Qualitative Evaluation of Demand-led Skills Solutions: Growth and Innovation Fund and Employer Investment Fund
This qualitative evaluation provides insights on the development and delivery of skills solutions from Rounds 1 and 2 of the Growth and Innovation Fund; and, Phase 2 of the Employer Investment Fund. The learning about the challenges and ‘what works’ has the potential to inform and further the achievements and longevity of these skills solutions.
Published Nov 2013
This report focuses on the learning from the qualitative evaluation of the Employer Investment Fund (Phase 2), and the Growth and Innovation Fund (Rounds 1 and 2). There is a fellow report which explores the learning for standards and frameworks.
In summary, there is no doubt that competitive tendering and the design of the investment programmes has created a real shift in thinking and planning by sector bodies. Evidence suggests that the economic value to employers is a key factor influencing project design i.e. the savings it will lead to, or costs it will reduce. It is, however, too early in the process to evidence impact or changes in employer behaviour.
The investment approach has encouraged sector bodies to set ambitious targets for employer engagement; and, employer engagement has proven to take more time and resource than many expected. For some projects, this kind of active support from employers has been challenging, especially where contributions may not lead to a swift return on investment. A critical distinction is made between the ‘active’ and ‘passive’ role of employers, with the former having greater potential for longer-term value e.g. influencing the design and testing of solutions, and plans for sustainability. Indeed, where employers have taken a more active role in strategic leadership there is evidence that this is also helping to achieve wider employer buy-in and commitment; and, where they share their internal practices and ‘on the ground’ expertise employers are making targeted and value-added contributions to development to inform skills solution design.
In the main, projects have a clear vision for sustainability and overall strategy for achieving it; but, some projects do not have a clear plan of the steps needed to deliver on that vision until some way into the project lifetime. The challenge of achieving sustainability cannot be underestimated; ideally, planning needs to be integral to the project from the outset. The accompanying thematic report on sustainability provides practical learning to support projects embarking on this.
Evidence Report 78 – main report (PDF, 769 Kb)
Evidence Report 78 – executive summary (PDF, 375 Kb)
In addition, the following briefing papers have been developed to draw out the learning and success factors for specific themes. They draw on evidence from across the investment programmes GIF and EIF, and standards and frameworks.
These papers provide ‘food for thought’ and insights on each topic in a way that it can easily be applied by those organisations leading or partnering on the development and delivery of demand-led skills solutions.
