for chefs in colleges and influenced government to fund it appropriately – a move that will result in thousands of better-trained young chefs
entering the industry over the next few years. If this issue had not been identified through our research, and handled as part of our National Skills Strategy, the hospitality sector would still be where it was five years ago – with a severe skills shortage in chefs able to cook and prepare food from scratch.

Additionally, following research with over 5,000 employers which identified their confusion with the skills system, we
have developed a single communications channel – UKSP – which recognises best practice employers and links them with talented individuals. Over 600 employers, and in excess of 36,000 individuals, are currently registered on the site and able to maximise the benefits of training in our industries.

These are just three examples of valuable initiatives that have come about as a result of our ability to understand
employer needs and engage them in conversation around skills. We have engaged nearly 30% of the sector’s
workforce through its governance structure alone – this is well beyond the ability of individual regional agencies.

The National Skills Academy for Hospitality, which represents around £114 million of investment into training for the industry, would also have been virtually impossible to establish under a regional system.

If we look at the skills system as a business, market segmentation is a key principle. As with almost all businesses,
organisations need to be able to build core competencies and provide focus. In this case, Sector Skills Councils provide
a unique channel to reach employers who will only engage with those able to understand their specific needs.

We need to create national products, articulated by employer-led bodies, and provide the sector-specific advice and
solutions that businesses require. Regional agencies then have a role to play in ensuring those solutions are appropriately implemented across their area of governance, and respond to really local needs – for example, the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games in London.

Employers have been confused by constant changes to who looks after their needs – having now spent four years
adjusting to, and engaging with, their Sector Skills Councils, they are faced with more changes that they don’t want.

People 1st has spent the past four years building an employer voice. We need to continue building to make that voice louder – not quieter.