Skillstories

Public Sector Skills 2008

Public sector employers are being challenged to improve the skills of their workforce as a key component of the drive to deliver improved services to the citizen.

What progress has been made to meet these challenges and what should the next phase of development be for organisations across central government, local government, the NHS, fire, police, universities and colleges?

Building on the success of the 2007 event, the second Public Sector Skills Conference will showcase the best public and private sector offerings around skills development, training and education, the conference and allied exhibition will highlight best practice and provide a unique forum for discussion and learning for delegates.

Leading speakers will include:-

Ruth Spellman OBE - Chief Executive: Chartered Management Institute; Ian Watmore - Permanent Secretary: DIUS / Civil Service Apprenticeships Champion; Penny De Valk - Chief Executive: ILM / Board Member: City & Guilds; Alan Woods OBE – Chief Executive: Skills for Justice; Liz Chandler – Winner: 2007 National Training Awards DIUS prize for outstanding achievement; David Amos - Director of Workforce: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Frances O'Grady - Deputy General Secretary: TUC; Nita Clarke - Director: Involvement and Participation Association; Liz Smith OBE - Director: unionlearn; Bill Griffiths CBE, BEM, QPM - Director of Leadership Development: Metropolitan Police Service.

Skills Practitioner Network - What are your Vital Statistics?

Whilst the natural instincts of most of us would be to shy away from such a question, the next Practitioner Network will help to make any future measurement enquiries easy to answer and with a smile!

As the saying goes, if you can’t measure it, then you can’t manage it. We know that measuring the impact of skills development programmes is not easy, but by the end of this event you will have some great ideas to take back into your business to try out. We know that developing key impact data will enhance the business case for your skills programmes.

The December Skills Practitioner Network will be hosted by npower, the 2008 Skills for Life Award for Excellence winner. They will be sharing their skill story and highlighting the importance of measurement.

We will also be hearing from WoLLNET who will be describing and demonstrating their new measurement tool for skills programmes, with the chance for everyone to take part in a interactive session. Results of the study into what employers would like to be measured will also be shared.

Opportunities to take part in workshops and networking will also be included throughout the day.

To reserve your place or find out more, please contact Anita Powell on 0207 566 6617 or anita.powell@bitc.org.uk

Take the Skills Pledge

Merseylearn, the training and development initiative for Merseytravel want local companies to take The Skills Pledge.

The Skills Pledge is a voluntary, public commitment by the leadership of a company or organisation to support all its employees to develop their basic skills, including literacy and numeracy, and work towards relevant, valuable qualifications

They will be holding a high profile Skills Pledge signing event on 3 December ’08 at the Holiday Inn; 9:30am start with refreshments. The event is being supported by their partners in relation to skills including the Learning and Skills Council, GoSkills, Investors in People, Connexions and Business in the Community.

During the event they will be celebrating those partners and suppliers who have committed to signing the Skills Pledge. They will also be raising the importance of apprenticeships and the business benefits we have seen in Merseytravel through our own apprenticeship programme

Business Action on Skills Practitioner Network

Getting workplace learning going

The network event will discuss how to market skills programmes internally, looking specifically at how health, well-being and learning can attract employees into learning and how to promote learning programmes across the business.

Learning at Work day

National Learning at Work Day, the biggest annual celebration of workplace learning, will take place on Thursday 14 May 2009. It is run by the Campaign for Learning as part of Adult Learners Week (11-15 May).