Member Article

Delivering effective training: crucial in the ‘Human Age’

Mike Gibson, Sales and Marketing Director of Janard Training and Assessment Centre, shares his views on the need to raise literacy levels, deliver leadership training and multi-skill in order to succeed in ’The Human Age’.

A report released earlier this year by Manpower Group named ‘How to Navigate the Human Age,’ claims that a mismatch of skills in the current era dubbed ‘The Human Age’ will mean higher rates of unemployment are more the norm.

The global workforce solutions group claims this skills mismatch has left companies struggling to fill positions in an economic era defined by human ability.

This comes in light of the report’s revelation that there exists a lack of communication and management skills in business. This, coupled with the alarming fact that one in six adults struggle to reach the level of literacy expected from an eleven year old, a finding in the National Literacy Trust’s report ‘Literacy: State of a Nation’ January 2012, creates a workforce which is not equipped to develop and evolve to meet the needs of the market.

An issue which could be addressed by rethinking staff development plans and evaluating the need for training at all levels.

It seems logical to me that more effective training, which has been designed specifically to address the needs of the employer, is the way to realign the skills of the workforce with the requirements of the economy.“

The Manpower report states that there ’exists a lack of general business skills, including communication, management and collaborative skills. This could cause business failure.

If people are not working together, communicating with one another at a suitable level and being managed effectively, then businesses will fail at the most fundamental level.

Optimising the potential of staff is the only way to grow a business in The Human Age. Raising literacy levels, delivering leadership training and multi-skilling is what businesses must focus on in order to remain competitive and get an edge in the market. All too often I see a business with a team of staff doing the job of one person. Of course this could be argued to lead to higher unemployment, but it’s not about losing the other staff members, it’s about utilising their skills effectively to get the maximum return for their time and salary.

I am passionate about raising the literacy and skills of the North East workforce, but I do feel some of this should be addressed at school level. If people are reaching employment age without adequate literacy levels, then there will be a damaging gap in their understanding, making the challenge even tougher for employers who wish to train them.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophie Oldridge .