Location: The Montcalm London Marble Arch, 2 Wallenberg Pl, Marylebone, London W1H 7TN.
A staggering 91 percent of UK organisations have struggled to find recruits with the skills they require (The Open University Business Barometer Report 2018), suggesting that progress in fulfilling this aspect of the Government’s Industrial Strategy is falling behind, with potentially damaging consequences for the economy. The cost and increasing reliance on temporary and specialist workers, recruitment fees and inflated salaries – as a result of skills lacking in the labour market – continues to rise and impact UK businesses. Workforces are overstretched, limiting productivity and affecting employee motivation. The rapidly changing face of business and workplace operations, driven largely by digital technology and changing commercial trends, requires highly-skilled workers with the ability to adapt to new environments that can help organisations to become agile and flexible in the face of future challenges.
With an absence of the skills required to drive them forward, the growth potential and efficiency of organisations is severely limited, but it also has a significant effect on the bottom line. Employers have spent £6.3 billion on additional costs associated with the skills shortage, restricting the funds available to invest in other areas of the business. The majority of this spend is linked to short-term strategies to overcome the immediate issues stemming from the deficit, rather than investing in long-term solutions. This means that organisations are spending more, only to experience the same issues further down the road. It’s time to take a step away from short-term solutions and find a sustainable, reliable and long-term solution to the skills pipeline.
The UK needs to focus on building a higher-skilled workforce that is more agile and flexible, so organisations can seize upcoming opportunities and overcome the challenges posed by automation, the ageing workforce and leaving the European Union. Training is crucial to improving the outlook of the UK skills crisis, and the impact on the wider economy, and to ensure that the UK remains competitive on the global stage. So, theHRDIRECTOR roundtable – sponsored by The Open University – could not be more timely. Join the debate as we set a probing agenda, targeting the skills and recruitment challenges that businesses face and exploring strategies for employers to develop their workforce and talent pipeline for future business success.
To register your interest to this complimentary debate, please click here
Our partner theHRDIRECTOR are inviting registrations from HR Directors, Senior HR Practitioners and L&D decision makers in Corporates and SMEs.
Join us in London on Wednesday 22nd May 2019 from 12:30pm to be part of the roundtable discussion, sponsored by The Open University.
Location: The Montcalm London Marble Arch, 2 Wallenberg Pl, Marylebone, London W1H 7TN.
