|
|
|
|
  |
"I'm 32 and I've been
in the centre since I was 16. I don't want to be in a training centre
all my life until I'm in a box." "I've still got quite
a long way to go but, once my training's finished, I'm hopefully going
to look for a job and get something decent." " Some customers ask for
me now because they know that, if we have what they want, I am the one
who will know where it is without having to spend hours searching in the
stockroom." |
The Issue
13.1 In this report, we have made a number of proposals and recommendations on how to put an Inclusiveness approach into practice. We have recommended the establishment of new structures specifically targeted at improving the range of learning opportunities and support services available for young people. We have also recommended new policies and practices in guidance, further education and training. But for many of our young people, all of that effort will have failed if we cannot bring about changes and improvements to help them make the transition into employment.
13.2 The Committee believes that there are 2 main issues to be addressed:
The Committee's View
Employability
13.3 In taking forward our consideration of these issues we found it helpful to consider the concept of employability. This concept has gained ground over recent years. There have been a number of attempts to define it. In 1997, The Minister of State for Employment, proposed a definition of "Employability" as:
"...building a workforce in which all people capable of working are encouraged, and helped to develop, throughout their working lives, the skills, knowledge and adaptability which will enable them to enter employment and stay in highly productive work, not necessarily with the same employer."
The CBI in their discussion document "In search of Employability" (CBI June 1998) defined employability as "the possession by an individual of the qualities and competences required to meet the changing needs of employers and customers and thereby help to realise his or her aspirations and potential in work."
13.4 More recently, the Institute of Employment Studies (IES) (November 1998) has suggested that employability is the capability to gain employment, to retain or to move on to new employment, at a level and quality to match the individual's abilities and skills. The other essential element is that the individual should be self sufficient in moving through the labour market. The IES suggested the following key elements of employability:
Assets: these are the knowledge, skills and attitudes which a person has.
Deployment: the ability and capability to use assets to gain and keep employment.
Presentation: the ability to demonstrate and "market" the assets: through CVs, references, interviews skills etc.
Context: the inter-relationship between labour market circumstances and personal circumstances.
13.5 The Committee has looked at these and other ideas about employability to see how they might work for young people who are likely to need support to make the transition into employment, and to sustain that employment. In our discussions, we have also been able to draw on a number of discussions with Scottish employers led by Scottish Business in the Community. The key themes which emerged from the Committee's consultation with employers were:
Employability: The Employee
13.6 The emphasis in many definitions of employability is on what the potential employee can offer to the employer. This is usually expressed in terms of educational achievement and/or vocational qualifications and experience. For many, although by no means all, young people who have physical disabilities, sensory impairment or learning disabilities, their assets expressed in terms of qualifications may be limited. There may also be barriers to participation in employment arising from difficulties in communication and relating to other people. The great majority of young people who are described as "disaffected" or disadvantaged are likely to have a low level of educational attainment and, in some cases, may have poor basic skills, e.g. literacy and numeracy. They may also have emotional or behavioural problems that lead to difficulties in adapting to the behavioural requirements of the workplace. In terms of the IES framework, the level of employability among this spectrum of young people is low. In the former group, this is borne out by evidence that many will undergo a prolonged period in further education and training without, in many cases, ever attaining, or sustaining, employment. In the latter group, there is increasing evidence, especially among young men, of "scheme-hopping" from training programme to further education (and vice versa) and a rapid turnover of low paid, short term and low skilled jobs.
13.7 Qualifications are not the whole story. There is a growing body of evidence that employers are at least as interested - if not more so - in the attributes and personal qualities of young people. This applies particularly to young people who are not likely to have gained much work experience by virtue of their age. A project funded by Standard Life in 1993 and carried out by Castlecliff Training in Edinburgh looked at the requirements of employers. The conclusion was that while they regarded vocational qualifications as worthwhile, the main emphasis was on personal attributes, in particular willingness to learn, enthusiasm, honesty and reliability. An updated study in 1999 has produced similar findings. The Committee's own discussions with employers produced the following list of "core skills" and characteristics:
Numeracy
Literacy
Flexibility
Punctuality
Dependability
Positive Attitudes/Approach
Handling Conflict,
Interpersonal Skills
Working With People
Working in Teams, Presentation Skills
Social Skills.
