IoD Education and Skills Group

📣 Effective communication is vital to gain trust and align efforts in the pursuit of goals. Join the IoD Education Group and Beecome More for a session on effective communication in leadership where attendees will hear from Maire Nawaz, Director of Beecome More to learn: ▪ Why effective communication in leadership is important. ▪ Discover how we communicate. ▪ Useful skills & tips for effective communication. ▪ Master the art of clear and impactful communication ▪ Build stronger relationships with your team ▪ Boost your leadership effectiveness and team performance Don't miss this opportunity to enhance your communication skills and register your place here: ⏭ https://lnkd.in/eK6QZ7PH #EffectiveCommunication #Education #Communication #Skills #IoD

Over 77,000 young people start an apprenticeship each year, so help your business to grow with the Class of 2024! #Apprenticeships can help you access the workforce of the future and close your skills gap. Visit the Hire an Apprentice webpage to recruit the right apprentice for your business: https://ow.ly/A4Yl50SUIRX #ResultsDay24 #Results2024

A look at the new government's Growth & Skills Levy, a reform of the current Apprenticeship Levy Here is the latest of my weekly series of FE News articles based on the recent IoD Education Group webinar I hosted with Alex Hall-Chen and Dean Stokes Some insightful points of view expressed... There was a feeling that a reformed levy needed to be more user-friendly for businesses of all shapes and sizes: - Jane Gratton of British Chambers of Commerce said "if we can simplify the levy process for businesses in this reform it would be enormously helpful. The key thing is to get more businesses providing more training for more people and how does the levy enable that to happen?” - Paul Wilson of FSB Westminster (Federation of Small Businesses) stressed the "need to ensure that apprenticeship standards work for smaller employers even thought they are inherently less involved in their design. We need to make sure that apprenticeship standards work for everyone, not just the small number of employers involved in designing them.” Several speakers talked about the need to increase funding for apprenticeships: - Robert West of the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) raised the point of inadequate funding bands for many apprenticeship standards, asking “how do we address apprenticeship funding bands that don’t go up with inflation? This puts more pressure on providers and employers.” - Simon Ashworth of AELP added that “some apprenticeship programmes are undeliverable based on their current funding rates.” - Faye Skelton for Make UK echoed this: “particularly at level 3 in manufacturing and engineering there is a gap of £6k or £7k per apprentice.” In order to pay for adequate funding for apprenticeships there was general agreement that a larger proportion of the funds raised from the levy need to be actually allocated to the Apprenticeship Budget: - Simon believes “there will be a renewed push on the Treasury to release some of the ‘top slice’ of levy contributions that they keep which is £500m to £700m each year. It’s a cash cow for the Treasury. Even a bit of that would be nice.” - Which was echoed by Robert highlighting "we must remember that each year more businesses cross the £3m threshold and start paying the levy. The levy take has risen disproportionately to the amount of the apprenticeship budget. The Apprenticeship Levy has not been spent on apprenticeships!” #apprenticeships #skills #fenews #iod #teamfi https://lnkd.in/esaNYNDG

"What a great selection of speakers addressing the pressing questions on minds of people leading the skills agenda Great provocations and I’m intrigued of what’s to come Please keep inviting me, I’ll get involved when I can" What great feedback from the UK Apprenticeship Lead at a major national business about my the recent IoD Education Group webinar that I hosted with skills policy leads from the UK's largest business organisations We discussed: - key skills sector priorities for the new government - Skills England - The Growth and Skills Levy - devolution of adult skills You can find the full recording by following the link! Dean Stokes and I are planning a follow-up webinar after the first Labour Autumn budget...watch this space! We will be inviting our expert panel Alex Hall-Chen Simon Ashworth Jane Gratton Faye Skelton Paul Wilson Robert West to join us again #skills #apprenticeships #devolution #iod #teamfi https://lnkd.in/eMxrzTUp

