With more than three decades in the recruitment industry, Mike Beesley, CEO of national recruiter Resource Solutions Group (RSG), based in Clifton, says the insights from the recent Education and Skills survey are key in addressing problems with standards of future job candidates.
According to the CBI's recently published Education and Skills survey, the use of management buzzwords such as “employability” and “commerciality” when referring to young people are once again cropping up in the media.
Of the businesses surveyed, 61% of 542 claimed that the self-management skills needed for work are seriously lacking amongst school leavers, resulting in both sides having to invest extra time and money into further training.
Structural issues within schools were cited as a key factor, with the CBI launching a campaign to tackle the issue directly within the classroom. But are these skills something that can be taught, or should we, as businesses, be engaging with pupils on a more practical level?
Mike said: “The link between education and the world of work is not only critically important for business, but for national economic stability so it is no wonder it keeps on being raised as needing addressing.
“We hear from employers time and time again that the number one issue is to better equip school and college leavers with the broader skills needed for working life. Business and industry feedback is that many young people lack the initiative, problem-solving and communication skills to succeed on the shop floor.
“However, employers need to recognise that they have an extremely important role to play in helping iron these issues out. Investing the time in passing on these business skills will not only benefit the future workforce in terms of quality of the young employees coming through the doors, but also have a profound advantage for the business itself.
“A smart employer knows that initiatives such as mentoring and volunteering programmes in schoolsthat are aimed at inspiring and training young people can not only help in the short term but will be of benefit for years to come.
“Having worked with businesses that possess this can-do, forward thinking attitude, I have seen first-hand how doing so leads them to continuously out-perform those who do not, in terms of staff retention, quality of output and ultimately the bottom line.”