13.8 A study of learning skills and aspirations of young people in Drumchapel by Glasgow Caledonian University (1999) highlighted the skills and attributes which the young people thought were important to employers. These included:
Hard working
Honesty
Timekeeping
Communication skills
Working in Teams
Practical Skills
These are similar to the skills and attributes favoured by employers.
13.9 These findings point to the need to take a wider perspective in education and training targeted towards employment. The Government is committed to supporting young people to achieve academic and vocational qualifications to the highest level of which they are capable. We support this commitment. It remains an important starting point for young people in gaining employment. In many cases, employers will use basic levels of qualifications as a filter before they actually interview young people. Beyond that, however, it seems irrefutable that young people need to develop the attributes and personal qualities which employers value in their future employees. For young people who face barriers to employment arising from disability, disadvantage, low educational attainment, social, emotional, behavioural and other problems it is at least equally important that further education and training provision is designed to help them develop the personal attributes and social skills which are valued by employers.
13.10 The Committee has identified the following areas for action to help young people improve their "assets" and the ability to deploy them in their search for employment:
Employability: The Employer
13.11 The other aspect of employability concerns the attitudes and employment practices of employers. These in turn are going to be influenced by prevailing labour market circumstances; the state of the economy; and the employment regulations and benefit rules. There is little doubt that when the economic climate is difficult employers are less likely to spend time or resources in recruiting and training new employees. This particularly affects young people who would require additional support to help them settle into the work place and become productive employees. Employers, in these circumstances, are more likely to recruit skilled and experienced workers or to rely on short-term contracts.
13.12 There are employers, however, who are prepared to take a wider view provided that they can find young people with the qualities and attributes that they consider important in an employee. Many employers would be willing to take young people with disabilities if they had a better understanding of the kind of aids and adaptations which are available. The Employment Service Disability Advisory Service can offer employers advice and support on employing people with disabilities. Support is also available from some voluntary organisations. For young people with learning disabilities there are ranges of support mechanisms available through supported employment programmes, including job coaching, to help them learn the job and settle into the work place.
13.13 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) provides limited, but nevertheless significant rights for disabled people in the areas of employment and access to goods, facilities, services and premises. These rights are enforceable through Employment Tribunals. From 1 December 1998, the employment provisions of the DDA have applied to employers with 15 or more employees.
13.14 We welcome the enhancement of the DDA information line to provide more focused information to employ people with disabilities. This could encourage smaller employers to employ disabled people even if they are not covered by the DDA. We also welcome the establishment of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) to work towards the elimination of discrimination. The DRC will provide information and advice to people with disabilities, employers and service providers.
13.15 The problems for employers taking on young people who have behavioural or attitudinal problems are different. Employers will have concerns about how to cope with young people who may be unreliable, poor timekeepers, and who have difficulty in relating to other members of the work force. These problems are more difficult for smaller employers in particular who may not have the time and resources necessary to support these young people. There may, however, be lessons to be learned from the strategies used in supported employment initiatives for disabled young people. It seems likely that they could be adapted to help support employers in recruiting and developing young people who are likely to experience difficulties because of social, emotional or behavioural problems.
13.16 There could also be scope to capitalise on the young person's own desire to have a job. We know from our focus group study and research how many young people have that single burning ambition. This is irrespective of the other circumstances in their lives. They may, as time goes on, become disillusioned by their failure to sustain employment. But in the initial years after leaving school there is an opportunity for employers, supported by other agencies, to make a real difference to the lives of these young people by providing them with a stable and secure working environment.
13.17 The Committee identified virtually the same areas for action (as for young people) in terms of promoting employability as it affected employers:
Action to improve employability
13.18 We need action to improve employability in:
Schools
13.19 We warmly welcome recent developments in schools which are designed to help young people achieve a better understanding of the requirements of the workplace and to forge closer links between employers and the education system. The Education for Work agenda is designed to help young people gain a better understanding of the requirements of the workplace. In the autumn, new guidelines will be published which will enhance opportunities for work experience. Education Action Plans and New Community Schools will increase the flexibility available to head teachers to adapt the curriculum to the needs of their pupils.
