Engaging senior managers in the skills agenda

28 Jun 2007

A report on employer engagement and higher level skills, commissioned by Higher Education South East and produced in May 2007 by the KSA Partnership, has identified the following priorities for the South East:

Priority 1 - Build the strategic intent

Build strategic intent of HE providers, employers and regional agencies in the South East in supporting the development of the South East workforce by engaging senior managers in HE in an active dialogue with national and regional agencies, employers and employer bodies about the skills agenda in a post-Leitch environment

Priority 2 - Build understanding of the region’s higher level skills needs

Build understanding of the region’s existing and future higher level skills needs through a ‘horizon scanning’ process and a review of regionally available labour market information to  build the evidence base to inform strategic decisions at a regional, sectoral and institutional level

Priority 3 - Build the demand-led market for higher level skills

Build the demand-led market for higher level skills by translating evidence of need into demand through regional and institutionally driven employer engagement activities and by providing funding leverage to enhance existing provision and design new provision to meet identified higher level skills needs

Priority 4 - Build capacity and capability to respond

Build capacity in higher education providers to better respond to workforce development needs by putting in place capacity building funding to enhance infrastructure and through developing staff to better articulate and respond to identified workforce development needs

Priority 5 - Build partnerships to better align supply and demand

Build effective partnerships to better align supply and demand through, in part, establishing ‘skills networks’ involving regional agencies, HE providers, SSCs and other sector specialists, employers and employer representative bodies to engage partners in an active dialogue and map existing HE provision and progression routes against identified workforce development needs

Key documents

• HESE Employer Engagement Report