CBI @10am: How can business supercharge the reskilling revolution?

Speakers:

• Tony Danker, Director-General, CBI
• Catherine Foot, Director of Phoenix Insights, Phoenix Group
• Neil Morrison, Director of Human Resources, Severn Trent Water
• Lynda McVay, Director of Skills and Capability, Leonardo
• Ceri Thomas, Editor and Partner, Tortoise Media (chair)

In this session:

Tony Danker (CBI)

On businesses led reskilling:

• Nine in ten people are going to require reskilling by 2030. Businesses need to get hold of this agenda and drive the change, as well as working with government on skills supply.
• Firms need to believe in the value and importance of reskilling. Our analysis shows a positive ROI in 75% for firms. Most employers are doing it because it’s the cheapest and more effective way to gain new skills.
• Businesses also need to get smarter about adjacent skills journeys where people can move from one role to the other. This is about recognising the latent skills of people and unlocking potential. SMEs have been doing this for longer, owing to a need to be nimbler on talent.

On government skills policy:

• The government is beginning to recognise the need for increasingly employer-led skills approach. The Skills Bill offers potential to support upskilling through the Lifelong Loan Entitlement and ensure courses meet the need of firms through Local Skills Improvement Plans.
• But they are tone deaf on the issues of the apprenticeship levy and skills and labour shortages facing the economy.
• Everyone agrees on the need to increase the demand for and quality of apprenticeships. A levy for businesses to invest in meeting the skills needs of the economy is a good thing.
• But the apprenticeship levy can’t do both at once. For those that can meet their skills needs through apprenticeships, it’s a levy, for those that can’t it’s a tax that leaves them with skills needs unmet.
• Businesses want to invest in the capabilities of the workforce but then can’t put the money to work. A flexible Skills Levy could help them do this.

Lynda McVay (Leonardo)

On business led reskilling:

• In recent years there has been a big cultural shift in people expecting to have several roles during their working lives. This puts an expectation on employers to support those journeys. If they don’t, they will lose talent to elsewhere.
• In terms of sheer numbers there aren’t enough graduates and apprenticeships to meet the skills demands of firms. Businesses can’t rely on “off the shelf” skills. The talent pipeline is important but there is a need to work with existing workers.
• Digital upskilling has become increasingly important.
• Leonardo have developed a cellular offering to workers called “Skills for the Future”. This enables staff to gain experience and skills in AI, Cloud Computing and Software Development, and dop in and out at a pace and time that suits.
• With people required to upskill throughout working lives, training needs to be flexible.

On government skills policy:

• Many businesses have accepted the levy as a tax that they cannot fully spend on addressing their skills needs.
• There’s been positive steps on increasing the percentage of unspent funds that large firms can transfer to those in their supply chain, but the ability to mobilise more of these funds could deliver greater benefit to smaller firms, the sector, and UK PLC.

Catherine Foot (Pheonix Group)  

• As a long term savings and retirement business, they are aware of how longer life expectancies impact the world of work. Reskilling doesn’t get less important the older you get.
• They have developed a mid-life MOT – providing space for a proper conversation covering skills, personal finances, and careers, and encouraging people to think about how they develop their second, third or fourth career.
• Hybrid working has created a sea change in demand for digital learning opportunities which employers must respond to. This can also support businesses diversity and inclusion ambitions by enabling people with caring responsibilities of health conditions to train.
• There is a need for businesses to develop belief across their organisation and management about the value of reskilling, the importance of D&I and the primacy of health and wellbeing to their performance. Supporting people’s demand to develop new skills can give firms a competitive advantage, failure to do so poses a risk.

Neil Morrison (Severn Trent Water)

On business led reskilling:

• Some businesses have tended to look to recruitment to resolve skills and talent shortages, rather than investing in workforces. However, the level of reskilling required now means that employers cannot leave it up to the state or the market to resolve skills shortages.
• Severn Trent Water have had enormous success in redeploying people to new roles rather than looking to redundancy. But this has required them to rethink “suitability” and what people need to take up a new position. If people have the right mindset and support, then job transitions can happen.
• They have also established a new training academy, largely focused on upskilling of existing staff to meet the new demands of their industry. For example, training on new technologies which have changed how people detect and fix leaks. As technologies continue to transform the way we all work, business’ ability to upskill workers will be key.

On government skills policy:

• Apprenticeships are incredibly valuable. The introduction and tightening of employer led standards has contributed to relevance and quality. However, standards take far too long to be updated, approved and funded to ensure training keeps in step with the needs of quality training.