LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT. - newstatesman.com Skills Supplement... · their organisations fare, how...

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT.

Why they belong at the heart of the skills agenda.

Make no mistake. Skills will be at the heart ofour prosperity in the years ahead. But are we at risk of overlooking one of the most important sets of skills? Whether it’s building a world-class advanced manufacturing

businesses grow or delivering public services, management and leadership are absolutely critical to success. The performance of managers across the UK will shape how their organisations fare, how they grow, and whether or not we get the most from our investment in the technical skills that business needs.

The challenge is huge. The UK needs a millionnew managers by 2020, but there’s a real question about how we prepare people for these jobs: perhaps surprisingly, managers are currently the occupational group least likely to receive training from their employers.

We’ve got some world class management and leadership in the UK. But there’s also a long tail of underperforming

international competitors. Some 43 per cent of managers rate their own boss as ineffective, and the cost is all too visible in lost productivity, low employee engagement and missed opportunities to grow.

The recent Commission on the Future of Management and Leadership set out to help change that. We spoke with some

operates – and prospering as a result. We found that good management and leadership in the 21st century has three core parts.

Purpose:add value to their customers, suppliers, communities, employees and shareholders. And they discuss and measure their progress. Their focus is well beyond the short-

People: Valuing talent by giving them the chance todevelop new skills, recognising the importance of people skills, looking at behaviours as well as outcomes and

Potential: The best-led companies have a strongcommitment to the next generation, whether that’s working with schools, colleges and universities, with the smaller companies in their supply chain, or encouraging career-break employees back to work.

For more organisations to make these values a reality, we need action in several areas. First, we need to professionalise management, so that more managers

status. Second, we should measure what matters. The UK is the global centre for capital. Why not make it the global leader on human capital? A better understanding of the value of skills – the value of our people – could transform our attitudes to investing in this area. Third, we need to make management modules mandatory in education. At secondary level, a focus on managing and team working, combined with better careers information and guidance, will open young people’s eyes to the opportunities before them

we need more widespread management and leadership enterprise modules for students, be they Stem students or designers. And we need a new employer-led apprenticeship

Finally, Britain should seek to capitalise globally on the strength of its business standards and professional charters.

international success story. Combining that with our national expertise in standards and chartered professionals would be a uniquely powerful and uniquely British offer to other emerging economies.

Ann Francke is CEO of the Chartered Management Institute

IS YOUR ORGANISATION FIT FOR THE FUTURE? Find out with CMI’s free Management 2020 Benchmarking Tool via www.managers.org.uk/management2020

CMI ad for NS.indd 1 20/10/2014 14:43:04

SKILLSCultivating the talent that can

support economic growth

TRADESKILLS 4U.co.uk

001 COVER.indd 3 20/10/2014 14:21:07

2 | NEW STATESMAN | 24-30 OCTOBER 2014

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CII

The OECD recently announced that the UK is shifting ever closer to be-coming a graduate economy, with a

large rise in adults holding degree-level qualifications. A recent report, Bridging the gap: student attitudes towards careers, by the Chartered Insurance Institute, the world’s largest professional body for insurance and financial services, backs up this trend, finding that 82 per cent of sixth-form students plan on going to uni-versity. Only 7 per cent said they have no intention of doing so.

The expectation that huge numbers of young people go to university has, in part, had a detrimental impact on attitudes to-wards other worthwhile options – most notably vocational education. A report by the Edge Foundation showed that only a quarter of parents think of vocational edu-cation as “worthwhile” whilst the CII’s research highlighted similar ambivalence, this time towards the government’s flag-ship apprenticeship programme, with only a fifth of sixth-formers saying they would consider undertaking one.

Yet vocational education, and appren-ticeships in particular, provide access to a wide range of careers. The blend of theory and practical application is highly valued by employers. Professions, like law and financial services, are opening up, of-fering opportunities to young people of all backgrounds, individuals who might never have considered those disciplines in the past. Take insurance for example. It is meritocratic in nature, providing oppor-tunities for anyone to progress and we are seeing more and more firms embrace this, leaving no stone unturned, sourcing tal-ent via a variety of routes. This has been boosted by the industry’s collective efforts in promoting insurance apprenticeships to

firms and to young people alike – both as a viable alternative or accompaniment to graduate schemes.

Yet “parity of esteem” continues to be an issue for non-university routes. Despite campaigns advocating apprenticeships, misconceptions and misunderstandings still remain. Good quality careers advice will go a long way to redressing the bal-ance and ensuring that higher education is not seen as the only way to secure a prosperous career.

The CII’s report also investigated at-titudes towards current careers guidance provision and, although there appears to be no shortage of information out there, there is an issue around quality. Only 36 per cent of students believe the current offering is “inspiring”.

Careers advice needs to be improved to provide young people with an awareness of all of the options open to them. For some this will be university, for others it might be an apprenticeship or it might be some other school leaver programme. Schools and colleges need to be properly supported to do this and to move away from higher education as the default op-tion. For years this has not been the case and it needs to change.

Government, firms and professional bodies, like the CII, have a key role to play in making this happen. Firms are mak-ing opportunities available and so now it is time to challenge attitudes and make vocational routes just as aspirational as a university degree. Get this right and more and more young people will make the right choice about their chosen path – that is good for the individual, for firms and for the economy as a whole. lReport is available at: www.cii.co.uk/studentsurvey

Challenging attitude, unleashing aspiration

Vocational education

82 per cent of sixth-form students plan on going to

university

Only 1 in 5 sixth-formers would consider an apprenticeship

75 per cent of students believe that their generation will find it more difficult than their parents

to find a good career

Only 36 per cent of students feel that careers information

is inspiring

02 CII advertorial.indd 2 20/10/2014 14:33:37

24-30 OCTOBER 2014 | NEW STATESMAN | 3

CONTENTS

MatchmakingAgainst a backdrop of economic

uncertainty, many young people are worried for their future. They want opportunities for education, training and good careers. In parallel, today’s businesses are concerned, too. They need employees with the skills to get the job done and often struggle to find them. Efforts to match employee and employer needs could do much to bridge this disconnect. We hear often of “fuelling the pipeline” for new talent in the workforce, yet the

question of how best to do it has long plagued both policymakers and professionals, and defies simple answers. During the party political conference season pathways into work were at the forefront of discussion, apprenticeships in particular. The big question is: where should political and business efforts be focused, and how do we deploy them most effectively? This special report brings together voices from a wide range of industries to tackle some of these

4 Neil CarberryBuilding skills for tomorrow’s worldIf the UK economy is to remain competitive, we need the right skills to keep up

9 Sarah HathawayTaking the next generation under our wingEveryone is talking about apprenticeships, but how can we create a system that will endure?

13 Barry SheermanGuiding lightGreat leaders and managers will make or break a business. Does the UK have enough of them?

ideas. For example, the UK is among the oldest manufacturing nations, yet increasing the pool of new engineers remains a challenge. Our creative industries generate more than £71bn annually, but is enough being done to integrate creativity into education? And what can be done to ensure apprenticeships stick around for the long term? Matching the needs of business with the next generation’s aspirations will be the Holy Grail of any strategy going forward. l

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First published as a supplement to the New Statesman of 24-30 October 2014. © New Statesman Ltd. All rights reserved. Registered as a newspaper in the UK and USA.

Training the next technical talent Putting apprentices level with graduates

4 9

17 Alan RudgeEngine of growthEngineers are the wealth creators of manufacturing, and we must have far more

21 John AllanStart small, think bigSmall businesses create four out of five jobs, but struggle to find the right employees

22 Dinah CaineLights, camera, take actionFuture-proofing the creative industries will require a mix of business and technical skills

This supplement, and other policy reports, can be downloaded from the NS website at newstatesman.com/pages/supplements

03 Contents & intro.indd 3 20/10/2014 18:11:03


There is a growing recognition among politicians and the business commu-nity that many of the skills needed

in today’s economy will not be those that are required in tomorrow’s. In a global economy, with an ever-burgeoning list of international competitors, the bar for Brit-ish companies is being set higher each and every day. Growth, jobs and higher living standards will depend, in the future, on having a workforce that can exploit new technologies and discoveries. Such skills will push forward our growing sectors – such as the green economy, high-end manufacturing and digital – driving great-er productivity and innovation to support more people into well-paid jobs across the country. If we are to rebalance the economy successfully in this way, we re-quire a genuine shift towards high-value, high-skilled work in key sectors such as manufacturing, engineering, science and technology, and more pathways to those jobs from lower-skilled work.

There is a high demand for talent with the skills to thrive in a modern economy – and yet these businesses are already re-porting skills shortages. In fact, 58 per cent of employers are not confident of being able to recruit enough higher-skilled em-

ployees in the future. We have very real concerns that this skills gap not only ex-ists, but is getting wider each day and will act as a brake on the UK’s economic recov-ery if we don’t act.

