engaging employers for success

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Southampton and Portsmouth City Deal

ENGAGING EMPLOYERS FOR SUCCESS

TRANSITIONAL EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMME

Report prepared by Business South July 2015

Engaging Employers for Success

CONTENTS

Page

KEY MESSAGES & RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................ 1 – 3 ENGAGING EMPLOYERS FOR SUCCESS .................................................................................. 4 - 13 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 4 The Process .................................................................................................................................. 4 - 5 The Labour Market....................................................................................................................... 5 - 6 Generic Employability Competencies .......................................................................................... 6 - 7 Technical / Job Specific/ Vocational Competencies/ Qualifications ................................................. 8 “Wow” Competencies .................................................................................................................. 8 - 9 Employer Engagement with the City Deal Programme .................................................................... 9 Enablers .................................................................................................................................... 9 – 11 Barriers ..................................................................................................................................... 11 - 12 Summary .................................................................................................................................. 12 - 13 Concluding Remarks........................................................................................................................ 13

APPENDIX .......................................................................................................................... 14 - 22 Appendix 1 – Employers Engaged in the Focus Groups .................................................................. 14 Appendix 2 – Summary of Generic Competence Requirements .................................................... 15 Appendix 3 – Summary of Technical and Job Specific Competencies ............................................ 16 Appendix 4 – Summary of “Wow” Competences .......................................................................... 17 Appendix 5 – Summary of Enablers ................................................................................................ 18 Appendix 6 – Summary of Barriers ................................................................................................. 19 Appendix 7 – Red Funnel Case Study of Work Placements ..................................................... 20 - 22

For further information on Southampton and Portsmouth City Deal or for more copies of this report, please email [email protected]

Engaging Employers for Success

KEY MESSAGES & RECOMMENDATIONS Southampton and Portsmouth City Deal is an agreement with government aimed at maximising the economic strengths of the Solent area. As a key element of City Deal a pilot programme was initiated aimed at helping long term unemployed people back into work and supporting the private sector to grow.

This report was commissioned by Southampton and Portsmouth City Councils to gain some views from local employers about their experience of the local labour market, the challenges and issues they face and their thoughts about how long term unemployed people could be integrated back into the work place. This report is based primarily upon input from employer representatives who attended focus groups held in Southampton and Portsmouth over the period March to May 2015. However, in terms of the general Labour Market situation this has been complemented by input from Business South based upon observations and feedback from the business community over the first six months of 2015. There are a number of Key Messages from this report, which have been highlighted here and are expanded upon in the main text of the report.

Labour Market Context - Feedback from employers suggests there is a “Talent Mismatch” situation within the Labour Market at the moment. There are pressing competence shortages for certain occupations, especially technical positions, whilst at the same time there is a surplus of applicants for many other entry level occupations. - The projection is that as economic growth picks up then these competence shortages will spread to a wider range of occupations and their impact will be more disruptive to business development. - This is at a time when there are clearly a number of individuals with good qualifications and competences in positions where their skills are not fully utilised or who are not in employment. - Many employers across the region have not yet fully grasped the full extent of the Talent shortages they may be facing. As a result, they are continuing to adopt an ad hoc approach to securing talent and will need significant influences and incentives to engage with City Deal type initiatives which will grow the talent supply generally.

Competences - Employers are placing a real premium upon attitude. Behaviours and then skills follow as considerations. Much less emphasis was placed upon knowledge and experience. Engaging Employers for Success Page 1

- It is recommended, therefore, that the City Deal Programme interventions focus heavily upon the attitude of clients. - A “can do” attitude, motivation, confidence and resilience were highlighted by employers as key attributes. It is recommended, therefore that the City Deal Programme focuses upon interventions to build confidence amongst programme clients. - The importance of team working behaviours cannot be over emphasised. It is recommended that intense activity should take place with City Deal clients to ensure that team working behaviours are emphasised and honed to the maximum extent possible. - In terms of skills there were some generic ones which appear to be in high demand across sectors, for example, communication, customer service, problem solving and ICT. There are also some technical/vocational competences which would make clients particularly useful and appealing to employers. - The recommendation here is that the City Deal Programme should conduct a baseline assessment on each of the clients as they enter the Programme. Each of the participants should be given a Personal Development Passport and some learning challenges, aimed to move them from the baseline to a point where they would be attractive prospects for employers. - It is recommended that the City Deal Programme also looks to increase the marketability of clients by investing in “Wow” competences. For example, a five day Lean Thinking Programme, which could be accredited and would certainly enhance the attractiveness of a programme participant to a potential employer.

