As the Scottish Government leads the way to tackle social and economic challenges bought about by the fourth industrial revolution, the growth of AI in the workplace, an aging population and the challenges posed by Brexit, re-skilling and upskilling is high on the agenda for Scottish employers and policy makers.
The Upskilling Scotland The Future of Skills and the Fourth Industrial Revolution report from the Scottish Council for Development and Industry sets clear recommendations to put Scotland on the path to higher productivity and more dynamic social mobility.
Key recommendations focus on:
- Delivering a system of accessible, relevant and inclusive lifelong learning,
- Ongoing development of meta skills in self-management, social intelligence and innovation to enable people adapt and as the nature of work and technology changes throughout their careers,
- Investment in leadership skills to support people progress their own careers, nurture new talent and lead high performing teams.
The report makes it clear that Scotland faces a serious leadership skills gap at senior and middle manager level as a result of underinvestment and emigration of talent.
This undermines Scottish competitiveness in the world stage and exacerbates issues of underutilisation of skills in the workforce and low productivity.
At City & Guilds our purpose is to help people, organisations and economies to develop the skills they need to progress.
We are actively engaged in the Scottish skills debate and have developed a catalogue of offers to support Scottish employers to develop their workforce through flexible learning leading to recognised qualifications.
We also offer Leadership & Management bite size learning and qualifications which can help employers raise the bar on leadership skills in Scotland.
Our offer is a great fit for the Flexible Workforce Development Funding, as it addresses employability and leadership skills as well as broad and specific skills areas, providing a compelling employer offer.
Kerry Bamber, Scottish Development Manager at ILM comments:
“Despite the challenges highlighted in the SCDI report, we may see the calls to action as highly encouraging. The report identifies clear strategies to overcome these challenges, with their findings reflect our own research and experience in terms of the importance of ongoing, lifelong learning and effective means by which to deliver this training.”
“We have seen learners enjoy huge success via a bitesize, tailored approach, enabling them to study at their own pace, with regular refresher courses ensuring that new skills are retained over the long term.”
“By embracing a proactive approach to meeting the challenges of a changing workplace, Scotland can be at the forefront of the fourth industrial revolution, creating a highly skilled workforce that can compete on the global stage.”
Providers can use City & Guilds Group products and services to support:
- Individuals who may be facing redundancy or a changing job market or who are already well qualified but require a specific upskilling input to enhance their productivity or employment prospects;
- groups of employers by meeting specific needs within specific industry workforces i.e. to address legislation or technology changes;
- City, Region and Growth Deals or other projects by addressing a cluster of regional skills aspirations through courses aimed at specific catchments.
The City & Guilds offer comprise of recognised qualifications which meet the requirements of modern industry standards, are formally assessed and certified providing individuals and employers with the confidence of achieving a recognised global benchmark. We also offer a wider range of learning support materials, learning platforms and digital credentials to enable and/or add value to learner journeys.
If you are a College, Training provider or Employer in Scotland and wish to discuss how we can help you tackle the Upskilling Scotland challenge please get in touch with our Scottish Development Manager kerry.bamber@cityandguilds.com and she will be touch with you.
