Skilling the Nation to respond to the needs of the Service Economy

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Skilling the Nation to respond to the needs of
the Service Economy

• Patrick Beasley

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Agenda

• Introduction and background
• Research indications globalisation
• Employer requirements skills needs
• Programmes of change

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Leitch review of skills

• In the 19th Century, the UK had the natural
  resources, the labour force and the inspiration
  to lead the world into the Industrial Revolution.
  
• Today, we are witnessing a different type of
  revolution. For developed countries who cannot
  compete on natural resources and low labour
  costs, success demands a more service-led economy
  and high value-added industry.
• The Leitch review of skills. ISBN
  978-0-11-840486-0

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Changing economy

• The UK economy has changed significantly over
  time. Today the service sector accounts for
  around three quarters of the UK economy.
• Leitch review of skills

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Service sector problem

• The service sector is 69 of the UKs economy and
  is at least one third less productive than
  manufacturing, according to the UK Treasury.
• Financial intermediation (savings/investments)
  has little more than 50 of the productivity per
  head of the US.
• The heart of the problem is that services have
  simply evolved. They have not been designed with
  the rigour applied to activities such as
  engineering.

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Productivity gap
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The need for skills

• Manufactured goods, and increasingly services,
  are traded across the world.
• Developed nations are relying more and more on
  their capacity to innovate to drive economic
  growth.
• The ability to do this depends upon the skills
  and knowledge of their people.
• Leitch review of skills

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The importance of skills

• In this expanding and more deeply integrated
  global economy, the comparative advantage of the
  UK must lie in the skills of its people.
• Leitch review of skills

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Globalisation pressure

• The IT and Telecommunications industry is
  challenged to build the advanced and
  business-intensive technology skills needed to
  deliver premium services as basic technology
  skills and jobs are increasingly automated or
  handled offshore.
• e-skills UK IT Telecoms Insights 2008 Trends
  and UK Skills Implications

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Globalisation in the UK

• Technology delivery has become industrialised
  through adoption of frameworks such as ITIL
• This standardisation of IT practices is driving
  continued commoditisation, outsourcing and off
  shoring of IT and business process activities.
• Technology skills need to become more business
  intensive to create value in a standardising
  world.
• ITIL Information Technology Infrastructure
  Library

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Broken career ladder
The Important early rungs of the career ladder
are out of reach due to key roles being off
shored.
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Reported skills needs

• Leadership and relationship management skills
• Business relationship management skills
• Business process analysis and design skills
• Project and program management skills
• Portfolio management skills
• Business intelligence and information analytics
  skills
• Design skills
• Architecture skills
• e-skills UK IT Telecoms Insights 2008 Trends
  and UK Skills Implications

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What employers say

• Better skilled entrants to the workforce from
  university
• Skills development options to deal with missing
  rungs of career ladder
• Skill mix which makes employees more effective to
  the business much quicker
• Employer recognised skills and qualifications

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The skills mix needed
Communication
Technical
Business
Project management
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The shape needed
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Programmes of change

• e-skills programmes which work towards the
  employer requirements.
• Right skill mix and depth
• More rapid value add to the business
• Deal with missing rungs on the ladder
• IT Management for Business BSc
• IT Professional Development MSc

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Employer support

• IT manufacturers and service providers
• IBM
• BT
• EDS/HP
• Oracle
• Deloitte

• Businesses depending on IT
• Sainsburys
• Network Rail
• Procter and Gamble
• British Airways
• Unilever

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IT Management for Business

• BSc at 11 universities including Manchester
  Business School
• All based on the employer defined skills profile
• ¼ technical skills
• ¼ business skills
• ¼ project management skills
• ¼ personal and communications skills
• Employer provided lectures on key subjects
• Annual employer sponsored student conference to
  compete in business games and take part in joint
  learning

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IT Professional Development

• Post graduate study offered through
• Lancaster University Management School
• The Open University
• Three stages certificate/diploma/MSc
• Developed in conjunction with corporate employers
  both manufactures and users
• Now in pilot with British Airways
• General release in October with subsidised places
  available

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IT Professional Development
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e-skills UK

• e-skills UK aims to
• Pilot and develop skills interventions which
  employers in IT and Telecoms need
• Work with providers and stakeholders to evaluate
  change to meet employer needs
• Provide the evidence base for change in the
  skills system for IT and Telecoms

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Conclusion

• Use employers to assist creating the solutions
• Setting out new models for skills development is
  vital to engage demand
• The skill requirement to enable the UK to compete
  makes ever greater demands on the education
  system and the workforce