Regional skills audit

DESCRIPTION
A Regional or local Skills Audit is the investigation and documentation of the skills of the population within a defined locality and often includes assessment of skill shortages. It can focus on all industries or on specific industries.

USES
•    To attract new industries by documenting the existing skills in a region and make the information regarding employment resources readily available to new business.
•    Assist in the development and implementation of a regional training and/or employment strategy. This assists in focusing training activities on the needs of local industry and in developing retraining options for people with obsolete skills.
•    Assist in determining required skills so as to direct training for unemployed people and people returning to the workforce.
•    Assist enterprises in a region plan staff development and staff induction activities.
•    Assist educational institutions plan training activities.

HOW IT WORKS
Employers will be surveyed to gain information about:
•    current skills of employees and skills gaps which need to be filled;
•    adequacy of existing training resources and facilities;
•    recruitment experience and perceived future needs;
•    expenditure on training and recruitment;
•    turnover rates and history; and
•    views as to future business prospects.

Training providers will be surveyed to gain information about:
•    adequacy of existing training facilities;
•    take-up rates for particular courses;
•    inquiry activity and peak training periods;
•    employer attitudes to training;
•    linkages from training into employment and back;
•    any employment outcomes from training courses;
•    links between on the job and off the job training;
•    level of articulation between courses; and
•    impediments to the provision of training.

It is also useful to contact employment agencies, consulting groups and other employment and training service providers. Currently most employment services do not have this sort of data or the resources to publish, so it is necessary to design and circulate a survey form to elicit the information required. This would allow the agencies to rank the most common requests and the skills they have trouble sourcing.

With the help of people actively seeking work and employers seeking staff, surveys would provide an idea of both the skills that are in supply, and also the skills that are in demand in the region. An analysis of the information supplied by these groups would identify the nexus between skills in supply and skills sought. Conclusions could then be drawn about whether there was a mismatch between these factors and, if so, what skills are required to meet regional needs.

It is also important to consider what resources are offered by training providers in the area, in the light of the outcomes of the skills analysis.

PREREQUISITES
•    The skills audit should be part of a broader plan focusing on industry and employment development with defined outcomes. It is also necessary to gain support from regional industry and training providers.

HOW TO START
•    In order to give the audit a broad focus, either an existing committee or a specifically formed committee can be used to sponsor, develop and monitor the activities.

STRENGTHS
•    Regional Skills Audits provide an in-depth analysis of a labour market with a resulting improvement in the success rate of training plans and activities. A shortened skills audit that only examines two or three industries can provide enough information to develop useful training and recruitment responses.

WEAKNESSES
•    There may be a tendency to focus on maintenance of the information rather than using the information for practical outcomes that can include industry skills development and training strategy development and management.
•    Regional Skills Audits provide only a snapshot, and will need to be updated frequently to maintain their usefulness.
•    It is often very expensive and the information dates rapidly, requiring further survey work and expenditure of funds.

INDICATIVE PRICE/COSTS
•    Price can range from $5,000 (rarely) to $50,000 per survey, including analysis of data.

FUNDING RESOURCE OPTIONS
•    Training organisations may fund survey work or may participate and meet some costs. Industry Training Advisory Boards (ITABs) and other industry training bodies may contribute if the skills audit is focussed on information relevant to their industry (although their funds are limited).
•    Large companies may provide funds if they can be convinced that they will benefit from the information.
•    Industry peak organisations (e.g. the timber industry) may contribute if the surveys focus on their industry and its training and recruitment needs.

MONITORING AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Monitoring should include checks for ongoing industry commitment and support, and evaluation should focus on outcomes related to industry skills development, strategies to address skills shortages and training provider development. Increases in the number of people trained and trained staff employed by industry provides a simple measuring device.

SIMILAR TOOLS
•    Attracting New Business.
•    Business Audits.
•    Employment Trends Analysis.
•    Regional Employment Strategies.
•    Resource Analysis.

INFORMATION RESOURCES
•   TBA


Our assistance will allow you to develop and implement a regional training and/or employment strategy. This assists in focusing training activities on the needs of the local industry, and in developing retraining options for people with obsolete skills.
To get started with putting together your plan, please get in contact with us today on 0414 961 073.
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