North West business leaders call for better support to boost employer investment in skills and tackle “low productivity levels”

Senior business leaders in the North West are calling for more measures to tackle the region’s “low productivity levels” and boost employer investment in skills.

The CIPD’s new ‘Skills policy in the North: recommendations for levelling up’ highlights the need for a fundamental re-think of skills policy, after bringing together perspectives from regional policy makers, employer representative bodies, Further Education providers and northern employers.

The report emphasises that the region’s low productivity levels is, in part, due to inadequate leadership and people management capability in too many firms, and a consequently weak demand for investment in skills.

While the North has a higher concentration of low skilled adults (NVQ 2 and below) compared to the national average, research in the report reveals the region also has a higher amount of low wage work, skills gaps and poor utilisation of people’s skills in the workplace.

This demonstrates that more needs to be done to improve the skills and qualifications of the region’s workforce to tackle the longstanding productivity disparities in the region, and consequently weak demand for investment in skills.

Lizzie Crowley, CIPD senior policy advisor, commented: “Too often, business leaders lack the capability and knowledge to manage people, or develop their staff effectively, which leads to low workplace productivity and skill levels.

“A business support offer on HR and people management would help employers, of all sizes, develop their staff and improve the quality of their jobs. It would also allow organisations to better understand their skills gaps and shortages, making them more likely to engage with further education colleges and other training providers.”

Richard Caulfield, North West regional director at Association of Colleges, who helped contribute to the report, added: “Skills has to be at the centre of any effort to level up the North, and that has to involve an expanded role for colleges within the system.

“This report rightly identifies the bigger role that colleges can play in providing strategic support to employers across innovation and skills.

“It’s crucial this investment in strategic support for employers is retained over the long-term and that as we develop a more coordinated local approach, we align it to other mechanisms such as Growth Hubs so that employers are clear about where they can go to access support.”