Engaging Employers with the City Deal Programme - It was difficult to secure employer engagement with the focus groups and this suggests that it will be difficult to get employers to sign up to the City Deal Programme. - A key reason for employer involvement though was cited as employer profile building or pursuit of a Corporate Social Responsibility agenda. It is recommended then that the Corporate Social Responsibility angle is leveraged as much as possible to secure employer engagement. - The Programme as structured was considered to be of minimal risk for employers and of some potential benefit, either in terms of enhancing corporate image or allowing access to talent. Minimising risk and exposure was of primary importance to employers. - It was clear that business endorsement and business to business recommendations of the City Deal Programme will be important and it is recommended that the Programme Managers focus upon creating Business Champions or Ambassadors to support main programme launch. - Despite the above there are still significant barriers to employer engagement with the Programme. The Programme should not be considered by the public authorities Engaging Employers for Success Page 2

as a “free ride” for employers. They will have to invest considerable time, resource and effort into making the placements work and it is clear that in the current tough business environment many will not have an appetite for this. - It is recommended that every effort is made by Programme Managers to support employers, minimise the burden on them and ensure early placements are a success. - In this respect it is recommended that the Programme Managers and other public organisations are careful how they handle clients during the transition in their lives that is the work placement programme. Specifically, cutting them off from benefits before payments have come on stream and creating financial difficulties for clients, whilst they should be concentrating on adapting to the world of work, would not be helpful. Such an approach could be counter -productive as it is likely to increase the risk of programme failure with subsequent cost implications of this likely to outweigh any short-term advantage to the public purse of withdrawing benefits too quickly.

Conclusion - Engagement with employers is key to the success of the City Deal jobs pilot and the pilot has given an opportunity to try different approaches and gain an understanding of employer perspectives. - The City Deal Employment Programme has the capacity to transform the lives of individuals, increase talent availability for employers and reduce the burden on the public purse. - There are features of the programme which attract employers and these must be protected and maximised. The most significant factor attracting employers to the programme was Corporate Social Responsibility, rather than perceived labour market pressures. - However, there are still concerns amongst employers about the time, effort, resources and risks associated with Programme participation. - These can be managed, as suggested in the report. - The client support part of the Programme must be very business focused and Programme Management must have credibility with the business community to maximise the chances of engagement and success.

Engaging Employers for Success Page 3

ENGAGING EMPLOYERS FOR SUCCESS

A Business South Report for Southampton and Portsmouth City Councils Introduction

Southampton and Portsmouth City Councils jointly determined to create and pilot a Transitional Employment Programme for people with health conditions who have been out of work for more than 2 years. This Programme looks to create interventions on both the employer demand side and the individual supply side. The pilot Programme not only focuses upon providing a meaningful experience for the employers and individuals concerned, but it also looks to gain insight into what steps can be taken on a sustainable basis to address the long-term unemployment situation for a larger group of people in the future. Business South is a leading business engagement organisation connecting business leaders to drive economic prosperity. It conducted a series of focus groups with employers to gain insight into how the Programme could best be positioned and what useful Programme content might look like from an employer perspective.

The Process In total three employer focus groups were held. The employers involved were from the private, public and third sectors. Some were primarily Southampton based and others primarily Portsmouth based. The private sector companies involved were from a range of sectors including professional and legal services, transport, construction, retail and education. A list of the employers involved is outlined in Appendix 1. Three main topics were explored with these employers: - How they see the Labour Market at the moment and going forward - What generic employability competences do they need employees and potential employees to have - Enablers and barriers to employer engagement with the City Deal Programme This report is based primarily on the input from the employer representatives who attended the focus groups over the period March to May 2015. However, in terms of the general Labour Market situation this has been complemented by input from Business South based Engaging Employers for Success Page 4

upon observations and feedback from the business community over the first six months of 2015. A summary of the findings against each of the topics is outlined below:

