Chris Roberts : Pledge to help UK raise its game

7:54am Tuesday 10th June 2008

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WE seem to constantly be reporting the same story - that compared to other countries, the UK has a high proportion of the workforce who lack literacy and numeracy skills.

By not having the qualifications that our modern economy needs, skills gaps have been created in a whole host of sectors.

To remedy this, the Government has, and continues to invest public funds in tackling the problem.

Part of the solution to a skills gap within any organisation is training and development. The benefits of training are huge and bring about both short-term and long-term wins for the employer and employee, while impacting positively on the economy.

And as organisations invest in the training of staff, they are now able to demonstrate publicly their commitment to each of their employees both now and in the future by making the Skills Pledge.

In fact, more than 116 employers in the North-East are already working at different stages towards making the Skills Pledge.

The Student Loans Company, which will become one of the biggest employers in the Tees Valley, made the Skills Pledge in March. The not-for-profit organisation from Lingfield Point, in Darlington, is currently recruiting 500 staff to join the current workforce of 150.

Derek Ross, deputy chief executive of the Student Loans Company, said that staff "benefit from working for an organisation which values its staff team and places a great emphasis on training and professional development".

The Skills Pledge is open to all employers of all sizes in the private, public and voluntary sectors.

Recently, we have seen more and more public sector organisations make the pledge. It is time the private sector followed suit, especially now the process for employers to make the pledge is even easier, with two routes available, either through a Skills Broker or on-line.

I am making a plea to the chief executives, chief operating officers, or board members of organisations in the North-East to commit to skills.

Please actively encourage and support employees to gain the skills and qualifications that will support their future employability and meet the needs of your organisation both today and in the future.

By doing so you can help the UK to raise its game on skills at all levels. In turn we can sustain and improve our position in the global economy and get on track to achieve world class skills by 2020.

If you would like a skills broker to contact you, please call 0800-015-55-45. If you would prefer to make your Skills Pledge online, please visit skillspledge.

com * Chris Roberts is regional director of the Learning And Skills Council in the North-East