There has been enormous growth in the use of new and less formal systems of training and development as organisations seek to lever greater value out of development activity. One of the biggest constraints to securing high productivity growth and responsiveness to change, is the lack of skills across the workforce. This not only hampers the growth of high value business activities, but also limits individuals from making the most of their abilities and talents.
Nobody benefits from having too few, or the wrong kind of, skills.
IES contributes here by providing practical support and advice to the corporate sector, as well as giving independent and authoritative assessments of key trends and issues. Our independent research contributes to the development of corporate and public policy. As the labour market tightens and more organisations experience recruitment and retention problems, so understanding skills needs and their impact on the organisation is increasingly important. We have researched and helped organisations develop their capability to plan for skills. This has involved moving from a workforce planning model with an emphasis on numbers, to one that focuses on the skills that the organisation needs, both now and in the future.