Introduction
It’s no secret that there’s a severe skills gap in the UK. Trained people are in short supply across several industries, and businesses of all sizes are affected.
The result is that these businesses face a new challenge of locating the ideal candidates to fill critical tasks. In this article, we’ll explore different potential fixes that companies may utilise to address it
The UK’s underinvestment in education and training is one of the key factors contributing to the skills gap. There is a lack of suitable applicants for many occupations as a result of many young people not acquiring the education and training they require to thrive in the workforce.
The issue is exacerbated by the fact that many elderly workers do not update their skills, subsequently falling behind on the knowledge needed as industries grow.
Many factors can contribute to the skills gap:
- A lack of experience
- Outdated or inadequate training
- Failures in the broader educational system
- Change in roles or responsibilities
- External political changes (e.g. Brexit)
How it impacts businesses in the UK:
- Loss of productivity
- Higher staff turnover
- Lower quality of work and decreased morale
- Inability to expand your business
- Loss of revenue
Businesses need to be proactive in this situation and invest in raining their own employees. This may involve providing training and development opportunities for current workers via online providers or one-to-one coaching in person.
Businesses can also collaborate with nearby colleges and universities to provide young people with internship and apprenticeship opportunities, bridging the gap between education and the workforce.
Working in collaboration with the government and similar groups will help develop training and education programmes that are specifically designed to meet the requirements.
Giving older workers the chance to refresh their skills within the organisation might increase loyalty to their employer as well as boosting their productivity. It also gives them a chance to practice these new skills within a known environment rather than starting from scratch, which could result in higher anxiety in the workplace.
This involvement from businesses may ensure that young people are obtaining the training they need to thrive in the workforce from the start of their careers.
Give access to online training
Online training is the most popular and easy way to help upskill your employees. This method is readily available, and can target a variety of skills or knowledge you might need for your business.
There’s a lot of soft skills eCourses that many industries may find useful to solve the most common skills gaps.
The drawback of this method is that not all skills are available to be taught online or might require someone on-site to educate your employees. Depending on the industry you are in, online training may not be suitable. Plus, you could be looking for an advanced training that might be hard to find or require a certificate.
Allow working time aside for self-development and learning
Some businesses may have the skills needed in-house with the right people to teach employees, but time may be limited.
However, try to allow some time for the relevant workers to learn from the skilled employees. Even though time may be tight, your business could benefit in the long-term from this “unpaid” route.
Some businesses make the mistake of ignore internal training due to lack of personnel or time constraints. If you already have the right people with the right skills, you’ll do your business a favour by prioritising internal training.
The biggest benefit? Uninterrupted business trading with the right knowledge and the right workforce.
Share your business’ pain point with skill gaps: get involved with your LSIP
The UK Department for Education (DfE) will help to unlock skills gap for many different industries. All it takes is for businesses to share their pain points with the relevant chamber of commerce. This will help your county to make a case and allocate the necessary investments to close the skills gap.
To put it simply, your chamber of commerce will ask for businesses to share their experience about skills gap or how difficult it is to find the right candidates.
This information will help inform the DfE about potential to invest in your local region and help fund the relevant area to bring that knowledge in to close the skills gap.
Learn more about Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs) here.
Or make your business’ voice heard today and share your impact with skills gap here: LSIP employer survey.
Conclusion
The UK is experiencing a serious skills deficit that is affecting companies of all industries.
Businesses can contribute to resolving this issue by providing internal training or taking time to hire the right candidates, or by sharing their skills needs to a Local Skills Improvements Plan organisation.
The best scenario is to help both young and established workers to learn the future skills soon-to-be in demand, so businesses do not experience interruptions to their delivery.