The Labour Market At the moment the Labour Market is showing a mixed picture. For some occupations there is still a real surplus of applicants when considered against demand for their competence. For other occupations there is already a shortage of supply of competence when considered against the demand for these competences and employers are finding it difficult to recruit. Generally, there is a feeling that things are very slowly improving in terms of economic outlook, but this did not appear to be a uniform or overwhelming view amongst the employers present. However, if this economic improvement does take hold then the shortage of competences is likely to spread to other occupations as demand picks up. Cited examples of occupations where labour supply is greater than demand included: hospitality jobs- but not all of them, administrative positions, manual labour, carer jobs, hospital portering, creative industry starter positions, legal starter positions and para-legals, sales and marketing positions. Even in some of these positions though, turnover is high and so employers find themselves having to go back constantly to the market. For example, one employer described how even customer service, reception, security and house-keeping employees were beginning to have more choices in the labour market. This means positions are turning over. There are plenty of potential replacements, but there can be a step down in quality in terms of new employees. Cited examples of occupations where demand is outstripping supply included: almost all technical positions, estate services or maintenance positions, 3D machine operators, professional services, chefs, bricklayers, IT and digital, supervision and leadership positions. What has been described by employers locally would appear to reinforce the perspective that the labour market is becoming "hourglass shaped" with competition increasing for professional, technical, digital, leadership and NVQ level four and above type occupations, coupled with healthy demand continuing for some low-skilled positions, but a real falling away of demand for other low- and no-skill type positions and many mid-level positions. The employer representatives at the focus groups were considered to be those: most engaged with the talent agenda, most likely to demonstrate best practice in terms of talent development and most likely to engage with public programmes in a collaborative manner to grow the pool of available talent in the wider labour market. However, generally the observation is, across the Business South region, that employers have not yet fully grasped the full extent of the talent shortages they may face, due to the Engaging Employers for Success Page 5

"baby boomer" retirements, an increased demand for talent associated with increased economic activity, a convergence of demand for similar talent across different business sectors and youngsters subject preferences which are leading to a reduced supply of candidates for certain occupations. As a result there appears not to have been a universal shift in the mind-set of employers yet to address this talent mismatch situation. Many employers are continuing to adopt an ad hoc approach to Talent Management. That is to say, looking to fill vacancies as they arise, recruiting from traditional talent pools, and utilising traditional recruitment approaches. The conditions do not exist yet, to have moved employers to adopt a more strategic and integrated approach to securing talent supply. This would involve more sophisticated resource planning, more investment in developing in- house talent, more robust succession planning, collaborating on access to talent and looking to recruit from non-traditional talent pools, such as applicants from government supported programmes like the City Deal Transitional Employment Programme. This reality is reflected in the difficulties encountered trying to persuade employers to join the focus groups. It is likely that some employers will need to experience the labour market tightening further until they shift their attitudes towards Talent Management. At that point though, it is likely that a more critical mass of employers will become interested in engaging with City Deal type programmes.

Generic Employability Competences A summary of the views of the employers on the competences they require amongst employees is outlined in Appendix 2. These competences have been classified in the following way: Attitude - How I am as a person and how I am perceived by others Behaviours - How I act as a person Knowledge - What I know Skills - What I can do Experience - What I have done The first observation is that many of the employer demands centred upon attitude; skills and behaviours followed. There was little expressed in terms of knowledge requirements and nothing in terms of experience. In one sense this reflects the question the employers were answering in terms of generic competences, but it likely also reflects the perspective that employers are more and more hiring for attitude and are reasonably confident that they will be able to provide employees with the necessary knowledge and experiences. In light of this, it is critical that the City Deal interventions focus heavily upon the attitude of clients.

