Unclear standards for training in the UK can mean employers and job-seekers lose out. The Society of British Aerospace Companies People Management Board is attempting to simplify the training picture
Training in the UK can be a bewildering mixture of different types of qualifications and institutions, which can make it difficult for both employers and prospective employees to figure out which courses are worthwhile and which are not.
“It’s just chaos in terms of training provision,” says Rhiannon Chapman, adviser on people and skills at the Society of British Aerospace Companies (SBAC). “There is a range of qualifications, courses and institutions and it’s very difficult for anyone to piece it together.”
The SBAC’s People Management Board (PMB) is attempting to forge new dialogue between the association’s member companies and the training providers to produce a clearer, more user-friendly picture of training and skills in the UK.
Problems with skills and training development cited by companies to the PMB include a lack of a training culture in their organisations; a lack of champions for training among senior management; and a lack of potential mentors and coaches within the company.
“You have to have a sustainable structure for training and development,” says Chapman. “It’s a big challenge for any company and for the industry as a whole.”
While larger employers may have dedicated human resources and training personnel to help untangle any confusion, smaller engineering and manufacturing employers, where the human resources manager may be the same person as the managing director, are less able to do so.
“The smaller companies are really hurting,” says Chapman. “They’re trying desperately to recruit more apprentices and skilled workers, and they can’t get them. Training is a supply chain. You can’t just turn on the tap, it’s a whole set of linkages and relationships.”
A lot of the PMB’s work over the last year has been based on raising awareness of potential skills shortages and the need for the industry to take action. Chapman says that skills are getting higher up the agenda for many companies.
“Over the last year, I have spoken on this subject at a series of SBAC Process Excellence events. The response has been fantastic – it’s almost like taking the lid off something that has been suppressed for a long time. People can see they need to pay attention to it.
“There’s never a good time for training. At the top of the market, everyone’s too busy, and at the bottom, there’s no money for it. But people are now starting to see they need to pay attention to it.”
The next step, already under way, is to bring the employers and training providers together to discuss what skills companies need to replace retiring workers and take the industry forward.
The SBAC says poor communication between training providers and the industry historically has prevented a coherent production line of employees emerging. The publication by SEMTA (Science, Engineering, Manufacturing, Technologies Alliance) of the Sector Skills Agreement for Electronics, Automotive and Aerospace in the UK in May 2005 has helped provide a blueprint for skills development.
“Up until the arrival of SEMTA, providers have always said they don’t know what the industry wants,” says Chapman, “and employers hadn’t really conveyed that in a coherent way. But another problem is that providers can’t respond that quickly to changes. They need lead time to set up things they haven’t done before and adapt their infrastructure.”
The SBAC naturally approaches training and skills issues from the employers’ point of view, but Chapman believes the employment game has become more difficult for potential employees as well.
“The whole scene has changed enormously,” she says. “Finding a job is now a full-time job and people need to be prepared to put in a lot of legwork. Websites are great for that and most significant companies have something on theirs about careers. Increasingly, though, people looking for jobs need to go through agencies.”
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Source: Flight International
