The CBI has developed guidelines to help employers to benchmark their skills development policies and practices against real life examples from UK companies.
Employers spend more than £23bn training their workforce every year, according to CBI figures.
Education secretary Ruth Kelly said the guide was an important collaborative step and will help to promote messages in the government’s skills strategy.
“With our partners in industry we are bringing a new focus to the skills needs of adults in the workplace. The examples in this guide, showing practical ways to deliver learning in the workplace, will offer employers a useful source of ideas for addressing their skills needs in an ever changing economy,” she said.
The guidelines state that employers should, according to their company’s individual needs and circumstances:
- Perform a skills audit to identify any skills needs and gaps which may inhibit performance and growth
- Raise individual core skills and employability of the workforce to maintain and develop competitiveness
- Make sure new skills are embedded through practical use in the workplace
- Identify and act to remedy literacy and numeracy problems where government funding is made available
- Offer high quality apprenticeships to add real value to both employees and employers
- Develop and continuously improve higher level skills to retain competitiveness
- Ensure leaders, managers and supervisors of the future are identified and developed
- Communicate the value of a firm’s skill strategy to employees and involve them in individual skills needs assessment to increase their commitment and job satisfaction
- Establish effective partnerships with education institutions to raise young people’s awareness of business and influence training to meet business demand
- Examine and develop innovative ways of training to combine learning and work
- Explore benefits of collaboration with other firms on training and skills development to improve employee competence, working practices and customer satisfaction.
www.cbi.org.uk
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