Region's employers offered input on qualifications

Food and drink manufacturers in the east of England are being invited to build a whole new approach to recognising the achievements of their workforce in a bid to boost skill levels and productivity in the workplace.

Improve, the food and drink sector skills council, is working to introduce a new suite of highly flexible occupational qualifications which it says will make it easier for companies to access appropriate training and reward staff development. Employers are being urged to join sector groups to offer advice and guidance on the content and structure of the new qualifications, which will cover all roles from production line operatives to senior management.

Despite being one of the region’s largest industries with 38,000 employees and an annual turnover of £8.8 billion, 13 per cent of workers in the east of England food and drink sector have no qualifications at all.

Bob Jones, Improve’s operations manager in the east of England, said: “In the current economic climate, investing in the skills of staff is one of the best things any company can do to keep productivity on an upward curve. But food and drink manufacturing is a very diverse industry and there is an ongoing need to keep developing qualifications to meet the changing skills needs of the industry.

“Now the shackles are off. The government has authorised a more flexible approach and we have the opportunity to introduce, in addition to existing qualifications, a whole new framework which can be designed around competency skills for real jobs, and be more accessible and more achievable. It will give workers the chance to have existing skills formally recognised and then develop new abilities in bite-sized chunks of learning. It will give people the opportunity to climb the qualifications ladder step-by-step, encouraging more participation in business development along the way and ultimately resulting in better performance for businesses. But to get the best out of this new opportunity, employers must tell us what they want.”

Employers are invited to attend consultation meetings to be scheduled for early next year. Alternatively, opinions and ideas can be submitted on-line at the Improve website. The consultation process will be open to employers from the bakery, meat processing and butchery, brewing, dairy and confectionery sectors.

The first new qualification within the new framework will be a Level 2 Proficiency Award in Poultry Inspection which will be launched in January 2009.