Raising ambition

This body of work seeks to provide a narrative broadly from the perspective of, or to develop intelligence of value to, employers with the ultimate aim of raising employer ambition for and investment in skills.

The value of skills

This work provides detailed synthesis and analysis of the impact skills can have for business, for individuals and for wider society.

• The value of skills
• Skills and economic performance: the impact of intangible assets on UK productivity growth

Tackling barriers and raising employment demand

The Employer Collective Measures project explored the effectiveness of levers to encourage collective employer investment in skills. This is complemented by additional research to improve our understanding of these levers:

• A review of occupational regulation and its impact
• Understanding training levies
• Understanding employer networks
• Understanding occupational regulation (forthcoming)

More generally we seek to understand employer motivations and barriers in specific contexts. Our extensive LMI is a key source for this but we also conduct research to explore some trends in more depth including how to remove barriers and increase investment on a sectoral basis and at specific skills levels:

• Rebalancing the economy spatially & sectorally
• Maximising employment and skills in the offshore wind supply chain
• International Approaches to the Development of Intermediate Level Skills and the Role of Apprenticeships
• Product Market Strategies, skills shortages and skills update needs

Evaluation of demand-led skills solutions

Skills utilisation and high performance working

Increasing skills attainment is important, but equally critical is how these skills are used and applied in the workplace. This research addresses the issue of skills utilisation and explores the concept of High Performance Working as a means of creating a working environment in which employee talents can be effectively deployed.

• Skills utilisation and high performance working

Investors in People research

The UK Commission took over strategic ownership of the IIP Standard in April 2010. We have developed a supporting research programme to develop a deeper understanding of how IIP is perceived and applied, to help us to continually improve the offer

• Exploring Employer Behaviour in Relation to Investors in People
• Perspectives and Performance of Investors in People: A Literature Review
  

Sector Skills Insights

This project is central to the UK Commission’s ambition to transform the UK’s approach to investing in the skills of our people. It outlines the performance challenges faced in the sectors, the ‘real-life’ skills solutions implemented by leading and successful businesses to overcome them, and the benefits from doing so. It is a call for employers to invest in skills and raise performance backed by examples of best practice and the UK Commission has investment funds which it is using to make this happen.

• Sector Skills Insights
  

Training in Recession

This research, the first product of a strategic partnership with the Economic and Social Research Council, examines the impact of the 2008-2009 recession on work related training through statistical analysis and qualitative interviews with a cross section of private and public sector employers.

• Training in Recession

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