UK skills tsar Chris Humphries, chief executive of the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), wants Personnel Today readers to help develop a national skills plan.
The Collective Measures Project will review employers’ investment in skills and the effectiveness of their training.
UKCES believes the project will bring long-term benefits as employees will improve their skills, which will also benefit employers.
Humphries said: “Encouraging employers to invest in skills can be the key to business success, as research shows that companies which don’t train are more than twice as likely to go out of business as those that do.”
The project will draw upon a number of sources to reach its conclusion, including an as yet unnamed panel of experts, past research into how investment skills can be stimulated, policy-makers, training providers, and employers.
Humphries added: “This is a hugely complex issue and isn’t something we can achieve in isolation. We want to know whether people feel the current scale and type of employer investment in skills is right. If it’s not, why not, and what can be done about it?”
Personnel Today readers can contribute to this research by posting thoughts and comments on commission’s website. Respondents are asked to submit their views before the 3 October deadline.
Once evidence is collated and reviewed, the commission will publish a formal report on its findings, which is expected in spring 2009.