To be clear, we are not necessarily talk-ing about graduates here, the biggest shortages are around skilled technicians,

such as gas platform engineers, digital spe-cialists and car manufacturers, who have developed along a more vocational route. This skills crisis is now very real for British companies, and so government and busi-ness must decide how best to confront this economic threat. A good start would be to build a system that is more responsive to the needs of business in the years ahead. This means more than just raising em-ployees skills overall – it means also align-ing the system more directly to what am-bitious firms are crying out for. As the CBI set out in our Tomorrow’s Growth report (2013), it’s clear that the “default route” of

a three-year residential university degree isn’t right for everyone – people have dif-ferent talents and learn in different ways. Meeting the skills challenge will mean building on existing alternative routes into work, and promoting new ones, in order to equip those for whom a tradition-al degree may not be the best option. We hear from politicians of all parties about the importance of a system and a mind-set which values vocational and academic routes equally. But actions speak louder than words, and it’s clear that there is still a way to go when it comes to creating a world-class system of apprenticeships and vocational qualifications.

Steps have and are being taken to raise the quality of apprenticeships – by making them simpler, by reforming funding and by putting employers in the driving seat. These are all steps in the right direction. But it is quality – not quantity – that is central to success. Among the much trum-peted two million starts this parliament, we need to see more higher-level appren-ticeships, and more going to young work-ers. Apprenticeships are a first step on the career ladder, not an end in themselves. If we can get the quality right – meeting the needs of both businesses and apprentices

If the UK economy is to remain fast-moving and internationally competitive, we will need the right talent to keep up

Building skills for tomorrow’s world

Quite simply, schools careers advice has been on life support for years

THE BIG PICTURE

By Neil Carberry

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– then the quantity will take care of itself. If the current reforms to apprenticeships are to flourish, they will need to focus on reducing the bureaucracy involved in tak-ing on an apprentice, and they will need to work for businesses of all sizes. Too many small firms can be put off employing an apprentice because of the risks posed by more limited time and funds.

The starting point of the right career isn’t when a young person walks out of the school gates for the last time. All young people should have access to relevant in-formation about potential career choices and how to go about achieving those am-bitions from the age of 11. Quite simply, careers advice in schools has been on life support for many years now. Pupils can-not rely solely on advice from mum and dad, or even from their teachers. Such role models are valuable, but may have a nar-row view of the modern world of work, rather than a complete understanding of the multifarious career options available now and in the future.

Our young people deserve better, and business has a big role to play here – four out of five businesses now have links of some kind with local schools and colleges. But the government needs to facilitate

better links between education and the local business community, so that every school and the young people who attend them have access to honest information and inspiring opportunities. They should know for instance that, as an engineer, you can expect to earn more than many bankers, and that a career in construction means so much more than standing in a muddy hole every day.

If we want to create the engineers and tech entrepreneurs of tomorrow, then more young people should be encouraged to study separate sciences at GCSE level, as well as maths and English in some form until 18. For those who prefer the aca-demic pathway, university must be acces-sible regardless of background. We must also ensure that students are given every opportunity to bridge the gap between university and employment through work experience, real-world projects and cours-es, designed for the needs of business.

One of the big questions is: how to pre-pare people for jobs that don’t exist yet – jobs that technological advances may create in 10 or 20 years’ time? Quite sim-ply, we don’t know for certain what the workplace will look like in the future – there may be jobs in industries that don’t

even exist yet. Not many, for instance, could have predicted the impact that the internet has had on our lives and business practices in recent years.

What we can be sure of is that the quali-ties employers currently value (resilience, enthusiasm, creativity), and the skills that are needed to succeed in almost any job (communication skills, team-working skills, customer service skills), will remain in demand. That is why our system needs to focus equally on developing not just specialist skills and knowledge, but also the personal attitudes, behaviours and attributes that are key to success in both work and life.

Our energy sector is suffering a short-age of high-skilled, experienced techni-cians. Our high-end manufacturers are missing the workers who can create the next big breakthrough. Even our thriving digital industry has a pressing need for more workers with a computer science background. The skills crisis is here and only set to get worse. We need to get on with upskilling the UK, and the sooner the better. lNeil Carberry is the director for employment and skills policy at the Confederation of British Industry

Tomorrow’s techies: the biggest shortfalls are around skilled technicians such as engineers and manufacturers

04-05 Future of skills.indd 5 20/10/2014 18:09:04


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH INSTRUCTUS SKILLS CFA

Instructus Group, the UK’s largest provider, registration and certifica-tion authority for apprenticeships and

worked-based education, welcomed the recent Office for National Statistics state-ment that the growth of the UK economy outstripped all other major industrialised nations in 2014. Good news indeed for the country, and the businesses within it. But as our economy grows one issue looms large on the horizon of recovery – the pal-pable skills shortage. Thankfully, Instruc-tus Group is on hand to work with em-ployers and their employees to bridge this gap through their apprentice and work-based education programmes.

The UK economy grew by 3.2 per cent in 2014 and unemployment figures were at their lowest since 2008, with employ-ment rising at the fastest rate since re-cords began. The need for skilled work-ers is expected to grow year on year, but it is here that the confidence may hit a snag.

The drive towards a higher-skill econ-omy means that UK businesses expect to increase the number of jobs requiring leadership and management (73 per cent) and higher skills (71 per cent). However, 23 per cent of employers stated in a recent CBI survey that they are not confident of filling their more highly skilled roles.

Instructus knows that a collaborative approach to training, ongoing consul-tancy and bespoke educational support is required to provide these skilled peo-

ple in the near future. “Collaboration and strategic partnerships are the key,” says David Holland, CEO of Instructus. “We must all work together to ensure that Brit-ain’s workforce is fit for purpose. We’ve adopted collaboration by acquiring CQM Training & Consultancy, who are leading experts in delivering effective, sustainable and results-driven education and train-ing solutions to UK businesses. We now offer a complete consultancy to accredi-tation and certification service. Together under our new brand – Instructus Group – we are even better placed to consult with and support any business as they educate their staff.”

He adds: “We have an established back-ground as not-for-profit, cross-sector

As UK plc booms, future-proof your business

Graduation ceremony celebrates success for London apprenticesSkills CFA (now Instructus Skills CFA) will be hosting its first graduation ceremony on 19 November 2014 at Central Hall, Westminster. Over a hundred apprentices from across the London region will celebrate their success with parents, employers and other organisations. Speakers at the high-profile event will include Cllr Stephen Knight, Tony Hall, director general of the BBC, and Tim Campbell MBE. The Active IQ Apprentice of the Year Award and Active IQ Apprentice Employer of the Year Award will also be presented. David Holland, CEO of Instructus, says: “We are delighted to be hosting this event, which will celebrate the enormous success and achievement of higher and advanced apprentices across the London region. Every apprentice can be proud. This ceremony rewards success and encourages others to aspire to great things”.

If you are an employer wanting to attend the event, please call Instructus Skills CFA on 0207-091-9625 or e-mail: [email protected]

education providers in national vocational standards and apprenticeships. We are also the market leader in the development of apprenticeship programmes, account-ing for 30 per cent of all current appren-ticeship starts in England. We care about future-proofing Britain’s businesses and enabling people, of all ages, to earn as they learn. Not everyone can afford the time or cost of university, and frankly there’s little substitute for learning from people skilled and experienced in the field.”

“As the UK economy grows, coupled with the exponential speed of technol-ogy, learning and skills are crucial to maintaining that growth. It is in our blood to not only keep pace with the times, but lead.” l

06 Skills CFA Instructus advertorial.indd 6 20/10/2014 14:35:09


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH TRADE SKILLS 4U

Tradeskills4U Ltd is the UK’s largest educator of the electrical installation adult workforce and the country’s

only specialist electrical IET “Centre of Excellence”. Despite our success, how-ever, we are actually a modest family-run company, and employ around 30 people.

We’re a business-to-business company with an enviable reputation and 98 per cent approval rating amongst our candi-dates. We are an independent company; not a funded organisation. We train ap-proximately 3,000 adult candidates each year in a full range of electrical domes-tic, commercial and industrial skills and adult vocational qualifications, many for continuing professional development. We also train adult apprentices and do-mestic electrical installers to enable them to register on the various competent per-son schemes, a self-certification for those working as installers in the building trade.

Our core candidates are 75 per cent ex-isting electrical and other trade contrac-tors, and 25 per cent new entrants. 95 per cent of our candidates are micro-business owners and employers, essentially the backbone of the industry.

