NEWS

Staff training will pay dividends in the long run

Firms that fail to invest in training could pay a high price during the downturn.

That was the message to small and medium-size businesses yesterday from skills minister Lord Young at a meeting of 140 business leaders in Norfolk.

The minister said that giving workers better skills would help businesses weather the economic climate and emerge from the recession in good shape - and pledged the government would help businesses foot the bill for training.

He was the keynote speaker at a “skills pledge” breakfast organised by Norfolk Chamber of Commerce which saw four Norfolk organisations make a public commitment to bring the qualifications of their staff to at least five A-C grade GCSEs.

Lord Young told the meeting that businesses that failed to invest in training were more than twice as likely to fail during a downturn than firms which tried to equip their workforce with new skills.

But the minister also faced questions from the audience about the complexity and frequency of changes to the business advice network.

“The steps we're taking should address the complexity of the system - but there's still a bit of a way to go to achieve that,” Lord Young said.

Last month, Lord Mandelson, the new business secretary, announced that the 3,000 different public sector aid schemes for business would be reduced to 30 in a bid to make it easier for firms to secure funding.

Yesterday Lord Young was joined on the stage at the event at Dunston Hall, near Norwich, by Peter Barry, president of the Norfolk Chamber and managing director of Pasta Foods; Mick Placzek, head of human resources at Diss Promotional Services; and Caroline Neville, regional director of the Learning and Skills Council.

Mr Placzek's firm was one of four organisations taking the skills pledge, along with Warren Services, Anglia Restaurants and Norfolk County Council.

After the event, Lord Young said: “There is a nasty statistic that if you don't train your staff, you are two-and-a-half times more likely to fail.

“The recession won't last forever and it's certain that when we come out of it, there will be competition for skilled staff.

“So now is the time to invest in training. We like to think that with the support that we are giving in a variety of ways - including financial - we're giving firms every encouragement to do so.”

Caroline Williams, chief executive of Norfolk Chamber, said: “Norfolk's education attainment currently underperforms at all levels compared to the East of England and national figures, causing the business community key skills issues, but we do not have to put up with this situation.

“As a business community a better skilled workforce is a top priority to enable us to achieve growth. It is great that so many of Norfolk's business community came out in force to demonstrate that we will not settle for anything but the best for our staff and our businesses. We need to secure more funding, create clarity, remove bureaucracy and put a stop to fragmented delivery relating to skills and training.”