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Making sure that clients are aware of the requirements relating to attitude: conducting some baseline assessment around attitude- both self-assessment and feedback driven; identifying an individual action plan around attitude and specific, targeted interventions will all be key, and ensuring that progress is monitored as part of the work placement would be prudent. In terms of attitude, the most often mentioned attributes were; having a positive attitude, having a “can do” attitude, having a passion for the role, being hard-working, being motivated/driven, confident, resilient, adaptable and willing to learn. These attribute requirements may pose particular problems for City Deal clients who have been unemployed for a prolonged period of time. Confidence, resilience and positivity may be somewhat low as a result of their experiences and so, again, it is recommended that particular attention is paid to interventions to build confidence. The importance of team working behaviours cannot be over-emphasised. The programme should major on this and provide exercises where team working can be practised and assessed for development purposes. The need for lifelong learning could be institutionalised in the form of the individual baseline assessments leading to an individual continuous development plan and portfolio, which it is the client’s responsibility to work on and track both as part of the programme and the work placement, but also through independent development activity. It is recommended that this approach is institutionalised by issuing each City Deal client with a Personal Development Passport Binder. The binder could be divided into sections Baseline Assessment results - Attitude - Behaviours - Skills - Experience and Knowledge. Each of the clients could be given some learning challenges to get them from the baseline to a point where they would be attractive prospects for the employer. Although learning support would be available, it would primarily be the client’s responsibility to capture learning, secured both through the formal Programme and through the work placement. Such an approach would add to the professional image of both the Programme and the client in the eyes of the employers. It would also send out a strong message to clients, namely that lifelong learning is key to future development and that it is the clients’ responsibility to drive this approach and build their marketability on a sustained basis. Turning now to skills, it is clear that communication, customer service, ICT, problem solving and the ability to work within business processes are also key. Again these can be used to drive some of the interventions that can take place with City Deal Programme clients. Providing them with problem solving situations and problem solving techniques would be useful. Exercises where business processes around safety or quality operating systems are described and working within them is simulated would also be beneficial. Clearly a baseline assessment of ICT capability and communication skills should be conducted and interventions planned, where appropriate, to support marketability.

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Technical/Job specific/Vocational Competencies/Qualifications Clearly the demands for these will vary by sector and organisation. Those cited by employers are outlined in Appendix 3. The most repeated demand is for IT competence, with specific mention of Excel and Microsoft Office. There was also a demand for a suite of Technical competences, ranging from science and maths capability, mid-range technical skills to maintenance, engineering and machine operative skills. There is a specific requirement around HGV licences, which reflects a continuous skills shortage running over many years. Languages, healthcare and social media competences are also featured. Interestingly enough there is a reference to resource planning and succession planning competence. This might indicate that employers are beginning to think more deeply about how they plan and manage their people capabilities in a tightening labour market. The observation around these job specific competences would be that they clearly have value for employers. It would be useful, therefore, in terms of City Deal Programme clients, to conduct a baseline assessment of their intrinsic motivation and competence and seek to build their marketability from that base, providing competitive bolt-ons, where possible. For example, if a client is very motivated in terms of social media, work to improve the competence around social media, secure a work placement in the social media space and develop marketability in this way. Again, this should all be captured in the Personal Development Passport.

“Wow” Competencies The thinking behind this area of exploration was the following: given that the City Deal clients have an “imperfect” employment record in some shape or form, then they will be at a competitive disadvantage when considered against other people on the labour market with a comparable competence set. In order to turn this situation around and make the City Deal clients more sought after it may be possible to develop them with regards to some of these “wow” competences such that employers would be keen to place them because of the possession of the competence. Naturally, individuals would be developed in competences which build onto their intrinsic competence and motivation, as such an approach maximises possibilities for successful impact in a relatively short period of time. The “wow” competences identified by employers are outlined in Appendix 4. The competencies have been categorised slightly differently in this table as there is an overlap between knowledge and experience to some extent. The emphasis from employers is placed more heavily here upon knowledge, experience and qualification, as would be expected given the nature of the question. Engaging Employers for Success Page 8

However, it is still interesting to note, that some employers were still keen to emphasise attitudes with resilience, high aspiration, can do mind-set, innovative, engaging and entrepreneurial all being raised. This reinforces how sensitive employers are to the issue of attitude and how important this is to them. Skills also feature fairly heavily, but this to some extent reinforces what was stated under the generic employability competence question. In terms of the City Deal Programme and planned interventions, it is interesting to note that qualifications such as HGV licences, 17th Edition for electricians, formal customer service qualifications and 6 Sigma or IOSH- safety qualification may make clients more marketable. Additionally, knowledge or experience of Lean Thinking, Social Media or Web design could also add to the marketability of clients. These are factors to consider when planning programme learning interventions, but again interventions should be targeted at individuals demonstrating the intrinsic competence or motivation in a chosen area. For example, if a client is showing a background in manufacturing work and a motivation to continue in this field, exposure to a five day Lean course may well improve marketability and the chances of sustainable employment.