Like any good business, we constantly engage with our customers/candidates. Dozens are literally under our roof every day. Many of them are electrical contrac-tors, others are not fully qualified electri-cians, but are employed within the greater electrical industry because of their abil-ity to work within the competent per-son schemes. Our views are also consist-ent with the views of Nigel Whitehead,

UKCES commissioner, with regard to the future of our adult workforce and the recommendations he has made, in his re-port of 8 November 2013, to improve the vocational qualification structure of our adult workforce to better reflect small employer’s needs. Over 90 per cent of the electrical installation industry is made up of these very small businesses, comprised typically of one or two contractors. Large employers account for no more than 10 per cent of the industry, yet seemingly get the majority of the say in to how the in-dustry is run.

Our key points are: – There are not enough so called fully-qualified electricians in the UK to meet current, and certainly not future, demand. – There are not enough new entrants, either younger persons or adults taking up apprenticeships, to cover the current and future loss of labour.– The competency schemes are all that keeps the electrical infrastructure re-paired, maintained, upgraded, amended and functioning. Remove these and there will be significant negative and probably unforeseen consequences.– The training and qualifications for com-petency schemes are good and getting better, and certainly up to the grade re-

quired for the job role. Adult vocational qualifications, which include competency schemes, must reflect the recommenda-tions that small employers and training providers should be better consulted on improving the skills workforce .

Our suggestion is for a sustainable workforce and proper career pathway for electricians: The one-size-fits-all appren-ticeship is flawed, too expensive and too long. We suggest there should be properly understood and accepted multi-grades of electricians, each capable of progressing to the higher level above. These would be:

1. Competent Domestic Electrical Installer (as exists but with proper industry recognition)

2. The Domestic Electrician (defined role apprenticeship based on achievement not length)

3. The Approved Electrician (comprising of domestic, commercial and industrial)

This structure would encourage people to do the right qualification, who might otherwise not take qualifications or proper training. Give them an entry level that fits their job role, a gradual progressive career path to higher levels, and we’re on our way to solving our apprenticeship supply issue in a manner consistent with the goals of the Whitehead report. l

Carl Bennett is the managing director of Tradeskills4U Ltd www.tradeskills4u.co.uk

Lights on: sustaining the electrical workforce

Qualifications for competency schemes are good and getting better

TRADE SKILLS 4U.co.uk

07 Trade Skills 4u advertorial.indd 7 20/10/2014 14:35:36


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WHITBREAD

Twenty years ago, an apprenticeship would have been associated with a trade: building, plumbing or electri-

cal engineering. Now, we understand that practical “on-the-job” learning is an ap-propriate, and sometimes the optimum, route into a much wider range of careers – both for prospective employees and for business.

In the most recent government statis-tics, retail, public services, business and administration were the sectors with the highest number of new apprentices, demonstrating this shift in employment practice across industries. To support this, government has committed signifi-cant funding for new apprenticeships and commissioned a highly respected review – the Richard Review – recommending that apprenticeships should be developed in partnership with employers to ensure apprentices gain the most relevant skills, both for their own future success and to build a world class pipeline of talent from broad sources for British businesses.

However, it is essential that businesses play their part in providing the best qual-ity training and support for their appren-tices. At Whitbread, we take this respon-sibility very seriously – both for our own business as well as a representative of the wider hospitality sector. Over the past three years, the number of apprentice-ships in hospitality has doubled, and at

Whitbread, more than 1000 apprentice-ships have been successfully completed with a further 682 apprentices currently on our programme.

But this is not just a numbers game – the quality of the assessment and train-ing is paramount. All our managers are trained to formally assess apprentices to standard and we have high levels of reten-tion. Furthermore, our data shows signifi-cant benefits over time for recruitment, retention and engagement.

Case studyHowever, the statistics demonstrating the success of our commitment to skills and training can never tell the full story of the impact of an apprenticeship. In January 2013, an 18-year-old called Jack Cowley began his career with Premier Inn. He had never been employed and lacked confi-dence in himself and his abilities, but had a bright and eager personality.

His apprenticeship journey taught him skills and the basics of the hospital-ity industry and on this journey he grew in knowledge, confidence and ambition. Jack’s willingness to learn never faltered and he is now on his journey to becoming a future leader. Jack is the epitome of the great success unemployed young people can achieve when given an opportunity to learn new skills, build confidence and con-tribute to a business.

People powerApprenticeships have the power to be tru-ly transformative – both for an individual, their sponsor, and for a business, but only if there is a genuine commitment to high quality training and assessment clearly linked to a job opportunity. This is not a quick fix – either for the learner or for busi-nesses looking to fill vacancies.

Apprenticeships are a significant invest-ment. But thriving businesses are not just bricks and mortar – they are as good as the people within those buildings and Whit-bread is absolutely committed to investing in our people.

And the return on that investment? We would consider appropriately skilled, mo-tivated employees with the right training to succeed on their chosen career path and deliver a great customer experience to be a very fair dividend. l

Apprenticeships: an investment worth making

08 Whitbread advertorial.indd 8 20/10/2014 14:36:55


“Get In. Go Far”, say the selfie-themed promotional ads for the government’s apprenticeship

scheme. A fashion buyer, an IT program-mer and, yes, even a tax accountant, flash smiley faces to say “I’m learning and earning”. The refreshed campaign shows that apprenticeships have changed their image in recent years and are no longer associated solely with manual trades. In-deed, the fact that apprenticeships took centre stage during party conference season is testament to their burgeon-ing profile. On the first day of the Tory party conference, David Cameron told Andrew Marr on his BBC show that he wanted to abolish youth unemployment. His mechanism of choice: announcing a benefit cap to fund another three million apprenticeships.

Labour also made a firm commitment at its conference. Ed Miliband said he wants to see a revolution in apprentice-ships. A key part of Labour’s ten-year plan for growth is built on the Husbands Review of Vocational Education and Training, published in September 2013. The report made a number of recommen-dations about the quality and quantity of

apprenticeships. Miliband wants to see both – more and better opportunities in vocational training.

The Husbands Review highlighted that, comparatively, England has relative-ly low levels of apprenticeships against competitor countries such as Australia, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Such countries have “between three and four times as many apprentices as England, where just 8 per cent of all employers and less than a third of very large firms offer apprenticeships”. Germany’s vocational education and apprenticeship system is held in high esteem. There is a lot to learn from what they do. Their system is planned and policed by the local cham-bers of commerce, which ensures high-quality schemes, lasting for three years, with highly structured programmes that prioritise clear outcomes for both appren-tice and employer.

Apprenticeships are “in vogue” with government but we must ensure they are designed to stand the test of time. In today’s political arena, everyone wants a slice of the apprenticeship policy pie. But is it being cooked right, and are they fol-lowing the best recipes? I head up ACCA

UK (the Association of Chartered Certi-fied Accountants), the global body for professional accountants. Employers fre-quently discuss with me the skills deficit; they are simply not getting the new re-cruits they require and also they reference the lack of skilled experience hires.

Apprenticeships have a vital role to play in filling the gap and providing opportu-nities for Neets (those not in education, employment or training). Apprentice-ships also offer a financially viable alter-native to those who cannot or do not wish to take on the financial cost of a university education. We would certainly argue that creating such opportunities is supportive of a social mobility agenda.

But what does a successful apprentice-ship programme look like? As a part of the Apprenticeship Trailblazer programme – a group of employers supporting gov-ernment in designing new apprentice-ship standards for relevant sector occu-pations – I am often asked this question, and together with organisations such as Professions for Good and the EEF, I have strong views. Firstly, my view is that we need to stick to this Trailblazer approach, even if a new government is elected in

Apprenticeships are undergoing a rebrand as professional sectors open their doors. But the true test is achieving parity with university prestige

Taking the next generation under our wing

APPRENTICESHIPS

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By Sarah Hathaway

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2015. These things take time to embed. We need to ensure the system is well de-signed and structured, with the needs of the apprentice and the employer finely balanced. The creation of an appropriate framework must be finely tuned between government and employers; this was ex-pressed eloquently in the 2012 Review of Apprenticeships by Doug Richard, the one-time Dragons’ Den judge and entrepreneur. His report for BIS rec-ommended that what employers want should be placed at the heart of the sys-tem; designing and developing appren-ticeships in line with quality standards set by government. Richard was also correctly mindful of the term “appren-ticeship” not being devalued, saying that the phrase should be applicable only to “new jobs requiring sustained and substantial training”.

Second, a really great apprenticeship programme also needs to focus on the wider economic requirements of the UK, with a firm eye on the future, and on the local, national and global picture. Part of being future-focused means ensuring there are real progression opportunities for apprentices. Not just a one-off job at the end of it, but a career. It’s all very well getting an apprentice into business, but what good does that do if they’re not granted the same opportunities for development or promotion as a univer-sity graduate? We’re only just starting to crack the glass ceiling for women; let’s not create a whole new one for apprentices.

