Improving the UK’s productivity woes is a challenge that successive UK governments have failed to address. According to data released by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the UK consistently lags behind its EU counterparts in terms of GDP per hour worked.
From 2010 to 2022, annual average growth in UK GDP per hour worked was 0.5%, with little sign of improvement in recent years. Meanwhile, in France this figure stood at almost 1.3%, and in Germany the average figure was 1.23%.
Read more: The solution to the UK's productivity problem is in HR's hands
The government’s introduction of Skills England, a body set to coordinate key stakeholders in further and higher education and training spaces, is a positive step towards plugging workforce skills challenges.
Skills England’s first report revealed a gap in Level 4 and 5 technical skills, often referred to as the 'missing middle’.
Addressing this gap will be vital. But key to achieving that will be supporting employers to identify upskilling opportunities within the workforce, and empowering ‘older’ workers to reach their full potential through training.
Navigating the ‘missing middle’
Level 4 and 5 apprenticeships and Higher Technical Qualifications provide learners with the skills and knowledge for senior technical or supervisory roles within their industries.
For many employers, finding appropriately skilled employees can be difficult. UK employers reported that more than a third of vacancies in 2022 were due to skills shortages, a significant increase from the period 2013 to 2017, where skills-shortage vacancies remained stable at around 22%.
Skills England’s report found that a lack of management and leadership skills accounts for 44% of current skills shortage vacancies, directly impacting our productivity levels.
Failing to address this will not only cause the ‘missing middle’ to grow in the long term, but also impact on employers’ skills needs at all levels.
A targeted approach
At present, 80% of 2030’s workforce is already in work, meaning that employers should upskill their existing workforce through schemes such as apprenticeships, if we’re to tackle the managerial skills gap head on.
For employers, offering these programmes means having the right skills in the business that boosts productivity, ultimately contributing wider growth.
Read more: How retrained candidates could change the workplace
For employees, having the option to upskill and develop from an employer shows a genuine interest in their career development.
Altogether, it means creating a more satisfied and productive workforce, which is a key part of fulfilling the government’s long-term plans for economic growth.
Unlocking the potential of older employees
When businesses look to upskill their existing workforce, there can be a bias towards focusing on younger employees leaving less opportunity for over 50s employees to upskill or reskill.
Assumptions such as older workers being less adaptable, or have poorer IT skills compared to younger workers, contribute towards the stereotypes that exist for older workers.
However, well-designed and effectively delivered training programmes reduce these stereotypes, with age-diverse teams helping to foster a greater sense of workplace collaboration.
Providing mid-career opportunities to upskill can help organisations better understand older workers' future working patterns and training needs, tapping into their existing knowledge and experience within a given sector.
Read more: Employers must help upskill older workers
Growing skills challenges across the nation threaten UK productivity gains. While not a complete solution to these challenges, upskilling opportunities can significantly boost output across key growth sectors, including those identified in the recent Modern Industrial Strategy Green Paper and beyond.
Employers must identify the organisational capabilities and skills they require to best inform upskilling opportunities within their existing workforce, implementing training programmes which are tailored to learners’ needs and align with overarching business objectives to close any gaps.
This means we can create a productive and robust workforce, which will be central to achieving the government’s goals for long-term economic growth and prosperity in the UK.
By Emma O’Dell, skills and capability planning director at BPP Education Group
