Conciliation service Acas is hosting a fringe meeting at the TUC Conference on 12 September where speakers will be debating the issues surrounding workplace skills and productivity.
Chair Rita Donaghy said: “Skills are an issue of major importance for government, trade unions, business and wider society. We know we must do more to help people acquire the skills they need to get on at work, get on in life and get on in business.
“But despite much effort in ‘upskilling’ the workforce, UK productivity remains stubbornly below that of other countries. Clearly skills are not enough.”
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The meeting will hear thinkers in employment relations debate:
- Skills play a vital part in delivering prosperity but are they the total answer?
- What can be done to maximise the potential of the government’s investment in skills?
- What can managers do to make the most of their employees’ skills and abilities?
- Why has there been little increase in the number of high performance workplaces in the UK despite an increase in access to training in the past seven years?
- What is the link between employment relations and skills?
The speakers will be Bill Rammell, lifelong learning minister, Dr Caroline Lloyd and Jonathan Payne from the University of Warwick, Bert Clough, senior research officer at the TUC and Neil Bentley, head of employment at the CBI.