Third, apprenticeships should be qual-ity driven – with clear outcomes for the apprentice and appropriate assessment. As the Trailblazer guidance indicates, the new apprenticeships should be linked to registration with a professional body. The government should not rush through schemes to create headlines. This must be a commitment to the long term.

Fourth, the programme also needs to be measured and audited. Working for an accountancy body, it’s not entirely surprising that I am saying this but we have to monitor the programme, making changes quickly where appropriate and celebrating and promoting successes.

Through proper assessment and audit, best practice and innovation can spread, allowing apprenticeships to flourish and encouraging new sectors to design their own. The National Apprenticeship Awards, now in their 11th year are the

perfect platform to support this. And fi-nally, we need to make sure apprentice-ships are taken up by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), not just by big, headline-making businesses. SMEs have a lot to offer, particularly at a local and regional level, and apprentices can create value for them too – it’s a win-win we could be missing out on. In order for this to happen, the funding and administra-tion of apprenticeships has to be simple to understand and deliver.

Ultimately, changing perceptions about apprenticeships is vital. We have come a long way since vocational education and training was seen as “second best”. The work of organisations such as City & Guilds, with its illustrious history in vocational education, has made massive changes to attitudes about the academic and vocational divide. But misconcep-tions still need to be addressed.

Some still think of apprenticeships as an easy route. Yet high quality appren-ticeships are extremely competitive. In fact, it can be more difficult to enter one of the country’s top apprenticeship schemes than to apply for a place at a top UK uni-versity. The report said that “in 2012 a young person seeking a place at the Uni-versity of Oxford had to compete with an average of five applicants, but in the same year Rolls-Royce reported 4,000

applicants for just 200 places, or 20 appli-cants per place”.

As we accelerate toward the 2015 gen-eral election, we will continue to hear more about apprenticeships. Yet perhaps the most important aspect of a UK-wide apprenticeship scheme is that we need it to be apolitical, with apprenticeships designed to endure way beyond the five-year political cycle. Apprenticeships need to sit as a viable and equal alternative to a university education as we look to diver-sify our economy and close the skills gap.

I’d like to see a cross-party commit-ment to apprenticeships, where every political hue agrees on the way forward for the benefit of employers and learn-ing providers involved in the scheme and young apprentices themselves. The true test of whether we’ve created great apprenticeship schemes in the UK will come in 20 years’ time. If a vocational ed-ucation route to a professional career has really achieved parity with an academic one, we’ll see former apprentices reach-ing board and partner status at the same rate as Oxbridge graduates. We can’t blindly sit and wait two decades to see if we’ve got this right, though. Now is the time to accelerate apprenticeships. lSarah Hathaway is the head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) UK

Glass ceiling: apprentices must have the same career-progression opportunities as graduates

tAPPRENTICESHIPS

9-10 ACCA on apprenticeships.indd 10 20/10/2014 18:06:27


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OPTIMUM SKILLS

According to a recent British Cham-ber of Commerce study, 88 per cent of businesses do not feel that young

people are work ready, but is engagement with young people and getting them work-ready simpler than we think, and are some organisations missing the point? The reality is, when it comes to bridg-ing the gap between school and work, employers believe there is a mismatch between their expectations and work-ready skills of young people. The fact that studies show that the great major-ity of school leavers and more than half of graduates are unprepared for work is a shameful statistic.

Optimum Skills Limited is a training company set up to help young people get ready for work. We deliver training pro-grammes that businesses expect to help them to meet their skills strategies. In our team, we have over 30 years of education and training experience across a range of different sectors. Having been tasked with recruiting young people into jobs for many years, the essential criteria we are continually asked for relates to the basic business behaviours that employers want to see. Fundamentally, achieving basic at-titudes and behaviours goes a long way to meeting employer expectations. Our experience demonstrates that businesses feel this is far more important than indus-try-related skills and competencies – these should come later with apprenticeships.

When we get down to the essentials, em-ployers just want to see the following:

• Reliability • Punctuality • Problem solving • Communication/customer service skills • Team working • Good old-fashioned personal manners

Too often, learners are referred to us that have low self-esteem, poor social skills and a lack of understanding of basic business behaviours. In truth, the adults or organisations they have come into con-tact with just simply haven’t taught or re-enforced the basics of business needs. Our

training programmes do. There are various new initiatives that

seek to address work-readiness, most no-tably the government’s flagship trainee-ship programme, which came about as part of the Richard Review (2012). The traineeship programme is a brilliant ini-tiative – exactly what businesses want to see. It breaks down barriers surrounding the business’ risk of taking apprentices straight into employment. It allows the

young person to see if the industry is for them, and the young person gets employ-ability training which will hopefully meet business needs.

The remaining barrier, however, is with the Skills Funding Agency rules and eligibility criteria that are associated, and which determine who can qualify for government support. The existing eligibility criteria does not allow a young person to undertake a traineeship if they have achieved certain education levels by certain ages. So if your son or daughter has completed A-levels by the age of 18, wants to go into full time work and has no work experience, they currently would not be eligible for traineeship vacancies that have jobs attached. This means that some young people wanting a step on the employment ladder are disregarded from programmes where they would poten-tially flourish and achieve employment. Surely the most important factor should be about getting young people work-ready, regardless of prior qualifications? Perhaps the better eligibility test should be around employment history and experi-ence, even for those with degrees.

Basic work-ready behaviours across all abilities would go a long way to satisfy-ing business needs, something that we all have a responsibility as adults to teach. lFor more information on what we offer visit us at www.optimumskills.co.uk or call us on 01325 311832

Getting young people into work – have we got it right?

There is a mis-match between expectations and

work-ready skills

Optimum SkillsLimited

11 Optimum skills.indd 11 20/10/2014 14:37:23


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE TRAINING & RECRUITMENT PARTNERSHIP

We are a long established, inde-pendent training and learning provider located in Mitcham,

Surrey. We currently deliver vocational training to young people and adults na-tionally, and work with a number of sub-contractors enabling us to offer a wide range of vocational areas.

TRP has been delivering work-based programmes successfully since 1998, with continuous high success and progression rates within business administration, management, customer service, childcare and supporting teaching and learning ap-prenticeship frameworks.

TRP has established management and assessment teams that are well experi-enced to maximise opportunities for both learners and employers.

Ofsted, on its good practice website, confirms and endorses TRP’s commit-ment in putting its learners first and re-sponding effectively to the needs of em-ployers, including advising and guiding some employers to gain and regain IIP (investors in people) status.

This is key to our successful track record and has enabled us to focus on providing quality provision. The fact that a number of key national companies prefer to use TRP to deliver its middle and higher-man-agement training recogises this quality.

TRP thinks strategically, planning the delivery of its provision to ensure that learners’ needs are not only met in the short-term, but are seen as part of their life-long learning programme.

Our track record of working closely with employers ensures that employees skills are developed in line with the demands of their job. This aids the identification of other skills which could be incorporated into the training programme, in-turn en-hancing the effectiveness of the appren-tices, ensuring their skills are current and sustainable for the future.

We work with a wide range of stake-holders from small businesses to multi-million turnover organisations such as NHS trusts and social housing groups, and have established strong links with local authorities. For example, our com-munity investment commitment assisted one local council to develop a pilot project supporting young expectant teenagers to gain employability skills and nationally accredited outcomes. TRP has Appren-

ticeship Ambassador status, and as such works closely with schools and commu-nity groups promoting and developing ap-prenticeship opportunities.

Our supply chain allows us to broaden our range of qualifications to include: ac-counts, fenestration (glazing and window work), health & safety, information advice and guidance, learning development and support services for young people, main-tenance, leadership and management, manufacturing operations, painting and decorating, plumbing, site supervision, management and construction. The ma-jority of our delivery is based in the learn-er’s workplace.

Our reputation is our best marketing tool. Word-of-mouth referrals provide a steady supply of clients, both employers and learners. TRP adhere to the time-hon-oured adage “our word is our bond”.

We know we need to deliver what we promise. Sometimes we may not be the most appropriate option for a learner or an employer; in that situation we have an un-derstanding of where best to signpost that person to, and a network of organisations who are well placed to assist when we feel we are not the right fit.

Employers value our honesty and integ-rity. If we cannot help them, we usually know someone who can. l

TRP: delivering high-quality vocational training

TRP has been delivering successful work-based

programmes since 1998

12 Recruitment Partners advertorial.indd 12 20/10/2014 14:32:58


PARLIAMENTARY FOCUS

Management and leadership are cru-cial to driving greater economic growth in the UK. Research has

shown that great management can make a huge difference to organisational perfor-mance, equating to a 33 per cent increase in productivity and a 23 per cent increase in financial performance.