Employer Engagement with the City Deal Programme As part of the process of supporting the City Deal Programme, Business South provided the opportunity for Southampton City Council to address a conference of 65 HR professionals from the region on the subject. Additionally, Business South publicised the programme on a Linked In site, which is available to nearly two hundred HR professionals in the region. Also, a mail-shot was sent to 2,490 contacts on the Business South database on Feb 19 2015 and a further 757 recipients received a mail-shot in April. This amounted to a fairly significant level of contact about the programme with employers. However, employer interest in the programme was fairly low, although not surprisingly low. It has to be recognised that employers are very focussed upon building their businesses and that they have very many competing demands on their time. As stated earlier in this report the labour market is not yet at the point where it is forcing a greater level of employer interest in working to expand available talent pools. However, those employers which did engage with the focus groups were able to provide valuable insights into the enablers and barriers to employer involvement with the City Deal Programme. Those employers engaged with the programme are highlighted in Appendix 1, the ‘enablers’ are outlined in Appendix 5 and the ‘barriers’ in Appendix 6.

Enablers The enabler that was mentioned most often in terms of employer engagement with the Programme was Corporate Social Responsibility. Engaging Employers for Success Page 9

This included recognition that involvement would enhance the employment brand, would complement equality and diversity policies and could lead to public recognition of the positive role the employer is playing in the community. From a Programme Management perspective this is important to recognise and is an important lever to use when seeking to secure wider employer participation in the Programme. For example, Chief Executives or HR Directors could be communicated to directly by Senior Council Leadership or even the Government Minister responsible for the Programme and asked to demonstrate personal leadership in engaging their organisations with the Programme. There could be civic events which recognise the positive role companies and other organisations have played with regards to the Programme and this could be accompanied by press publicity. The fact that the Programme itself provides direct support to employers is also clearly very important to employers. Employers will be concerned about taking on any new activities, especially if they are not convinced that these are core to the business. Anything that Programme Management can do to reassure employers that there is minimal burden around the Programme and that they will be supported throughout will enhance the chances of employer participation. This point relates directly to the second most cited enabler. This is that employers are not employing the City Deal Programme clients and have no contractual relationship with them during the placement period. Furthermore, the Programme guarantees that employers will not “get stuck” with the clients if they prove to be problematic. Again this provides very positive reassurance for the employers and should give them the confidence to provide work placements. Several employers did see the Programme as providing an opportunity to access staff in what they are beginning to see as a tightening labour market. This is a positive sign and the Programme should be positioned with employers as a way to widen the labour market pool to the benefit of employers, the regional economy and unemployed people. Business to business endorsement of the Programme was mentioned as was business to business support. Programme Management should consider how this feature can be built into the current programme. Perhaps, an employer ambassador scheme could be established with special recognition for those employers who engage other employers in the Programme. Ambassadors might also provide moral support and advice to employers newly starting out on the Programme. An example of an employer case study relating to Red Funnel’s provision of work placements generally, but including a City Deal transitional work placement is shown in Appendix 7. Engaging Employers for Success Page 10

Success stories like this can also be presented to the employer base through organisations like Business South. Additionally, employers achieving successful work placements should be publicly recognised to build further momentum for wider employer engagement with the Programme. Minimising risk and exposure was clearly important to employers. The fact that the Programme is free to employers was identified as an enabler and also that the necessary insurances/health and safety considerations are in place. The feeling that the Programme is at minimum risk to employers and had a reasonable chance of producing a positive outcome for employers is also something worth considering when marketing the Programme further. In short, key marketing messages for employers appear to be: Programme participation will enhance corporate reputation. The Programme is well-organised and provides plenty of support to employers. Risks and costs have been minimised for those employers which engage. The Programme provides a good opportunity for employers to have an extended look at and access talent in an ever tightening labour market.

