The importance of skills to the future of the sector. Trustees can and should take the lead

1. The importance of skills to the future of the sector.Trustees can and should take the lead

2. Introduction Does the sector “get” the importance of investing in its people? What are the skills needs and gaps, with a focus on the skills for the future? Current initiatives to address the skills needs The responsibilities of Trustees to exercise leadership in this context

3. What’s the current picture? Is there a problem? In 2011 55% of organisations had a training plan, 56% had a training budget 18% of organisations provided no training at all Only 59% of those who provided training provided it for all grades of staff. Managers are significantly morel likely to receive training than other staff The skills gaps most commonly reported by employers were for admin/clerical staff and for managers The sector has higher levels of part-time employment than other sectors, and average pay is round £80pw lower than the other sectors Employees are highly qualified, with 38% holding degree level qualifications, and 70% holding a Level 3 qualification All data from 2013 UK Voluntary Sector Workforce Almanac Only 7% of voluntary sector employers have Apprenticeships compared to the UK average of 9% A recent CIPD survey estimated that the median average costs (advertising costs, agency or search fees) per hire in non-profits is £875 (or £4,500 for senior employees). Another recent CIPD survey shows that the median training budget per employee was £283 (a fall from £349 per employee in 2011). This might suggest that the average costs of recruitment are three times as large as the average costs of training an employee.

4. So is there a problem? Some possibly contentious assertions There is investment in people development but it is too often not aligned to organisational strategy for the next 5 years/ 10 years The growth of project funding has exacerbated this by encouraging the recruitment of the expertise that is needed now over securing the expertise that will be needed in future There is no strategic view on the relationship between spend ing on recruitment vs spending on the development of existing staff The right sort of training and development may not be sufficiently accessible The sector has an ageing workforce and does too little to attract and employ young people Talented people with a commitment to social action still want a career Governance is one of the most significant areas of a skills deficit and where there is least attention paid to investing in skills development

5. What are the skills needs and skills gaps?A view from Marsh Review 2013 Headline deficits are enterprise skills; digital fluency; leadership skills; governance; skills for collaboration and working in partnership Others: Need to do more to develop aspiring leaders/ middle managers. This is principally the responsibility of established leaders. Need coaching and mentoring skills as a standard Need to create more entry points to the sector that are not internships / where is the strategic approach to Apprenticeships? Need more brokerage of skills-sharing relationships / skilled volunteering Need to do more to promote the sector as a career of choice to talented people, in particular talented young people

6. Skills deficits and governanceMore from the Marsh Review Governance practice has not kept pace with the changing context for charities and voluntary organisations. It is therefore an area of significant skills deficit. “being willing and committed to the cause are important but no longer enough” There is a problem of diversity There is a deficit of digital awareness at governance level There is a problem of attitude to risk and ability to assess and manage risk in a more enterprising environment for the sector. Too many Trustees are too risk averse. It is a problem of both recruitment and development There is not a problem of a lack of support The key problem is that many organisations are unwilling to invest in a significant way in their Boards development

7. Some current and innovative initiatives Skills Effect’s work The Skills Platform www.skillsplatform.org.uk Skills Clubs Other activity CharityWorks graduate trainee scheme Institute for Chairs Uprising Need a better way of knowing about, joining up and learning from other activity – could the Skills Platform Shout Outs provide this?

8. So what are the responsibilities of Trustees in relation to skills? Exercise leadership Demonstrate and articulate what good leadership means in the sector Encourage networks of leadership development Ask the right sort of questions / have greater expectations with regard to organisational and people development E.g. Do we have a training plan? Have we conducted a training needs analysis? Is our training activity linked to our strategic plan? Are we spending money on recruitment when it could be better invested in development of our existing people? Protect the training / staff development budget. See it as an investment not a cost Encourage innovation in relation to development. Not everything has to cost a lot of money Invest in their own development. Conduct Board self-assessment and skills audit / use these to inform a development plan and a recruitment strategy/ develop a role description for Trustees There is a real cost to poor decisions

9. Thank youwww.skillseffect.org.ukKeith.Mogford@skillseffect.org.uk