However, the UK does need better management and leadership as the com-petition is getting stronger all the time – it is a fierce global market out there and only the best-run companies will survive. Put simply, if you want to be successful as a business, you need well-managed teams performing to their potential.

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Management was originally founded for this reason, to promote debate and foster a closer understanding between parlia-mentarians and UK managers from across all UK sectors.

In late 2013, along with CMI, the All Party Group founded the Commission on the Future of Management and Leader-ship (APPGM) with the aim of investigat-ing one very important question: how can the UK produce the right kind of manag-ers to galvanise business expansion and growth over the coming years?

It was my great pleasure to co-chair the commission, which consisted of a diverse

group of parliamentarians and business leaders. To address this issue, we sought to understand three things. Where are we going wrong today? What are the management skills that will be needed in the future? And how can our managers acquire these critical skills?

During the course of the commission, we were privileged to interview some of the very best managers in the UK, from Paul Polman of Unilever to Charlie May-field of John Lewis, Al Lukies of Monitise and Harriet Green of Thomas Cook. We also heard from leading academics, aspir-ing managers and social entrepreneurs.

While there were some highly

Without strong leaders and managers, firms will fail to flourish. So how can the UK produce the right sort?

Guiding light

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By Barry Sheerman

Leader of the pack: only the best-run companies will survive in a fiercely competitive global market

13-14 APPG on Leadership.indd 17 20/10/2014 18:04:10


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outstanding examples of great man-agement, unfortunately they can be all too rare. The evidence we took showed that we’re faced with a ticking time bomb of myopic management. We neglect the importance of sustainable growth in the long term in favour of cutting costs to de-liver profits in the short term. We are not encouraged to take risks or given space to be innovative.

That isn’t to say the UK is void of good management. Down the years we have seen some stellar examples. In 2012, the APPGM held an event to look at the Lon-don 2012 Olympic Games and were blown away by the high standards of manage-ment evident throughout the project – a key factor in the success of the games. Fortunately, there are some clear steps to make examples like this the rule, rather than the exception. By focusing on pur-pose, people and potential, organisations can thrive as we move towards 2020.

But it’s not all just down to business. Whatever their sector – business, public sector or civil society – the demands on managers are changing fast. The govern-

ment needs to lead by example in encour-aging the training of managers and in en-couraging innovation. We’ve had some positive steps, but we need a consistent approach across parties, despite the cur-rent focus on elections, if we are to see long-term progress.

Although the economic climate has improved, our growth is fragile and con-cerns remain over asset bubbles, the rising

cost of housing, the heavy indebtedness of many governments and heightened political tensions in volatile parts of the world. In this era of uncertainty, organi-sations need to support their managers more than ever, so that they can drive growth in a technological age and draw out the diverse talents of the UK work-force. Our main call is on employers, and for them to realise that their people are

their most valuable asset. They need to develop, invest in, learn from, share with and trust them. They also need to consid-er whether their purpose and values live up to their employees’ expectations of them and, if not, do something about it.

We also need to see a greater focus on reaching out to young people much ear-lier on. We need to encourage schools at primary and secondary level to provide practical, team-leading opportunities and experience of enterprise programmes. We need to get them out of the classroom and experiencing the real world, while getting more businesses in to talk about all the world of work can offer.

Ultimately, the commission was un-derpinned by the desire to find out how we can equip the leaders of today and to-morrow with the skills needed to succeed in 2020. We believe that, if taken forward, the recommendations made by the com-mission can contribute to our continued economic growth to 2020 and beyond. lBarry Sheerman is the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Management and MP for Huddersfield

Going for gold: the 2012 Olympic Games in London exemplified high management standards

PARLIAMENTARY FOCUSt

Evidence shows we face a ticking time bomb of myopic management

13-14 APPG on Leadership.indd 18 20/10/2014 18:04:11


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ENERGY & UTILITY SKILLS

The energy sector is a high profile, high impact contributor to the UK economy and workforce, contribut-

ing around 3 per cent of UK Gross Do-mestic Product (GDP) and supporting the equivalent of 1 in 45 jobs in the UK. However, shortages of skilled workers are inhibiting the growth of businesses in the sector, and this situation is set to get worse as demand for labour is increasing while supply is falling.

This problem is already hurting busi-nesses in the wider economy. The sector will need more than 200,000 people in the next 10 years as our ageing workforce retires and new investment, such as the rollout of smart metering in UK homes, takes place.

As the industry body for the sector, En-ergy & Utility Skills (EU Skills) helps em-ployers attract new talent, develop their workforces and assure a high level of com-

petence across their businesses. We are also working productively with govern-ment, negotiating reforms in education and skills policy, working on employer ownership of the skills agenda and the new Trailblazer Apprenticeship programmes, and supporting careers services, work ex-perience, military leavers’ schemes and school-business partnerships.

This year, EU Skills secured government funding to bring sector employers togeth-er via the Energy & Efficiency Industrial Partnership, which will produce arguably the most extensive change in skills policy in 20 years. A collaboration of more than 67 employers from across the sector, the partnership is taking a radical approach to employment and skills, and has already developed three exciting new Trailblazer Apprenticeships. These employer-led standards will become the industry stand-ard for the occupations they cover.

Furthermore, there is an urgent need to address diversity in the sector, beginning at school age. This is about more than “do-ing the right thing” – if only a small pro-portion of the population sees a career in energy and utilities as accessible to them, this hinders employers’ ability to access the best talent.

Employers have challenged themselves to offer work placements for those fur-thest from the jobs market and those in need of an opportunity to prove them-selves in our industry.

In September 2014, the North West Youth Engagement Regional Pilot was officially launched. Led by United Utili-ties, the North West pilot brings together eight employers with a vision of deliver-ing a quality training and work-placement experience for those not in education, employment or training (Neet) across the region. The pilot targets a diverse range of young learners with and without qualifications, and enables them to meet expectations in the workplace by provid-ing valuable experience and routes into the industry.

The sector is also stepping up efforts to provide information, advice and guid-ance on joining the sector workforce. Careers Lab, an important initiative supported by the Energy & Efficiency In-dustrial Partnership, encourages schools and business to work together to address the gap between skills and the needs of our industry. lTo find out more about the work of Energy & Utility Skills, the Energy & Efficiency Industrial Partnership or any of our member organisations, visit: http://www.euskills.co.uk/skillsgap

Securing skills in energy and utilities

Prime Minister David Cameron talks with apprentices during his visit to United Utilities

15 Energy and Utilities advertorial.indd 15 20/10/2014 14:38:02


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NETWORK LEARNING CENTRES

Network Learning Centres UK Ltd is a midlands-based training provider, delivering private and government-

funded accredited programmes nationally to candidates of all ages. Established since 2008, we have helped thousands of em-ployees throughout the UK achieve their career goals by delivering apprenticeships and work-based learning programmes within their place of work, and helped hundreds of employers raise the skill level and expertise within their businesses.

Our workbooks have been developed to provide the highest level of learning pos-sible, with assessors visiting every eight weeks and offering information, advice and guidance throughout the duration of the programme, ensuring our learners are fully supported at all times. Our current available courses include: • Health & Social Care - Level 2 & 3 • Leadership in Health & Social Care -

Level 5 • Safe Handling of Medication in Social Care• Dementia Care - Level 2 • Team Leadership - Level 2 • Team Management Level 3 • Business Administration - Level 2 & 3 • Customer Service - Level 2 & 3 We work alongside some of the largest employers within the care sector: Care UK, Buckinghamshire County Coun-cil and Mencap, to name a few. We en-sure that their employees are qualified to the minimum level mandatory for their job roles, and help them develop supporting them throughout their ca-reer. We have tailored our courses

Building skills, achieving goals

Client testimonials

Les Tyrrell, training and recruitment officer for Westminster Home CareKaren Rose (who works for NLC) is the QCF assessor at my branch, and she currently delivers QCF qualifications in Health and Social Care to all the carers I employ on behalf of Westminster Home Care Enderby, which is trading as Home Choice Care. During the time Karen has been with us, I have found her work to be of the highest calibre. She has supported all our carers to complete the qualification, and supports those whose language barriers have stopped them from attaining formal qualifications before. Any problems we have had, we have been able to deal with them together. We had issues with previous NVQ/QCF assessors, and I had to remove our learners due to very poor quality assessments marking and support. Karen, however, has been a huge plus for our branch. Our carers want to study with her because she is easy to understand and fair. Karen is always smartly dressed and polite. She works within the branch maintaining confidentiality in the event of emergencies that occur.