Barriers There were four main barriers which were identified more than once by employers in the focus groups. The most frequently mentioned was the time/energy commitment associated with managing work placements. This will place a burden on supervision or staff mentors. This is, of course, a factor in managing all work placements. Even for the most capable employee there will need to be considerable input before any meaningful contribution can be made. However, employer concerns around this issue will be heightened given City Deal clients have long term unemployment records. There is little that can be done to eliminate this barrier per se, but it can be reduced as a real concern by preparing clients as fully as possible for the work placement and matching clients as effectively as possible to employers and placements. Another concern raised by employers was a lack of trust in such programmes because of bad experiences with previous programmes. To combat this, positive features of the City Deal Programme which make it a minimum risk for employers, must be emphasised. There is also clearly a fear amongst some employers that they will be exposed to a noncompetent or non-performing client. Again matching clients to roles and employers will be key. The more an employer can be involved in the selection of a client, the greater the Engaging Employers for Success Page 11

chance is that the placement will be a success. Development activity around the generic, technical and any “wow” competences should also aid success. In short, many of the barriers to employer engagement with the Programme lay in the arena of “fear”, “concern” and “perceptions”, words which came up fairly frequently when the employers in the focus groups were discussing this subject area. The City Deal Programme will need to tackle these concerns head on if it is to be extended to a larger number of employers, especially as these employers will be more reticent to be engaged than those which attended the focus groups. Over and above the marketing approach City Deal Programme management will have to be very careful to minimise the burden placed upon employers and fully support them to make sure the placements are a success.

Summary The City Deal Programme is an exciting opportunity for Southampton and Portsmouth. The Programme: -

Provides a great opportunity to widen the talent pool available to employers by putting long term unemployed through a structured work readiness programme. Gives employers access to and allows them to undertake a sustained assessment of potential new recruits. Reduces the level of unemployment in the cities thus reducing the benefit burden. Transforms the lives of people who want to work but have found themselves marginalised from the labour market due to a variety of circumstances.

Engaging employers in the Programme will be a challenge as labour market conditions are not yet at the point where employers will naturally want to sign up for this Programme as a talent solution. However, that point is fast approaching and in that sense the timing of the Programme could be fortuitous. The Programme contains features which make it a potentially attractive and “risk free” option for employers, but considerable effort will need to be made to bring this message home to employers. The Programme will need to focus fully upon development activity which will really make a difference to the employability of the clients concerned. These interventions are most likely to succeed if they can be “tailor made” to the intrinsic motivation and competence of clients concerned.

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Sufficient resource, which is respected by employers, will need to be deployed as part of the Programme to really ensure the burdens of participation on the Programme are reduced for employers. It must be recognised that work placement clients will be going through a significant transition in their lives when they undertake the work placement. The transition will be a difficult one and it is essential that they are not distracted by issues related to early withdrawal of benefits, payment gaps or other financial irritants. Such actions could undermine the success of the placement and could ultimately prove counter-productive both in terms of the objectives of the Programme and the impact upon the public purse. Recognition of businesses which do engage and business to business marketing/support should be considered as part of the successful roll out of the Programme.

Concluding Remarks Business South view the City Deal Programme as a very important initiative in the improving talent availability/widening participation in the labour market space. These themes will be key to the future development of economic activity in the region, but also to social cohesion. Business South stands ready to continue to work with the two councils involved to engage the wider business community with this important initiative for the good of individual citizens, the South’s businesses and our community as a whole. Geoff Glover Chairman of the Business South HR Forum

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APPENDIX 1 – Employers Engaged in the Focus Groups The focus groups consisted of the following employers:

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Managing Director, Skills for Business HR Director, Red Funnel Employee Relationship Manager, Shaw Trust Director, Entrepreneurs for Good HR Manager, Capita Business Development Advisor, Totton College Partner, Pitmans LLP Managing Director, P.E.R. Mucci Ltd Relationship Director, NatWest Commercial Banking Enterprise and Projects Manager, Southampton Solent University Senior Officer, Skills Development, Hampshire County Council Senior Officer, Growth Sector, Hampshire County Council University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust Senior Manager, Human Capital, Ernst & Young Associate Director, CMA Recruitment Employment Law Specialist, Employment Matters Director, Succinct Solutions HR Director, The Southern Co-operative Human Resource Manager, Fassett Business Development Director, Bouygues

