The Great Skills DebateUnderstanding skills development across the voluntary and community sector in Northern Ireland

Sector Skills Research

•Why?

•Consortium of 9 Sector Skills Councils

•500 telephone interviews

•Generic/Sector Skills Council specific questions

•Future skills development

Headline figures•5,327 posts analysed.

•78.5% full-time – 71% female.

•Administrators, project managers, direct support staff.

•8% of organisations have 25 or more paid staff - representing 48% of all staff.

Headline figuresMultiple responses Total

organisationsTotal staff

% of totalorganisations

% of totalstaff

Lifelong Learning UK 242 1,153 48.4 21.6

Skills for Care and Development 160 1,737 32.0 32.6

Skills Active 127 625 25.4 11.7

Skills for Justice 116 721 23.2 13.5

Creative and Cultural Skills 43 238 8.6 4.4

Skills for Health 42 560 8.4 10.5

Lantra 41 - 8.2 -

Asset Skills 33 376 6.6 7.1

Skillsmart Retail 25 103 5.0 1.9

Total 500 5,327

Do skills gaps exist in the sector?

•One in ten had difficulties recruiting staff

•Lack of high level skills in applicants and short-term contracts

•Youth workers hardest vacancy to fill

•88% no skills gaps– (91% of all sectors stated they had no skills gaps - NI Skills Monitoring Survey

2005)

Where do skills gaps exist?

•Project management, Administration, Finance, Function Head

•Lack of funding for training and development

•Lack of time to attend or complete courses

What are the skills gaps?

•Management skills

– Strategic planning and forward planning

– Procurement/contract management

– Managing change

– Demands on managers changing

What are the skills gaps?

•Essential skills

– Team working

– Basic computer literacy/IT

– Health and safety

What are the skills gaps?

•Specialist skills

– Campaigning/marketing

– Human resources/personnel

– Fundraising

What is the significance of these skills gaps?

•Increased workload

•Decreased ability to take on new work

•Increased costs

•Decreased ability to develop further services

How do organisations respond?

•Further training and development (in-house)

•External training

•Using volunteers instead of paid employees

Training

•Formal training plan – skills assessment – training and development policy (75%)

•57% have a training budget

•Average annual training budget = £3,754

•25 plus employees £200 per head per annum

What are the barriers organisations face?

•Lack of funds/time/cover for training

•Information and relevance of training courses not an issue

•23% found it difficult to find courses which met staff needs

Skills for Justice•721 paid staff

•Posts: Support workers (with victims of survivors of crime)

•Skills gaps: Senior managers/working with prisoners/adult resettlement workers

•Skills needs: Understanding legislation, mental health awareness, managing aggressive behaviour

Skills for Care and Development•1,737 paid staff

•Posts: Care/support assistant, social workers, senior care/support assistant

•Skills gaps: Family centre worker, family aid, outreach worker

•Skills needs: Risk assessment and risk management, communication with service users, working with people with disabilities

Skills Active•645 paid staff

•Posts: Activity leader, play worker, sports development officer

•Skills gaps: Sports development officer, operations/events/duty manager, sports coach

•Skills needs: Activity leadership, first aid, health and safety

Skills for Health•560 paid staff

•Posts: Nurse, health care assistant, allied health professional

•Skills needs: Communication, health professional/technical skills, information and record keeping

Asset Skills•376 paid staff

•Posts: Support workers, project officers, housing officers

•Skills gaps: Floating support workers, project managers, facility managers

•Skills needs: Managing challenging behaviour, first aid, safe working practices

Lifelong Learning UK•1,153 paid staff

•Posts: Youth and community workers, delivery and support workers, community trainer

•LLUK sectors: Community development, youth work, adult and community learning

•Skills gaps: Community trainer, head of youth services, professional youth workers

Sector Skills Council

Skills

for J

ustice

Skills

for C

are &D

evelop

men

t

Skills

mart R

etail

Cre

ative an

dC

ultu

ral Skills

Skills

for H

ealth

Skills

Active

Asset S

kills

Life

lon

g L

earn

ing

UK

Lan

tra

Skills for Justice

Skills for Care & Development

Skillsmart Retail

Creative and Cultural Skills

Skills for Health

Skills Active

Asset Skills

Lifelong Learning UK

Lantra

Key messages

•External factors very important

•Challenges associated with funding

•Skills gaps in support services functions

•Management and leadership

•Training is seen as important but not supported

•Diversity of the sector

Next Steps

•Report published January 2008

•Sector Skills Agreements

•Positive Steps – Skills Strategy

•Incorporate your views