Businesses can resolve their own skills needs

New findings reveal that UK plc holds vocational qualifications in high esteem and recognises the role industry has to play in the provision of such education but is failing to take sufficient action.

New findings released reveal that UK plc holds vocational qualifications in high esteem and recognises the role industry has to play in the provision of such education but is failing to take sufficient action.

The findings of the poll, commissioned by Foundation Degrees, serve as a call to action to businesses to take direct steps to resolve their skills needs, said the organisation.

The survey revealed that 84% of engineering directors state the need for industry to commit to increasing skills across the sectors by direct involvement in course provision.

However, at present, only 28% of employers in the sector say that their company is involved in the design and delivery of vocational training.

The poll shows that 72% of engineering leaders believe that their sector is feeling the effects of skills shortages, and more than half of respondents claim their own business has suffered directly.

Against that background, directors in the sector are quick to recognise the benefits of vocational qualifications said Foundation Degrees.

The statistics show that 92% of engineering directors see a clear link between vocational training and increased profitability, whereas 76% of engineering directors say that training helps up-skill existing staff and improves staff satisfaction and that 84% of engineering directors believe work-based learning provides excellent preparation for individuals entering the workplace.

Despite what is described as public suspicion that vocational education is seen as the ?poor relation? to academic qualifications, employers in the UK engineering industry demonstrate strong commitment to the concept of work-based learning, with 84% of directors feeling that senior management within their firm and sector are definitely not dismissive of vocational qualifications.

Perhaps the greatest endorsement of all is that 69% of all directors who didn't do a vocational qualification at the time of entering their industry believe that to have done so would have benefited their own career, according to Foundation Degrees.

The findings also highlight a number of practical issues to be faced, in terms of companies exploiting the potential of vocational training to up-skill their staff.

It emerges from the poll that while directors view themselves as enlightened with regard to vocational education, they see the rest of their company as less so.

Although 88% of directors and senior management say that they personally recognise the benefits of giving time off work for vocational training, they claim that 48% of their company would disagree.

In addition, 28% of directors state that their training budget is restrictive.

However, most companies claim to be doing their best to redress the balance of skills, with 80% of companies willing to support staff by offering them time off work to train, and 72% of companies will also pay for such courses.

However, if companies were to play a greater role in the design and delivery of such courses, the return on the investment is likely to increase.

Paul Davies, spokesperson for Foundation Degrees, commented: "The poll findings show that company directors have a crucial re-educational job to do, tackling the mental barriers that exist towards vocational education within their own organisations".

"We would encourage directors to lead from the front by championing at board level the recognition of vocational training as central to profitability and then to take measures to integrate this in their company's HR policy".

"Only then will they start to bridge their skills gap".

He continued: "Further, 71% of directors in the engineering sector say that the main reason that employees leave their business is that they are being offered better opportunities for career advancement elsewhere".

"With the current skills' deficit in the industry, employers cannot afford to let this trend continue".

"They need to offer their employees the opportunity for relevant training and what better way to ensure that than by helping to design course content themselves?".

"Foundation Degrees have partnership with employers at the heart of the qualification and as such offer a practical solution for employers struggling to meet their skills needs".

"By becoming involved in the design and delivery of Foundation Degrees, employers can 'grow their own' on two levels - by taking on graduates with skills directly relevant to their industry, as well as up-skilling existing staff to ensure that they are performing to their optimum potential".

Speaking about the new Foundation Degree in rivers and coastal engineering that has been created and funded by the Environment Agency working in partnership with the University of West England, Middlesex University and Bristol University, Barbara Young, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said: "This qualification, specifically designed to our requirements, shows that we are planning ahead, creating a new generation of engineers to help manage the rising threat of flooding".

"We are also positively addressing the current skills deficit in the civil engineering profession.

In effect we are growing our own talent".

In regard to the Foundation Degree in mechanical and manufacturing engineering run in partnership between Rolls-Royce and the University of Derby and Derby College, Chris Keane, Principal Training Officer at Rolls-Royce's Learning and Career Development Centre commented: "At Rolls-Royce, we recognised that within the UK engineering sector, a skills gap at higher technician level is being identified".

"We also understood that a Foundation Degree, designed with the needs of our business in mind, could invigorate our technician training programmes and enable employees to develop skills far more quickly and easily than has previously been the case".

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