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APPENDIX 2 - Summary of Generic Competence Requirements Attitudes How I am

-

Positive attitude Confident Resilient Can do attitude Passion for Role Adaptability Willingness to learn Hard-working /wants to work Motivated/driven Self-respect Self-awareness Shares organisational values Personal discipline Shows initiative Culturally aware Flexible Customer service mindset Reliable Willingness to make an effort Innovative Trustworthy Takes risks and acknowledges mistakes

Behaviours How I act

-

Knowledge What I know

Team Player Constantly learning Social etiquette Well presented

-

Business awareness

Skills What I can do

-

-

Communication skills (telephone skills, verbal, non-verbal, English language, articulate, literacy Customer service skills Problem solving Able to operate within business processes IT skills/digital (word, excel, internet) Time management Organisational skills Numeracy

Experience What I have done -

None identified

Terms in bold were identified the most by employers whilst describing generic competence requirements. Engaging Employers for Success Page 15

APPENDIX 3 - Summary of Technical and Job Specific Competencies

IT skills were identified the most by employers whilst describing the technical and job specific competencies.

Technical – middle range skills

Languages Healthcare

Team leading Science and maths Social Media

HGV

IT

Customer Service

Succession / resources planning

Safety operating system Problem solving

System /processing experience

Time management

Maintenance engineer/ machine controllers

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APPENDIX 4 - Summary of “Wow” Competences

Terms in bold were identified the most by employers whilst describing “wow” competences.

Attitude

Behaviour

Skills

Knowledge/experience

Qualification

Selling

Lean thinking

17th Edition electrical

High aspiration

Relationship building skills

Volunteering experience

HGV

Can do/will do

Communication skills

6 Sigma

Innovative/creative

Planning and organising

Experience of working within a quality operating system

Engaging

Problem solving

Business development knowledge

Entrepreneurial mindset

Good Interpersonal skills

Social media expertise

Leadership skills

Web design knowledge

Manual dexterity

Understanding of chosen sector

Resilience

None identified

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IOSH Customer service qualification

APPENDIX 5 – Summary of Enablers

Below are the identified enablers to employer involvement with the City Deal Programme. Terms in bold were identified the most by employers.



Corporate Social Responsibility -

Good employer profile

-

Recognition

-

Supports equality and diversity policy



Support, if required from the programme



Reduced risk, person is not directly employed by company -

No contractual obligations

-

No need to employ after the placement (not stuck with somebody)



Access to potential employees



Other businesses endorsing and involved with the programme



Financial support available/free programme



Insurances are in place/Health and safety addressed



Good chance of success/low risk



Free training / assessment period



Programme content



Some success stories



Organised scheme

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APPENDIX 6 – Summary of Barriers

Below are the identified barriers to employer involvement with the City Deal Programme. Terms in bold were identified the most by employers.



Time / energy commitment



Trust – bad experience of previous programmes



Fear of exposure to a non-competent employee -



Time keeping, lack of work experience Lack of supervision / spare staff / mentors to support