Julia Picketts, care assistant at Options BuckinghamI have recently completed the Team Leadership – Level 2 course through Network Learning Centres. When my manager first suggested that I do this, I was rather reluctant due to my age (59). However, after meeting with my assessor, Sarah Whitchurch, I began to think differently about the course as she explained everything fully and put me at ease. The course was interesting and challenging at times, but I really enjoyed all of the written workbook. Sarah reassured me and put me at ease. She supported me throughout the course, and I knew that if I was unsure about anything, I could always ring, text or e-mail her. I am very pleased that I have done this course. Apart from becoming a team leader in my role as a care assistant, my manager wanted me to do this course to encourage me to become more assertive. She has told me that she has noticed a big difference regarding this matter and is pleased. I feel more confident in my job role. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to do the course.

within retail and manufacturing, rais-ing the skill levels of employees within these sectors. For information, advice and guidance on how Network Learning Cen-tres UK Ltd can help raise your skill level and achieve your career goals, or advice on

funding availability, please contact us. lTelephone – 01159 411414Email – [email protected] – network learning centres uk ltdTwitter – @NLCukltdWebsite – www.netlearn.co.uk

16 Network Learning Centres advertorial.indd 16 20/10/2014 14:40:43


THE MANUFACTURING QUESTION

History proves that when countries invest in manufacturing they pros-per: for example manufacturing

made the UK the wealthiest nation in the world at the turn of the 20th century. By 1960 the US had assumed that position on the back of manufacturing; and China is now heading for the number one posi-tion – on the back of manufacturing. The UK is having to rebuild its manufacturing base as it seeks to rebalance its economy.

The UK has some substantial, world-class manufacturing companies, espe-cially in defence, aerospace, automotive, pharmaceuticals and speciality chemi-cals. The broad issue in manufacturing is

not one of quality, but of quantity – there are simply now not enough UK-based global players. Those who have chosen to locate here are entirely dependent upon the UK’s industrial economy and the availability of a skilled workforce, since many owners have no special affiliation to the UK.

If we are to rebuild the nation’s pro-ductive industries, a highly skilled work-force is a critical parameter. We need to encourage the brightest and the best into engineering, since it is innovative engi-neers who create the products, processes and systems that make the UK competi-tive and its industry attractive to inves-

tors. While strongly backed by excellent research scientists, it is engineers who are the significant wealth creators and em-ployers of people. If exports are to grow then we must have more companies with more productive capability. Investment in people and capital is the only way for-ward, and it is the government’s task to create the best possible environment for both to occur.

The 2013 Perkins review of engineer-ing skills, commissioned by the gov-ernment, is an excellent assessment of the challenge and the measures that must be taken. There is an encouraging increase in the number of young people

Engineers are the wealth creators and employers of the manufacturing industry, and investing in them would benefit the UK’s economy

Engine of growth

t

By Alan Rudge

The jet set: Rolls-Royce is the world’s second-largest aircraft engine manufacturer, employing over 21,000 people in the UK

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studying science and mathematics at school and going forward to engineering at university. The industrial sector must do more to attract the brightest and the best, but politicians must also recognise the critical role of the manufacturing in-dustry and its engineers in the economy, and take every opportunity to make this clear to the population at large.

The engineering institutions, too, have a key role to play and engineers them-selves need to become more engaged in inspiring and encouraging the next gen-eration of talent.

It is accepted that much of the regrowth of productive industry, with commensu-rate growth in employment, will come in the SME (small and medium enterprise) sector. More start-up companies are cer-tainly needed.

However, if if these are to have a greater prospect of success then the government needs to do more to ensure an attractive tax environment and minimal bureau-cracy that will help to reduce risk and encourage operations and investment in

this sector. A UK sovereign wealth fund directed at this end would be highly ben-eficial, but a first step should be a review of current policies, to determine how many of them are in conflict with these objectives by undermining or stifling the growth of enterprises large and small.

The UK needs to create a new genera-tion of well-trained young entrepreneurs

backed by patient investors who have a good prospect of profitable returns.

This may appear to be a tall order, but taking forward the recommendations of the Perkins review will help us to move toward this ideal. The availability of a substantial, highly skilled engineering resource has strategic benefits: both in helping to maintain the current foreign investment in UK industry, and in grow-

ing a new generation of larger UK compa-nies derived from the small and medium enterprises that currently constitute a large part of our economy.

The importance of this pool of talent in the revitalisation of the UK’s industrial capability, and hence the health of the overall economy, has been badly under-valued in the past. While lip-service has been paid to perceived shortages of talent and productive capability, there has been no major drive to put matters right.

In particular, the essential link between the decline in the overall scale of produc-tive industry and its knock-on effects – such as the increasing national debt, or the sale and loss of control of assets – has not been recognised. Hopefully, that is now changing.

Increasing the pool of skilled engi-neering talent will not put matters right on its own, but it is a key component that without which there can be no industrial recovery. lSir Alan Rudge is the president of the ERA Foundation

The big apple: China is becoming one of the world’s richest countries on the back of manufacturing

THE MANUFACTURING QUESTIONt

Links between industrial decline and national debt have not been recognised

17-18 Engineering skills gap.indd 18 20/10/2014 18:05:20


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ARC ACADEMY

Based in Wales, ARC Academy UK was established in June 2011 to deliver work-place skills to the long-term unemployed in rail engineering, health and social care, construction and call centres. We added Railway Engineering Level 2 apprentice-ships to our portfolio, also branching into other areas including health and social care and construction.

What we do: apprenticeships in railway engineering ARC Academy delivers railway engineer-ing apprenticeships with a tailor-made scheme that ensures its apprentices gain skills and knowledge that allow them to start working straight away. Our first pri-ority is to engage with employers to find out what they want and need. Listening to them enables us to develop bespoke ap-prenticeship programmes.

We’re flexible when putting together the components of an apprenticeship, but it always covers the essentials; deliver-ing programmes that ensure employers never have to seek add-ons or additional staff training.

We provide additional training outside of the apprenticeship framework, and each apprentice can expect to receive the following additional mandatory courses: • Network Rail accredited, ten-day Track

Induction • Small tools course, including, at the very

minimum, training with Kango and impact wrenches

• Lookout training can also be offered,

depending on the apprentice’s progress. ARC Academy UK currently has seven

delivery sites across the country, which provide convenient locations with excel-lent transport links: • Blaenavon, Gwent • Epping Ongar, London • Avon Valley, Bristol • Great Central, Leicester • Severn Valley, Kidderminster • Elsecar, Barnsley • Shepherds Well, Kent

Every site has training facilities and a live railway track that gives apprentices the chance to gain real-work experience, and the apprentices receive full training from ARC’s qualified trainers. A site su-pervisor is allocated to each group to en-sure the experience on track is a full and knowledgeable one.

New developments ARC is developing a new delivery site in Treforest which will include a 49m track, where we will deliver track induction courses and machine controller courses to our commercial customers. It will also be home to our railway engineering appren-tices during their 13-week initial induction.

ARC’s nationwide centres take the form of a classroom-led programme, delivered in one or two days a week, or as a full-time arrangement over 13 weeks. During these sessions, apprentices carry out a variety of track maintenance activities on the live running rail tracks. Industry experts visit apprentices in the workplace to perfect

each aspect of their role and to guarantee that every apprenticeship is both challeng-ing and rewarding.

Assessments are also carried out by ARC Academy’s training staff, either through observation, tasks and assignments, or the testimony of line managers or experienced work colleagues. Success rates are high – on average, most apprenticeships are com-pleted in 12 months.

Benefits of apprenticeships It is important that employers understand that apprenticeships are an extremely ef-fective way to fill skills gaps. This is espe-cially the case in sectors such as rail – where ARC focuses a lot of its training – which is facing a decline in knowledge, skills and experience as its ageing workforce gets closer to retirement. Having a strong ap-prenticeship programme can also improve a company’s competitive edge because it is considered a real plus-point when bidding for contracts. Furthermore, staff who are being trained and developed feel valued by their employers and are therefore more likely to be loyal and committed.

Apprenticeships provide a highly effec-tive route to a good career – for example, in sectors such as engineering it is possi-ble to progress from apprenticeship to fel-lowship. Crucially, apprentices can earn a good wage while they train, and quickly improve and develop their knowledge and skills. There is very little personal cost be-cause most training is subsidised by the government and their employer. l

ARC Academy: on track for success

19 ARC Academy advertorial.indd 19 20/10/2014 14:41:51


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PERA TRAINING

Youth unemployment remains a significant challenge. Nearly three-quarters of a million young people

are out of work in Britain today. For those young people finishing school, their next steps will have a substantial bearing on the rest of their lives. A recent survey of school leavers found that three-quarters (73 per cent) were intending to go to uni-versity. By contrast, only one in 20 (six per cent) were planning on undertaking an apprenticeship. School leavers are more than twice as likely to associate university, rather than apprenticeships, with provid-ing good long-term earnings potential and job prospects.