Key Skills Sector Priorities for the Labour Government from Leading UK Business Organisations This article published today in FE News summarises thoughts shared on the IoD Education Group webinar I chaired last week We heard from senior skills policy leads at Institute of Directors (IoD) British Chambers of Commerce CBI (Confederation of British Industry) Make UK FSB Westminster (Federation of Small Businesses) AELP Stand-out comments for me were: IoD's Alex Hall-Chen set the scene: “skills strategy needs to be laser focused on tackling skills shortages” which “will need an understanding of what is inhibiting employer investment in skills and unblocking that.” CBI's Robert West followed with: “upskilling and retraining are the biggest games in town!” Jane Gratton from BCC advocated for “better planning of skills: planning nationally, planning locally within the combined authority areas, and also planning better at an individual firm level.” Paul Wilson highlighted that the FSB "are particularly interested in how we can boost the number of apprenticeships in non-levy paying employers" Make UK's Faye Skelton said: “hearing that the government is going to reform the apprenticeship levy is music to our ears. This has been something they have been really pushing for”. Simon Ashworth from AELP stated that “pace is really important” and that “reforming the levy and creating Skills England are two priorities labour want to move quickly on”. What do you think the new government needs to prioritise to support the skills sector? Gemma Gathercole Joe Fitzsimons Chris Lane Simon Gray Sotiris Kroustis Sheryl Wilderspin Adeline Winshaw Katy Dorman Richard Brame Richard Tunnicliffe Richard Holdaway Ann Scott Joe Crossley Steven Lynch MBE Laraine Moody Sophie Gray Craig Potter Karen Kelly Kieren Buxton Mark Dawe Fiona McGonigle CMgr MCMI Amy Forrest #skills #training #apprenticeships #teamfi https://lnkd.in/e4eNF6DQ

Are there more questions than answers? Despite the King's Speech and and a sector address from the Secretary of State for Education in the last 36 hours, do we have any more clarity on the Labour government's plans for the skills sector? 🤔 I thoroughly enjoyed hosting the IoD Education Group's webinar this morning on "UK skills policy and delivery: opportunities for the new government" Over an insight-packed hour we covered three main areas mentioned in yesterday's King's Speech: 1. Skills England - how will post-16 skills policy integrate with a new National Industrial Strategy? And immigration policy? - how will Skills England impact the shape and size of other bodies such as IfATE, the Office for Students and ESFA? - how quickly can Skills England get up to full operating capacity at a time of acute and urgent challenges in the skills sector? 2. The Growth and Skills Levy - what do 'flexibilities' in using the levy mean? - will these flexibilities have a negative effect on overall apprenticeship numbers, especially for non-levy paying employers? - should levy contributions be increased, either through raising the 0.5% paid or by reducing the £3m annual payroll threshold? - should a larger proportion of levy funds raised be actually allocated to the Apprenticeship Budget, and would that allow much-needed increases in individual funding bands? 3. Devolution of adult skills - what elements of adult skills funding will be devolved? - will devolution create a tension with pursuing a national skills strategy, and the work of Skills England? - how can inconsistencies between combined authorities that might affect larger employers be smoothed out? Thanks to my brilliant panel of speakers for their help in starting to decipher what we still need clarity on from the government and the DfE I am very much looking forward to the maiden speech by Skills, FE and HE Minister Jacqui Smith tomorrow in the House of Lords This morning, we had a full line-up of senior policy experts from the B5, the UK's top five business groups: Alex Hall-Chen Institute of Directors (IoD) 👏 Jane Gratton British Chambers of Commerce 👏 Robert West CBI (Confederation of British Industry) 👏 Faye Skelton Make UK 👏 Paul Wilson FSB Westminster (Federation of Small Businesses) 👏 and representing independent training providers and colleges: Simon Ashworth AELP 👏 Plus a fab and really engaged audience 🙌 Lots of questions and opinions through the chat function DM me if you would like a link to the recording, well worth watching! #skills #iod #education #apprenticeships #teamfi