Senior business leaders in Yorkshire call for more measures to tackle the region’s low productivity levels

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) new ‘Skills policy in the North: recommendations for levelling up’ report highlights the need for a fundamental re-think of skills policy.

The report brings together perspectives from regional policy makers, employer representative bodies, Further Education providers and Northern employers.

It emphasises that Yorkshire’s low productivity levels is, in part, due to inadequate leadership and people management capability in too many firms and a consequently weak demand for investment in skills.

While the North has a higher concentration of low skilled adults compared to the national average, research in the report reveals the region also has a higher amount of low wage work, skills gaps and poor utilisation of people’s skills in the workplace.

Highlighting that more needs to be done to improve the skills and qualifications of workers to tackle the longstanding productivity disparities, and consequently weak demand for investment in skills.

CIPD’s report recommends increase employer understanding of the benefits of engaging with vocational education and training.

The research found that four in ten Northern employers do not have any links with local colleges, rising to almost 60 per cent of SMEs.

The report also recommends strengthening regional partnerships, local referral networks, and improving coordination between institutions, particularly between business support and skills providers.

Lizzie Crowley, senior policy advisor for skills at CIPD, said: “Too often, business leaders lack the capability and knowledge to manage people, or develop their staff effectively, which leads to low workplace productivity and skill levels.

“A business support offer on HR and people management would help employers – of all sizes - develop their staff and improve the quality of their jobs.

“It would also allow organisations to better understand their skills gaps and shortages, making them more likely to engage with further education colleges and other training providers.”

The report says there needs to be a long term vision and flexible local funding, rather than centrally designed pots of competitive funds.

It also recommends sharing examples of where skills and training initiatives are working well, so that good practice can be learned from.

Chris Howell, employment and skills manager at Hull & East Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership, who contributed to the report, said: “The collective insight in this new CIPD report further reinforces the evidence demonstrating the link between skills levels, productivity and earning potential.

“Increased employer investment in training will play a pivotal role in the north, and other regions of the UK, to make the transition to a high-wage, high-skill economy.

“Providing HR support to businesses, particularly SMEs as outlined in this report would be a valuable catalyst.”