13.20 We also welcome the introduction of the new National Qualifications under the Higher Still programme. In particular, the Access courses will improve the opportunities available to students who may experience difficulties in pursuing a higher level of course, at least initially, although some will be able to progress to higher levels over time. SOEID Circular 6/99 also allows schools to use Higher Still and other units from the National Qualifications portfolio in S3 and 4 for pupils who may find Standard Grades too demanding. We have highlighted the importance which employers place on the more personal skills and attributes, often referred to as 'core skills'. The Higher Still reforms will promote 5 Core Skills: Communication (written and oral), Numeracy, Problem-Solving, Information Technology and Working with Others. These will be directly relevant to the requirements of employers. The design of the Core Skills units would allow young people to undertake short courses (which they can also do in college). This could improve the motivation of disaffected young people by giving them a relatively quick result.
Guidance and Assessment
13.21 We have already highlighted in Chapter 7, the importance of including the 'soft' skills and attributes in the assessment of young people in the post-school environment. It may be helpful to make more explicit the link between these attributes and future employability. We, therefore, recommend that the assessment process should clearly identify the extent to which young people can demonstrate, and use, the 'core' skills and attributes (reliability, willingness to learn, enthusiasm, honesty) which are valued by employers.
Post-School Education and Training
13.22 It is also essential that there should be a range of post-school learning opportunities to help young people to develop the personal and social skills required by employers. The training programmes have a key role to play and, as we have discussed in Chapter 7, provide pre-vocational training which includes confidence building, job tasters, presentation skills, interview skills, CV preparation etc. The Progress File provides tools for this purpose. We believe that there is a need for a greater level of this kind of provision and a need to focus even more closely on helping young people to improve their self-esteem and motivation. This is an issue for both the enterprise networks and the FE sector. There is scope for further development in colleges to address this kind of learning need among young people who have low educational attainment, poor motivation and other social or behavioural problems. We also see scope for the FE sector to sub-contract with training providers to deliver key elements of pre-vocational training where they have particular expertise to offer. We, therefore, recommend that the enterprise networks in conjunction with training providers, should review their pre-vocational and life skills programmes; and that the SFEFC in conjunction with colleges, should examine the nature and scope of this kind of learning in the FE sector.
Support Mechanisms for Employers
13.23 There are examples of employers being actively involved in promoting employment opportunities, for example, the Lothian Employers Network on Disabilities. Careers service companies are also now working more directly with employers to make sure that they know about recent developments in education and training (for example, the introduction of Higher Still). Both the careers service and the Employment Service are also engaged in keeping employers informed about support available to assist with recruitment of disabled young people (and adults).
13.24 We believe that employers should have the opportunity to contribute to the decision-making about the nature and scope of education and training provision and how it prepares young people for employment. We, therefore, recommend that the Area Strategy Groups and Implementing Inclusiceness Teams should include employers.
Employment
13.25 We have considered the concept of employability and what it means for young people who might need additional support in terms of getting and keeping a job. In this section we are looking specifically at strategies and practical approaches for assisting both the young people and employers to ease transition into the world of work.
13.26 We believe that although the problems and barriers facing young people may be different for those who have disabilities and those who have low educational attainment and social disadvantage, there is scope for a common approach. Within that approach, however, the support given to the individual young person to help him/her into employment must be relevant and appropriate to the individual's needs, abilities and aspirations. We believe that the principle of "Inclusiveness" applies equally to this important transition for young people, as it does to their progress through education and training.
13.27 It is probably fair to say that there has been a greater emphasis to date on strategies to assist young people with disabilities into employment than on the needs of those who experience other forms of disadvantage. In saying that, we are aware that not all young disabled people have access to the same degree of support in practice. There is evidence to show that many young people experience prolonged transitions after leaving school, often resulting in exclusion from the labour market and continued dependence on their families. (Pearce & Hillman 1998). For young people with learning disabilities employment is not just a goal in itself, but is closely linked to independent living and adult status. However, in recent years, the employment prospects of young people with moderate learning disabilities have declined markedly. In 1986, only 5% of this group found employment on leaving school, compared to 80% in 1940. (Riddell et al 1997).
|
|
|