THE IMPORTANCE OF BUILDING SKILLSETS

Summary Of Skills Builder

When teaching business studies, I noticed that something fundamental was missing in education. My students struggled to listen, articulate ideas, work together and creatively solve problems. Building students’ knowledge is essential. But it is not enough.

14 years ago, I set up the Skills Builder partnership to address this. The partnership now brings together over 800 organisations across education and business, who work towards a common approach to building eight essential skills; listening, speaking, problem-solving, aiming high, staying positive, leadership and teamwork.

These are highly transferable skills that enable success in education and employment. The Universal Framework for essential skills breaks down each of these skills into learnable, measurable steps for any aged individual.

HOW WOULD YOU SUM UP THE CURRENT SKILLS ENVIRONMENT?

Addressing the skills gap is more urgent than ever. In education, the focus tends to be on basic skills and knowledge. Then in work, focus is placed on technical skills. What often gets overlooked are essential skills.

Many businesses lack the skills they need, but often don’t have the tools to elucidate exactly what they are. Without consistent language, the gap with the education system remains.

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF SKILLS?

Many commentators talk about the need to build the skills furthest from automation. Developments in AI raise the question of how we use these tools effectively in a hybrid work environment. Skills need to follow the data, research and best practice across sectors cohesively.

We work with partners across industry, education and the social sector to help ensure that future policy refl ects their skills needs. We are building off their track record of – and insights from –delivering 2.3 million high quality opportunities to build essential skills in 2022, using the Universal Framework for essential skills.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF LOOKING AT SKILLS?

Individuals with a portfolio of good essential, basic and technical skills benefi t from higher life satisfaction, job satisfaction and social mobility.

For employers, essential skills don’t just boost productivity. They are as strong a predictor of job satisfaction as income and drive productivity.

www.skillsbuilder.org

Recruiting for skills rather than qualifications or experience can widen the candidate pool to be more diverse. Using robust measures can also improve the predictive value of recruitment by reducing noise in the decision making process.