However, there is compelling evidence that university is often not the most suit-able route for young school leavers. A re-cent study by the Million Jobs campaign reveals over a third of all graduates (39 per cent) have lifetime earnings below those of the average higher apprentice, while nearly half (46 per cent) of those from “new” (i.e. post-1992) universities earn less than higher apprentices.

The study shows these differences be-come amplified when subject studied is examined. For some “new” university courses, such as media studies, as many as three-quarters of graduates earn less than

the average higher apprentice. In terms of employment, the study finds

evidence of diminishing prospects for young graduates. Since 2005, apprentices under the age of 25 have broadly enjoyed more favourable levels of both employ-ment and unemployment than graduates. The study also shows evidence of an in-creasing divergence in employment and unemployment levels between the two groups in apprentices’ favour.

Tackling the negative misperceptions surrounding apprenticeships is vital if pol-icymakers are serious in their determina-tion to tackle the country’s youth unem-ployment level and to equip young people with the skills they need to meaningfully participate in Britain’s 21st century work-force. But in order to be successful, the bat-tle must take place on two fronts.

Firstly - and after two generations of target driven promotion of university ed-ucation as “the only route” to long-term prosperity – young people, parents and teachers need support, guidance and ac-cess to information that will enable them to make an informed choice between a vo-cational and academic route to the labour market. Secondly, to ensure apprentice-ships gain their rightful place alongside graduate degrees, we must see greater

transparency and competition between higher education institutions. Young peo-ple must be made aware that not all de-grees offer the same returns. The institu-tion attended, subject studied and degree classification obtained have a huge impact. Policy makers must also move away from the concept of graduates as a single ho-mogenous unit. They are not.

Increased transparency and competition in the higher education sector can only be a positive. It will help the country retain its place at the forefront of higher educa-tion and research, while giving young people the opportunity that they deserve to compete in the labour market.

There is more to do to ensure the high-er education system in the UK remains among the best in the world, and to guar-antee students get a sufficient return on their investment. The status quo of high fees and poor tuition is unacceptable. Change is needed. lRichard Grice is the CEO of Pera Training

We will not see the apprenticeship revolution policymakers strive for without first tackling the notion of “university or bust”, writes Richard Grice

It’s time for apprenticeships to graduate

20 Pera training advertorial.indd 20 20/10/2014 14:42:33


Jobs – small firms are creating a lot of them at the moment. In fact, four out of five private-sector jobs created since

2010 have been in small and medium-sized businesses. We have a labour market that is recovering well following years of performing sluggishly. But as employ-ment levels improve, many businesses say they are finding it harder to locate employ-ees with the skills they need. Sectors such as IT and construction are already strug-gling to fill vacancies. This is a long-term problem that won’t go away by itself.

Research by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) found that nearly three-fifths of small businesses lack confidence in finding young people with the right skills for the job. Less than a fifth currently take on apprentices. This situation will be improved only if we can start to de-liver workers with the skills businesses are calling for in areas such as Stem subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths). This is where businesses say young people have the biggest gaps in their knowledge. It is holding businesses back from potential growth and leaves us lagging behind other advanced economies in terms of productivity levels.

Take an advanced economy such as Ger-many. It’s Mittelstand – small and medium-sized businesses, often family-run – is rec-ognised for driving the national economy. Our government’s ambition should be for UK small businesses to take a similar man-tle, and to become the envy of economies around the world. How can they achieve this? With long-term thinking that goes beyond media-driven announcements. We want all political parties to think about what our education system should look like in 20 years’ time. Getting there

means getting it right now, and staying the course across parliaments and changes in government.

Unfortunately, far too many govern-ments down the years have been more concerned about increasing university numbers than seeing what is really needed for the UK economy. In England, for every one young person enrolling in an appren-ticeship, about four or five take a place on a university undergraduate course. In contrast, two-thirds of young people in Switzerland are enrolled on an apprentice-ship, with only a fifth going to university. We need more emphasis on business en-gagement and parity between vocational education and academic routes – other-wise you end up with large numbers of graduates fighting over limited vacancies

in some fields, and highly qualified young people settling for lower-skilled posts. This clearly isn’t what businesses need, and in too many cases they aren’t able to run at full capacity because they aren’t able to find somebody suitably skilled. Taking on an apprentice should help companies deal with this, but the limited number of small businesses deciding to do this sug-gests that the system is not accessible and discourages take-up.

Young people need to know that when they choose a vocational path over univer-sity, they can do well for themselves. Near-ly two-thirds of teachers say they would rarely or never advise a high-achieving

student to consider an apprenticeship. This perception must change; students should be given advice on the range of post-school opportunities so that they can choose the right route to meet their aspira-tions. Students should be bullish about be-ing able to earn while they learn, and busi-nesses should be able to realise the benefits of training an apprentice. Research sug-gests that the average person completing an apprenticeship will increase business productivity by over £200 per week, a strong incentive for employers to take on an apprentice.

Party conference season suggested the message might finally be getting through to politicians, but we still have some way to go. Labour proposed to boost the num-ber of apprentices, and David Cameron promised to end youth unemployment altogether. At the Lib Dem party con-ference, Vince Cable proposed adding a pound to the apprenticeship minimum wage and pledged more university-level apprenticeships. From a business perspec-tive we want to see more apprenticeships, but we also need them to be high-quality. Employers have to be in the driving seat, setting the agenda for the training that people on apprenticeships receive. After all, employers know what skills are need-ed in their industry. Quality and quantity have a price attached to them, and the re-form of funding for apprenticeships will mean the cost to businesses will go up. This is a worthwhile price to pay if the result is a highly skilled, well-motivated cohort of young people who are equipped to form the bedrock of the UK economy for a generation or more. lJohn Allan is the national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses

Start small, think big

Less than a fifth of small businesses currently take

on apprentices

THE SME PERSPECTIVE

By John Allan

21 Skills and small businesses.indd 21 20/10/2014 18:07:22


In the hugely competitive and gradually recovering world economy, it is heart-ening to know that our creative indus-

tries, including advertising, architecture, arts, culture, crafts, design, fashion, film, games, publishing, tech and broadcast-ing, are rightly lauded as among the best in the world. Our creative industries are setting the bar of excellence; just think of this year’s film Gravity – made by a British crew at Pinewood – which won the Acad-emy Award for Best Visual Effects thanks to Tim Webber and his colleagues at the UK company Framestore.

The creative industries are also highly lucrative, worth over £71bn to the econ-omy in 2012. They play an important role in shaping how the rest of the world per-ceives the UK. But they also operate in an increasingly competitive global mar-ketplace, and their leading position is not guaranteed. Action is needed to ensure we are inspiring and equipping the next generation of talent, helping creative busi-nesses to start up and grow, and main-taining our competitiveness, with diver-sity and innovation as the threads running through all we do.

That is why industry and government have come together through the Crea-tive Industries Council (CIC), and this July launched Create UK, an action-ori-entated strategy that brings the diversity of the creative industry behind common goals to ensure their continuous success and growth. Standing still is not an option. We want to enable growth in companies of all sizes, and support entry into and pro-gression within the creative industry for people from all backgrounds. This must be underpinned by an education system that includes a commitment to creativity, and

by high-quality courses in further and higher education.

Creative education needs a central place to capitalise on the huge opportunities. Currently the marginalisation of creative subjects in the curriculum, insufficient specialised training for teachers and lack of consistent careers advice means many young people – and their parents – are dis-couraged from following a creative path. The demographics of these industries are also not representative of the diversity of the UK population, resulting in lost op-portunities. We need to open and support career paths that empower the richness of talent in our diverse society.

There are more challenges ahead. Crea-tive companies often struggle in a fast-changing technological market to fill po-sitions due to a shortage of people with the right talents and abilities, triggering increased pressure on the industry itself to invest in professional development train-ing whether in new software packages or project management.

Future-proofing this innovative sector will require a fusion of creative, technical and business skills. We need leaders and managers able to make their businesses thrive, and feel equipped to monetise their creativity and intellectual property. This is particularly important when we consider that 84 per cent of creative companies em-ploy fewer than ten people, and many rely on a mobile pool of freelancers.

Create UK has identified four areas where industry and government need to work together: supporting schools and careers advice; enriching ladders of oppor-tunity for individuals; growing creative businesses; and attracting and retaining diverse talent. Industry and government

have already made significant progress through collaboration. For example, the Next Gen Skills campaigns are advocating for the need to grow this country’s digital, creative and hi-tech economy, and they successfully campaigned for the inclu-sion of computer science in the curricu-lum. Together, we have also achieved the creation of 4,200 apprenticeships, over 200 industry-accredited higher education courses and apprenticeship programmes and three industry levies in the film, high-end TV and animation sectors which are supporting skills as demand grows. A good example of government supporting industry-led actions and unlocking further investment is the recent Em-ployer Ownership Pilot bid, which is amassing £37m of public/industry co-investment, and over 500 creative em-ployers, to help drive the creative skills agenda forward.

