Impact of Poor Basic Skills: The Employer Perspective

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Basic Skills

Impact of Poor

The employer perspective

Trinh Tu


To estimate… Aims Evidence

The prevalence of poor basic skills in the

workplace and its impact

on employers

The costs

and benefits associated with public-

funded basic skills training

£

Systematic

literature review

Quantitative

data collection

In-depth case

studies


A minority of employers

perceive poor basic

skills to be an issue



perceive poor basic


5.5% Literacy

gap only

3.5% Numeracy

gap only

3% Both

12% Of workplaces

report a basic

skills gap


A minority of employers perceive poor

basic skills to be an issue

94%

92%

88%

87%

86%

84%

83%

No gap

Gap

Not required

4%

4%

4%

4%

4%

2%

3%

1%

4%

6%

7%

9%

12%

11%

% of employers in England

Communicate verbally with clients,

colleagues or subcontractors

Fully understand

written procedures

Use numerical data or information

correctly in day-to-day activities

Perform simple mental

arithmetic / calculations

Complete day-to-day

paperwork without errors

Respond in writing to

queries or complaints

Spot numerical

errors



perceive poor basic


5.5% Literacy

gap only

3.5% Numeracy

gap only

3% both

8% on performance?

Material impact

12% Of workplaces

report a basic

skills gap


But there is evidence

of under-reporting



of under-reporting

Particular

issues for

SMEs

Absence of

HR systems

to identify

basic skills

problems and

put in place

solutions

HR

Higher level

qualifications

sometimes

used as a

proxy

Majority do

not specify

minimum

English or

maths in

recruitment

General lack

of awareness

of basic skills

requirements

for different

job roles



of under-reporting

Normal

business

processes

masking poor

basic skills

Reinforces

perception

that impact is

minimal; not

merit

investment in

training

Potential to

lock in

systematic

skills decline

among

employees

Widespread

use of

(precarious)

coping

mechanisms -

shadowing,

scaffolding

and peer

support


There are costs to

poor basic skills


50%

44%

38%

35%

25%

18%

Increased number

of errors

Prevented more efficient / new

processes being introduced

Additional costs

for training

Reduced product

/ output quality

Failure to comply with requirements

(e.g. H&S / quality requirements)

Higher volume of

customer complaints

43%

36%

33%

33%

26%

17%

Literacy

Numeracy

There are costs to

poor basic skills Impact of basic literacy and numeracy gap (self-reported)


Limited appetite among

employers for formal

basic skills training


Limited appetite among

employers for formal

basic skills training Basic skills training

in the last year

Nationally

15%

With a basic

skills gap 31%

Majority of

workplaces

with a basic

skills gap

have not

provided

training

… except where

that qualification

was deemed to

have an external

currency


Implications for

public-funded basic

skills provision


Implications for

public-funded basic

skills provision

Difficulty

identifying

impacts at

the firm

level

Not a

vehicle for

significant

change of basic skills

provision is

as part of

apprenticeships

Employers

report a range

of business

benefits but

possibly

conflated with

apprenticeship

training

Low volume

and intensity –

an average of

2.4% of

employees

per workplace


Conclusions

Likely under-

reporting of

basic skills

deficits in

workplaces and

associated costs

Possibility of

systematic built-

in long-term skills

decline

Need to

understand how

collaborative

workplace

practices can

develop skills as

well as

compensate for

deficits

Consider funding

alternatives to basic

skills training

activities – peer

learning schemes,

support for reading

for pleasure and

other informal, non-

credentials based

activities

Thank

[email protected]

Date post:	11-Jan-2017
Category:	Recruiting & HR
Upload:	ipsos-mori
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Impact of Poor Basic Skills: The Employer Perspective

Recruiting & HR