Would want to select client for placement



Admin support issues



Lack of awareness of the programme



Employment law concerns



Distraction from core business



Fear of hidden costs



Client could undermine high performance work culture



Risk of error



Concern about handling mental health issues



Concern about making reasonable adjustments for people with a disability



Concern about providing placements for people with criminal records



Corporate head office may not support



Company employment / recruitment processes may not support



Fear of the whole experience



Who in an organization makes the decision to engage with the programme



Specific competence requirements for employees



Fear of the emotional challenge



Lack of clarity on programme / level of commitment



Security issues



Transport issues



Lack of education / qualifications



Perceptions around clients for placement

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APPENDIX 7 - Red Funnel Case Study of Work Placements With a history spanning over 153 years, Red Funnel is passionate about delivering great customer service and providing value for money. Red Funnel, the original Isle of Wight ferry company, was formed in 1861 and is now a modern and highly successful travel and holiday company based in the city of Southampton. Group activities include cross-Solent ferries and UK holidays. The company carries 3.3m passengers and 0.8m vehicles per annum and operates 30,000 sailings annually between Southampton and East and West Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The fleet consists of 3 modern purpose built Passenger vehicle ferries and 3 Red Jet Hi-Speed passenger catamarans. Catering and retail services are provided in-house. Operating 24/7, 365 days a year, the Red Funnel team is trained to deliver a level of service that strives to exceed customer expectations. Onboard, there is a great range of locally sourced food, real coffee, well stocked bars and relaxing lounges with modern facilities. The outer decks offer exceptional views of the Solent throughout the crossing. In line with Corporate Social Responsibility aims, supporting education and the community – particularly Southampton and the Isle of Wight, Red Funnel is proud to have been involved with a variety of organisations and multiple work experience placement schemes over the years. Southampton City Council Work Placement (CITY DEAL) – Red Funnel recruited a 12-week work placement through Southampton City Council to support an individual who has been categorised as long-term unemployed. This placement has proved to be extremely beneficial to both the individual and the department. The individual has grown in confidence and acquired new skills whilst assisting the department team to complete a long overdue administration project for which resources were scarce. This has been done without any direct labour costs to the business. The individual’s confidence and experience improved so much after 6 weeks that he now has the opportunity to apply for a potential vacancy within the company. Southampton University Msc Operational Research placements have recently played an important part in identifying practical solutions to real commercial problems. One particular past project helped optimise crewing and rostering arrangements by providing valuable analysis of the variable requirements and limitations.

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The most recent scheme student undertook a significant piece of challenging work on vehicle ferry fare optimisation. As well as carrying out a detailed traffic modelling exercise, the project also involved having to engage with multiple stakeholders throughout the business in order to form conclusions. The student’s work saved valuable time in researching solutions to the issues that faced the company and identified previously unknown information. After replicating current traffic constraints in a base case model, the student was able to build a sophisticated model that would project future growth for the business. This highlighted the benefits of the proposed changes, and supplemented the business case for the significant purchase of land for a new Terminal building, which will help Red Funnel to deliver on its future growth expectations. The work that was produced exceeded the company’s expectations, and allowed it to benefit from the technical skills that the student had acquired throughout his studies. He was able to take complex problem solving techniques and apply them to a real life industry problem. As a result of his work Red Funnel was able to build a stronger business case that has meant it has been able to proceed to the next stage of delivering a significant project. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Portsmouth University and Southampton Solent University placements. Each year the HR Department supports a 6week CIPD student working in the department, learning about the field of HR and undertaking a research project to demonstrate their academic learning. This placement involves the student integrating into the department, learning about working in the HR team environment while also carrying out an assignment which supports the business needs. The variety of topic matter and business specific research material that the company has gained has ranged from employee engagement analysis, recruitment and selection evaluation; training needs analysis; performance management comparisons, to the latest student’s investigation into the implications of introducing the Living Wage concept. All have provided invaluable independent resources to the department, without significant cost. As well as the above schemes, Red Funnel takes on school work placements almost every week, all of whom are potential recruits for seasonal and other vacancies, and some of whom stay on or who return to paid employment within their career. The company encourages young people to get involved in engineering and STEM subjects, where there is a national skills shortage and a particularly serious deficit in the marine engineering sector. In a very brief summary, although the work placements deployed over the last 5 years have required varying levels of resource in getting them set up and settled in by the existing team, for the company, the advantages far outweigh the effort: •

Valuable project research and independent evaluation of relevant business issues

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Specific, targeted up to date academic theoretical input on complex problems, with academic support from tutors, in areas where the company has perhaps no regular expertise; Fresh initiatives and blue sky thinking; Opportunities for development for existing staff in coaching, mentoring, managing people and directing project work; Opportunities to encourage diversity within the workforce; Opportunities for students to experience the real world of a commercial business in a ‘safe’ environment; Satisfaction that the company is supporting educational initiatives and guiding local educational establishments and tutors on how to improve the relevance of academic curriculum activities to business; Potential recruitment opportunities for paid employment project work; General cost savings on valuable work.

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