Undoubtedly, better connectivity at government, national and local level can unlock solutions. By co-ordinating and collaborating more effectively we can achieve simplicity in communication and better delivery. All political parties recog-nise the creative industries as central to their economic growth plans. What we need to see is how this intention translates into joining up all their agendas – for ex-ample, education, skills, further and high-er education, devolution, infrastructure – and delivering our joint industrial strat-egy. Working from the same blueprint, we must build on the opportunities these world-beating industries can offer us. lDinah Caine CBE is the chief executive of industry skills body Creative Skillset and chair of the Creative Industries Council education and skills sub group

Lights, camera, take action

THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES

By Dinah Caine

22 Creative skills.indd 22 20/10/2014 18:08:08


IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE BRITISH INSTITUTE OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

Gareth Tancred, CEO of the BIFM, explains why facilities management is the career of the future

How would you describe facilities management to an outsider?Facilities management is about creating sustainable organisations that can excel in their objectives. A facilities manager (FM) enhances the customer experience and the working environment, making it safe, comfortable, reliable, fluid, and maxim-ising productivity. A journey to work or a visit to a hotel would all be impossible without FMs. It’s a hidden treasure and is vital to businesses, society and the econ-omy. And because UK FM is so good, peo-ple don’t realise it’s there.

What are the greatest challenges for your organisation and your sector today, particularly around the skills agenda?The British Institute of Facilities Man-agement (BIFM) was founded in 1993, so we’ve been around for over 20 years. We’ve seen outsourcing gain more and more momentum. That’s because most organisations want to focus on their core activities and contract-in service delivery, in other words facilities management. However, there’s an opportunity to change that, and for facilities managers to position themselves as partners, not just contractors. That means looking for ways in which the industry can add value, not just save its clients costs.

That means one of the challenges is making sure we’re investing in skills across the entire industry, not just at the

top level. The cleaning operatives, the se-curity guards, the caterers, these people represent a huge proportion of the UK workforce. By offering them the oppor-tunity of supervisory management skills, the industry can provide great career progression opportunities and add extra value to both clients and also to the wider UK workforce.

Earlier this year, BIFM introduced the Facilities Management Professional Standards. What is its purpose? This allows those in the profession al-ready, or those coming into the profes-sion, to assess the skills they have against the professional benchmarks and stand-ards, and to aid their future development. Some might be based in different sec-tors or specialise in different aspects of FM. They can pick and choose the tools

that they need. If FM is to be considered on a par with law and accounting, the in-dustry needs defined standards. When organisations appraise their staff, there’s a framework behind it, and you know what competencies that person should have, and how they’re measuring up to it. It’s the building blocks of the entire profes-sion. The pace of evolution in FM over the last 20-30 years means the profession has reached the point where this is needed.

What are your hopes for the future? We want to continue with the focus we’ve got on professional qualifications. Having those qualifications, setting standards, educating; those are our reasons to exist. We want to see FM as a profession that the next generation actively looks forward to getting involved in. In order to make that happen, we need to demonstrate what an exciting and varied role it really is.

Children often aspire to become foot-ballers and pop stars, yet when we visit football stadiums and concert arenas, the reality is that it is the facilities manage-ment team that make it happen at venues such as Wembley or the O2. Those are just some of the great opportunities FM offers. It’s exciting, diverse, and can have a major impact on the success of an organisation. That’s the challenge we have: making it a career of choice rather than a career of chance. l

A career of choice

Facilities management teams make it happen at

Wembley or the O2

23 BIFM QandA advertorial.indd 23 20/10/2014 14:34:22

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE INSTITUTION OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

Engineering underpins so much of what we take for granted, such as transport, energy and healthcare. En-

gineers aren’t just critical to their industry, society at large can’t do without them.

Engineering should be a national prior-ity, but frankly the outlook is stark. We need 87,000 new engineers and techni-cians each year, but current output is just 51,000. Furthermore, with so many re-tiring from engineering, we are seeing no growth at all. A recent survey of 1,000 of our members found that 89 per cent don’t think the UK is producing enough engi-neers to sustain the country’s future eco-nomic growth.

Having recently visited the Middle East and Asia, I know that the reputation of British engineering is stronger than ever. UK manufacturing stands for quality and innovation. However if we don’t do some-thing about the country’s skills shortage, we risk losing this industry forever.

So what can and should we do? Firstly, while this isn’t a job for government alone, government has to grasp the scale of the challenge. It needs to implement a stra-tegic plan to encourage young people to pursue careers that are a national priority, like engineering. In order to do this, we also need buy-in from education provid-ers, engineering institutions, trade bodies and industry.

Much of the work must be done in schools. That means getting teachers inspired and informed about different industries. This is why the Institution of Mechanical Engineers launched the Teacher Industrial Partners’ Scheme with Project ENTHUSE and the Institution of Engineering and Technology, which will see teachers receive two-week work placements in engineering firms around

the UK. Teachers must be able to talk with authority about the application of science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) in the real world and what it’s like working in modern engineering organisations.

We need to give children exposure to the working world too. There are a num-ber of companies like Siemens, Cummins and BAE Systems who do fantastic out-reach work with schools. But we must ensure that every school pupil in the UK has as many meaningful encounters with industry as possible. Much more work needs to be done with regards to careers advice too. The people in industry, who are creating jobs, should be involved in

providing careers advice. We need to rein-troduce face-to-face interviews and build an authoritative online resource providing advice on Stem careers. The success of UK schools and colleges should be measured not just on academic performance, but on how successfully schools get students into these priority career paths.

Looking beyond schools, engineering companies need to challenge perceptions that engineering is dull or dirty. It is a trav-esty that just 6 per cent of UK professional engineers are women, and more has to be done to attract and retain female engi-neers. We need to demonstrate the excit-ing possibilities of engineering careers and ensure women aren’t penalised for taking career breaks to have children, or put off by macho work cultures. We cannot af-ford to miss out on the talent and ingenu-ity found in 51 per cent of the population.

To tackle the engineering skills shortage we must increase the pipeline of people inspired by stem subjects, we need buy-in from industry and education providers, but fundamentally we need clear, strategic leadership from government. With clear goals and objectives we can ensure we have the right people with the right skills in the industries that keep the country moving, working and growing. lStephen Tetlow MBE is the chief executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers

Saving the UK’s engineering future

We need to demonstrate the exciting possibilities of engineering careers

24 Institute Mechanical Engineers advertorial.indd 24 20/10/2014 14:29:06

A FORCE FOR GOOD

Politicians and governments don’t create growth, businesses create growth. It’s the government’s job to create the conditions for

the UK emerges from recession

beyond the global arena of London, companies and government are faced with a challenge: how to build a skilled UK workforce where pay, progression and productivity align in a virtuous circle?

The fundamental and permanent solution to tackling low pay is education, training and skills. Getting people out of low pay by simply increasing the minimum wage is not the answer alone. Such an approach will require investment by business and by the state. Policies on the National Minimum Wage, apprenticeships, National

come together in an integrated way to encourage employers to invest in training and to encourage employees to commit to gaining new skills.

The hospitality sector is often a

employing many young people, just out of school or college, often with modest or low academic

hours for people who need them. It’s also a sector where you can progress

growing hospitality company with over 2,500 Premier Inn hotels, Costa coffee shops and restaurants the length and breadth of the country, we

intensive business, employing 43,000 team members, and we are wholly reliant on them to deliver a

to our 22 million customers every month. For that we need highly

people, which is why we place tremendous importance on making

and valued.We create around 3,000 new UK

jobs every year, and we did so even in the teeth of the recession. Some

60 per cent of the people we recruit

old, and many are not in employment, education or training. They are often

they need when they join us, which makes it our responsibility to provide

responsibility to continue to invest in their development so they can increase their skills and progress into new, higher paid roles. Every year we invest over £12m in training to build our team members’ skills and learning, in part, having to compensate for the failures in the state education system.

One result of this investment is that we demonstrate very high levels of employee satisfaction, and are regularly ranked in the Sunday Times survey of the Best Big Companies to Work For. Ultimately, a company that invests in building a skilled workforce

UK to grow.

Andy Harrison is CEO of Whitbread PLC

The most important thing a business can do is invest in its people, says Andy Harrison

Whitbread ad for NS.indd 1 20/10/2014 14:36:24

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